[Yobmod]

Should I still read it, or is it a bit too simple and immature? (I know it's better than Harry Potter, and I read that so I may as well give Earthsea another chance, right?).


I'm also usually disappointed by children's fiction: Earthsea is the only "YA" fantasy novels that i recommend - the writing really is good enough for everyone to enjoy (and it is difficult to see how Tehanu in particular is aimed at the YA market in any way).

The only other YA adult books i loved were Ender's Game, and Margo Lanagan's Black Juice.... But i hear that Kelly Link has a YA collection to come, so finger's crossed!


I need to get a copy of Dispossessed and then decide which one is truly LeGuin's MO.

Both are great, but Dispossessed just takes the lead IMO.

[Zeratul]

My favourite le Guin used to be The Lathe of heaven, then I reread The Dispossessed and decided I like it the most, then I reread The Left hand of darkness a few times and now it's in first place. It's amazing how much more I discover every time I read TLHoD.

[Big Bubba]

I also enjoyed Four Ways to Forgiveness, which contains some great stories set in the Hainish universe. Oh, and The Telling is another good one.

On her fantasy side, has anyone read her new series - The Annals of the Western Shore? I thought the first book (Gifts) was not quite up to her usual standard, but the second one (Voices) really rocked. I got the third one (Powers) in the mail yesterday, but haven't had time to dive into it yet.

[KatG]

Hainish, that's it. Why did I think it was Hamish? Well, it's been awhile. I have not read her new fantasy series or her last Earthsea novel yet. I think I would want to go back and re-read Earthsea before reading that one, as they were one of the earliest modern fantasy books I read as a teen.

[Big Bubba]

Yes, I would definitely recommend re-reading the whole series before diving into The Other Wind. It ties up some loose ends from the previous books and gives you a sense of completion that Tehanu never did. Looking back now I find it hard to understand how Le Guin could think Tehanu would be the last Earthsea book, but I guess it made sense to her at the time.

[symbolhunter]

One fantasy series that I've heard a lot of really good things about is the Earthsea Saga by Ursula K. LeGuin. This series looks really interesting to me. However, I'm kind of leery of reading it because I've read that LeGuin is a feminist, nad I'm kind of worried that the Earthsea novels might turn out to be preachy feminist fluff such as Marion Zimmer Bradley's or Mercedes Lackey's works, and I absolutley hatethat stuff. (No offense to those of you who enjoy MZB's and ML's works, though ;) )
So, I'm wondering, is the Earthsea Saga any good, and do you think I would like it? Thanx. :D

I n my opinion, the first three books of the Earthsea saga are magnificent. In many ways they really stylistically stand alone as a unit. The second book. The Tombs of Atuan is probably the best with a powerfully developed central character and an exploration of the nature of evil which is more profound than the rather scholastic discussion in The Farthest Shore.. The little coda at the end of the series concerning "The Deed of Ged" hints at other story lines which LeGuin never really developed.

While Tehanu is quite a fine novel I read it as a totally different meditation on some of the themes in the first three rather than as a continuation of the original trilogy. Certainly, LeGuin subverts the expectations one has for Tenar and Ged and takes them in different directions than one would expect from the earlier books. Tehanu is also different in tone from the others in that it is a clever explication of feminist/gender concepts rather than the ethical philosophical tendencies of the previous volumes.

Thus, I see it as a good novel that should be read as a stand-alone. As to The Other Shore--I found it disappointing, especially owing to an irritating central character and the Pullman-like approach to existence. The world of the dead in the trilogy was brilliantly configured as simply "other". In that way it works fantastically well. She should have left it that way.

But, of course, all this is only my opinion! Others clearly find the extra-trilogy books fine.