After having a less than enjoyable experience with the Earthsea series I turned to the author's award winning science fiction novels.
The Dispossessed deals with a comparison of capitalist and communist (albeit non-authoritarian) economies. Only this time they're on different planets, both systems have their pros and cons as felt by the protagonist during his stay on the capitalist world while the story of his life on the communist planet unfolds as flashbacks. The story starts of well but then dies a slow and torturous death as nothing seems to happen for long periods and the anti-climactic ending does nothing to improve the story.
The Left Hand of Darkness brings back the author to her favorite subject of gender distinction. The idea of a society with androgynous members who become male/female once a month for mating is interesting but again instead of basing a story on this backdrop the author makes the exploration of this society as the story. Sure, the alien representative from a galactic federation and first contact is supposed to be the main theme but story constantly changes focus and in the end feels flat.