Genly Ai, a Terran native, is sent to represent the Ekumen, the intergalactic coalition of humanoid worlds, on the frozen planet Gethen, also called Winter.
Seggri is also a part of the fictional interplanetary group called the Ekumen, and is a part of the Hainish Cycle.
It tells the story of Sutty, a Terran sent to be an Ekumen observer, on the planet Aka, and her experiences political and religious conflicts between a corporatist government and the indigenous resistance, which is centered on the traditions of storytelling, locally referred to as "the Telling" (for which the book is named).