The Left Hand of Darkness features multiple factions and religions, each with its own history and mythology. All this complexity can make the novel somewhat daunting, but science fiction author Rajan Khanna says it’s worth the effort. “I’m amazed that it became as successful as it did,” he says. “I’m kind of in awe of her skill to take something that is probably slow-paced, and that isn’t traditional, and that can be sometimes challenging, and make it so engaging.” The book is often criticized for presenting its androgynous characters as too masculine, but writer Sara Lynn Michener says some readers might not read it that way. “I feel like it’s probably a very different experience between a male reader and a female reader,” she says. “But for me it was like, ‘Oh yes, we’ve done this before—this business of the male is the default—and therefore I’m already seeing myself in these characters.'”