'B eautiful, profound, irresistible' Robert Silverberg 'Complex and haunting . remarkable' Time 'A master storyteller' Boston Globe 'To create difference - to establish strangeness - then to let the fiery arc of human emotion leap and close the gap: this acrobatics of the imagination fascinates and satisfies me like no other' Ursula K Le Guin In each story and novel she wrote, Le Guin created provocative, diverse worlds and rich characters. Now, in The Birthday of the World , she returns to these worlds in eight brilliant short works. 'Like a tour of other countries, these splendid and necessary stories will send you back home with new eyes' Boston Globe.