The idea that intelligent life independently arose on Earth is a naive delusion. In fact, we are just one of many colonies created by progressors from the planet Hain and left unattended for a long time. One day, interstellar travel will resume, and the oldest inhabited worlds, including ours, will join a union called the Ekumen. In order to manage a space civilization without gross interference in the affairs of other races, it is sacred to observe the ethics of contact and entrust the ambassadorial mission only to those who are able to reach any heart. The novel “The Dispossessed” included in this collection, the “prologue” of the Hain cycle, was awarded the Hugo Awards. , Nebula, Lockheed and Prometheus. The plot elements of the novel “The Word for the Forest and the World are the Same” (Hugo Award) are easily traced in the film Avatar.