A sci-fi novel that's secretly a social thought experiment, in which Le Guin imagines a planetary culture modeled on perfect anarchic communalism, it's shining points and it's drawbacks, and a capitalistic imperialist culture from which it emerged many year ago, from the protagonist, Shevek's viewpoint. Shevek is a physicist and philosopher with an incredible idea and is torn between worlds and ideals. The highly detailed, analytic and comparative narration is thought provoking and encourages the reader to think critically about their cultural conditionings.