The sixth, The Dispossessed (1974), is the earliest novel chronologically in the Hainish Cycle. The Cetians have been visited by people from other planets, including Terra (Earth) and Hain. The various planets are separate, though there is some talk of a union. The idea of the ansible is known but none yet exists. Later novels and short stories speak only of the Ekumen—which now includes the Gethenians, who were the subject of The Left Hand of Darkness—and not of the League. Backstory Hundreds of thousands of years ago, the people of Hain colonized a large number of worlds, including Earth, known as Terra. Most of these were similar enough that humans from one world can pass as natives of another, but on some the old Hainish 'colonisers' used genetic engineering. At least one of the various species of Rocannon's World are the product of genetic engineering, as are the "hilfs" ("highly intelligent life forms") of Planet S (whose story has not so far been told), and probably the androgynous humans of Gethen in The Left Hand of Darkness. The Ekumen do not know whether the colonisers sought to adapt humans to varied worlds, were conducting various experiments, or had other reasons. Hainish civilization subsequently collapsed, and the colony planets (including Earth) forgot that other human worlds existed. The Ekumen stories tell of the efforts to re-establish a civilization on a galactic scale through NAFAL (Nearly As Fast As Light) interstellar travel taking years to travel between stars (although only weeks or months from the viewpoint of the traveler because of time dilation), and through instantaneous interstellar communication using the ansible. This seems to have happened in two phases: First, the League of All Worlds was formed, as an alliance of planets, mostly descended from colonization efforts from the planet Hain, uniting the "nine known worlds" — presumably along with new colonies. By the time of Rocannon's World it has grown but is also under threat from a distant enemy. In City of Illusions it is recalled as having been a league of some 80 worlds at the time it was destroyed by aliens called the Shing, who are uniquely able to lie in mindspeech. After the apparent overthrow of the Shing by Terran descendants from Alterra / Werel (capable of recognizing the Shing lies), the alliance is eventually reconstructed. A second phase begins with The Left Hand of Darkness. The