Terra (Hainish cycle)

Ursula K. Le Guin's Hainish Cycle takes place in a science fiction universe that contains a number of planets, some of which have been explored and made part of an interplanetary group called the Ekumen; others are continuously explored by the Ekumen over a time frame spanning centuries. Le Guin has used approximately a dozen planets as primary settings for her novels; as such they have detailed physical and cultural aspects. Le Guin reveals in The Left Hand of Darkness that there are 83 planets in the Ekumen, with Gethen a candidate for becoming the 84th.

Aka is a monoethnic world that recently underwent an aggressive revolutionary change in technological status, during which almost all of the traditional culture was suppressed or rejected. Aka is governed by a despotic state which mandates a form of scientific theism and aims to turn its citizens into ideal "producer-consumers", with the ultimate goal of attaining advanced spaceflight capabilities. Aka is the setting of most of The Telling.

Athshe is a forest planet (whose name means "forest"), also known as 'World 41' and called "New Tahiti" by Terrans. Athshe is peopled by a small, furred (but in fact fully human) group of HILFs (high-intelligence life forms.) It was exploited for its timber resources before a native revolt expelled the Terrans, as described in The Word for World is Forest.

Athshe's plants and animals are similar to those of Earth, placed there by the Hainish people in their first wave of colonisation that also settled Earth. The Cetian visitor also states categorically that the native humans "came from the same, original, Hainish stock". It is not explained why they are green-furred and only one metre tall. Their sleeping cycles are also very different from the Hainish norm. There are two likely explanations. One possibility is that the original settlers were genetically modified by the Hainish. On the other hand, enough time has passed since the original settlement for the locals to have naturally evolved in response to their environment.

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