Trying to find the title of an interplanetary saga by Ursula Le Guin

Question

I remember that it's a series by Ursula Le Guin, who I adore, but I can't remember the title and find the books.

It's a collection of connected histories of three planets in different systems. There is a war, someone tries to turn off, someone tries to turn on.

A young officer has to go. He goes into his spaceship with his whole family for a voyage in hibernation lasting maybe 1000 years. His mother doesn't want to go. She says behind alone, though with a plant. In time she discovers strange beings and learns to communicate with them. They don't want to speak to anyone else, so she becomes their ambassador. She dies, happy and honored, while her son still hasn't reached his destination.

Please help me remember.

Answer 1

It could be the first three books of Le Guin's Hainish cycle. Although the stories are separate, they all concern the League of All Worlds, of which Earth (known as Terra) is a member.

In Rocannon's World, the planets of the League are preparing for a war with invaders making their way across the galaxy toward Earth.

In Planet of Exile, the main characters are human descendants of explorers from Earth, stranded on a faraway planet because the war broke out just after the explorers' arrival.

In the third, City of Illusions, the invaders have long controlled Earth, and a descendant of the main character from Planet returns to Earth. It doesn't involve the woman with the plant, but everything else seems to match up.

Answer 2

If it is Le Guin, it might be Four Ways to Forgiveness, which is four linked stories in a single volume. It's part of the Hainish Cycle, but pretty much stands alone. There are three planets (Hain, and two in a single solar system), and one of the stories does concern the Hainish ambassador who has a long voyage to arrive.