In a world where people controled their own work and lived in community with each other, AI could have been one of the greatest technological advances of the last fifty years. In the current system where everyone is subordinated to a tiny class of economic dictators who own every technology and piece of infrastructure, AI mostly just serves to advance the interests of its owners.

Its excellent as a standalone novel. I’m pretty sure that the other books in the series follow completely different characters set in the same universe at other points in the timeline.

Tankies just want to replace them with other pediphile warmongers

The Dispossessed. No question. No other work of fiction has made me question more about my beliefs and worldview than that book. It makes you question everything you believe about society and your role in it. It’s both an engaging science fiction work and an incredible work of philosophy. The author’s worldview very clearly bleeds through into every page, and she does an excellent job of creating characters that actually feel like real people. The heroes are deeply flawed yet morally engaging, the villains are sophisticated and well-spoken. The Dispossessed made me rethink how I see my purpose in my life, my relations to the society around me, the ways we perform gender, and whether or not it’s actually possible for equality to exist. Whether or not you agree with Le Guin’s politics, she is easily one of the best authors of the 20th century.