In her cheery, informative, personable introduction to The Birthday Of The World, And Other Stories, fantasy grandmaster Ursula K. Le Guin suggests the term "story suite" to refer to a group of unconnected stories revolving around a central theme. She's actually talking about her book Four Ways To Forgiveness, but the expression could apply just as well to Birthday Of The World. All eight of the collection's stories touch in some way on gender, sex, societal mores regarding both, and the social and emotional isolation fostered by the differences between the sexes. That may sound both pretentious and portentous, but Le Guin's subtle characterization, narrative skills, and ingenious premises combine to produce seamless, involving, believable stories that transcend the usual clichés of fantasy or sociological allegory. The opening story, "Coming Of Age In Karhide," returns to the world of Le Guin's classic novel The Left Hand Of Darkness, for a closer look at the book's otherwise genderless, otherwise human people who only develop primary sexual characteristics during intermittent rutting periods. Other stories follow up the tales of Four Ways To Forgiveness or take advantage of the variety found in Le Guin's sprawling Ekumen universe, where humanity is scattered over many planets, and many of the worlds have unusual social hierarchies. On O (explored in "Unchosen Love" and "Mountain Ways"), marriages are complex four-person arrangements that encompass heterosexual, homosexual, and platonic relationships. On Seggri ("The Matter Of Seggri"), women outnumber men 16 to 1, so "the men have all the privilege and the women have all the power." On Eleven-Soro ("Solitude"), women live in clustered "auntrings," each in a hut that no one else may enter, even after the occupant dies; meanwhile, boys travel in dangerous packs and men stake out solitary territories. In each case, Le Guin establishes a conceptually fascinating, speculative society, but fleshes it out through a solid story and well-rounded characters. The result is a series of layered, effectively executed thought experiments lively enough to disguise both their thoughtfulness and their experimentation. What comes through is a strong sense of the subjects' humanity, their individual needs, and the elaborate ways those needs are influenced by internal and external factors that apply to everyone. Once again, Le Guin's powerful work illustrates that fantasy need not be escapist, that gender studies need not be dry or strident, and that entertainment need not be mindless.