\\n  A Wizard of Earthsea\\n (3.5 stars)
The magical coming of age story of a proud young wizard is truly captivating. However, I would have preferred a bit more dialogue to all the recounting. It would have added more depth and life to the story, making it even more engaging for the reader.

\\n  The Tombs of Atuan\\n (4 stars)
The story of a young girl, raised as the head priestess of terrifying ancient powers, is a fascinating read. It not only explores a religious cult, unbelievers, and corruption within the community but also delves into the political background and the fear-mongering of the Godking. Additionally, it serves as a somewhat complementary coming to know oneself and coming-of-age story to that of Ged in the prequel. I absolutely loved every bit of it, as it was filled with rich details and complex characters.

\\n  The Farthest Shore\\n (2.5 stars)
This title is filled with profound ruminations on life and death. While I appreciated the subject matter, I felt that it was a bit weaker in characterization than the previous two books. Ged, whom we know from before, suddenly transforms from the proud mage to the wise and patient Archmage, and Lebannen is rather flat. Another issue I had with this book, similar to A Wizard of Earthsea, is that a lot of time and travelling passes in just a few pages. This makes the story seem rushed and doesn't allow for a proper fleshing out of each moment before leaping into the next. At the same time, it also feels a bit aimless and slow.

\\n  Tehanu\\n (5 stars)
Subverting the classic fantasy prequels, Tehanu takes place in the same world but focuses on the unheard - the women, the elderly, the children, and the abused. It offers a deep exploration of trauma, gender, and the true meaning of power, all while crafting an engaging story and memorable characters. The fact that these characters are more vulnerable gives the book an added advantage, as it makes every potentially dangerous situation they experience much more suspenseful. Without a doubt, this is my favorite book in the series.

It was an enormous crush on this book. I really needed a lot of time to read it. However, it's such a huge adventure that lasts for decades... I simply couldn't finish it in just a few days!

There is always a central axis: a character, who may or may not be the main one according to different stories, but it's really interesting to keep this guiding thread!

The tales at the end enable one to learn more about the world of terremer and its legends!

It's a great big hodgepodge and I'm very happy to have read it!

Vetch had affairs to attend to before leaving Iffish, so he went off to the other villages of the island with his apprentice-sorcerer. Ged stayed with Yarrow and her brother Murre. Ged watched Murre with wonder and envy, as he seemed so carefree despite being the same age of nineteen. Murre, in turn, watched Ged with curiosity, envying even his scars. The two young men were a bit shy with each other. Yarrow, however, soon lost her awe of Ged. She was very busy making provisions for the voyagers. Ged told her to stop as he didn't plan to sail non-stop to Selidor. Yarrow asked many questions about wizardry. Ged explained that while they could create illusions like a meat-pie, it wouldn't truly satisfy hunger. He also talked about the difference between light as a power and other illusions. Yarrow wondered about the boat he made after being shipwrecked. Ged said it was partly illusion and partly a binding-spell. They joked about stealing cakes and maintaining equilibrium. Yarrow wished she could understand better and Ged said he lacked the skill to explain. She asked what other great powers there were besides light. Ged replied that all power was one in source and end. Murre then asked about death, and Ged said there must be silence before and after a word is spoken.

Introduction

The library graciously provided this one-volume collection encompassing A Wizard of Earthsea (1968), The Tombs of Atuan (1972), The Farthest Shore (1973), and Tehanu (1990). I had read the first three in my childhood, perhaps around the age of tenish. The last one, I had never read before and had no intention of reading, but here I am.

Recollections

It's possible that in childhood, I first read The Tombs of Atuan. I have a, quite possibly false, impression of a hardbacked library book from the Carnegie library opposite Ruskin Park. I was a regular there almost every Saturday morning. Rereading these books, I notice how much I misremembered, misunderstood, or creatively reinterpreted. In my memory, the central character's introduction and exploration of the labyrinth took much longer, and I had an oppressive sense of the entire labyrinth being in absolute darkness. I had also forgotten the ending almost entirely. After that, I read the first and third books in the series, probably in the wrong order, and I bought the third book, The Farthest Shore. I have a vague memory of carrying it around in a small seaside town one summer.

Spoilers

Some readers object to spoilers, but in these books, nothing is really hidden. In the first book, the main character has a mysterious encounter with a creature, and Le Guin is quite explicit about what it is and its relationship to the main character. The same is true of The Farthest Shore, where the characters figure out the solutions to the problems long before it's made explicit. Even in Tehanu, which I had not read before, everything is eventually revealed.

A Wizard of Earthsea

All four stories can be seen as about a person or persons becoming themselves, often by transitioning from childhood to adulthood. This is externalized in a literal way in this story through the movements of the main character. I was surprised at how masculine the tale seemed, with the principal character being male and his important relationships being with other men. The story is impressively expansive for a short book and is a traditional bildungsroman with more dragons than one usually encounters.

The Tombs of Atuan

In this story, the journey towards person-hood is externalized as the principal character is thrust into the position of High Priestess, which is also a form of imprisonment in a temple complex in the desert. The story reminds me a little of school stories, with a closed, same-sex environment and a degree of learning in the background. It has a hauntingly atmospheric quality.

The Farthest Shore

This is more like the first book, with the learner of the first book becoming the teacher in the third. The younger man tells the older one a pointed joke about a child with a stone for a teacher. It's a very grim book, but not in a violent way.

Tehanu

This book is almost shockingly domestic in its setting, with all the action taking place in a few locations on a small island. It shows the consequences of the events in the previous book and features the question of why men hate women, which is a new theme in the context of these Earthsea stories. Despite its limited scale and geographical scope, the characters' concerns make up for it.

Last Words

The blurb on the back cover compared Le Guin to Tolkien and C.S. Lewis, but I think she was a leaner writer with broader interests. She ploughed her own furrow, especially with regard to Tao and Taoism. In Earthsea, wizards have to learn not to use magic, an idea that Terry Pratchett later took up.

One of the most beautiful stories that I have read, the characters are endearing. A sister recommended it to me and I doubted at first. However, I would really have missed out on something if I hadn't read it. I absolutely loved it!

The story had a captivating plot that kept me engaged from beginning to end. The characters were well-developed and had unique personalities. I could easily relate to them and their emotions.

My sister's recommendation was spot-on. I'm so glad I gave this story a chance. It has become one of my favorites and I would highly recommend it to others.

A wizard of Earthsea - 3 stars

At first, I was a bit put off by the old style of this book. However, as I got used to it, I found it to be quite entertaining. The world of wizards and magic that Ursula K. Le Guin has created is truly fascinating. There are many different spells and abilities that the wizards possess, and it was interesting to see how they used them in different situations.

The tombs of Atuan - 4 stars

This is my absolute favourite book in the series. The story is dark and mysterious, yet also beautiful and captivating. The main character, Tenar, is a strong and independent young woman who must face many challenges and overcome her fears. The setting of the tombs and the ancient rituals that take place there add to the overall atmosphere of the book.

The farthest shore - 2 stars

I have to say that this book was incredibly boring and confusing for me. The story seemed to jump around a lot, and I had a hard time following what was going on. There were also a lot of new characters introduced, which made it even more difficult to keep track of the plot.

Tehanu - 3 stars

This book is very different from the others in the series. Even though not much happens in terms of action, it still managed to stay interesting. The focus is more on the characters and their relationships, and it was nice to see how they developed over time. The themes of loss, grief, and acceptance are explored in a very moving and powerful way.

At last, I have triumphed over Earthsea. I deliberately employ the term 'defeated' because, ye gods, this collection was a laborious read. While I did, for the most part, relish my foray into Earthsea, I found the archaic writing style to be extremely dense and difficult to engage with. Given the ebb and flow of each book's narrative in addition to this, I had to take a one-book break after The Tombs of Atuan, simply because I was so tired of having to exert so much effort on something that I do for leisure. I never despised my reading experience enough to DNF. In fact, I thought the stories were rather good. But finishing this thing still feels like an accomplishment.

I can observe in many reviews preceding mine that people extol Ursula K. Le Guin for her economical writing style ('not one word wasted', 'elegant prose', etc.). Regrettably, this is not an opinion that I share. I find Le Guin's style to be verbose, flowery, and entirely unengaging. While I do understand that this book is 'old', and I love a good classic as much as the next person (check out my Favourites shelf), I do not have as much patience with books written in this manner and published beyond the 1950s (A Wizard of Earthsea was first published in 1968). When vivid and snappy books like James M. Cain's Mildred Pierce, published way back in 1941, exist, there truly is no excuse.

I also felt that there was an inordinate amount of name-dropping in place of genuine world-building. I had to constantly refer to the map at the front of the book. This admittedly improved as the books progressed, and by the end of my reading, it was abundantly clear to me that Ursula K. Le Guin had invested a great deal of work and thought into the world of Earthsea. I just wish she had written about it in a way that I cared about.

The collection commences with A Wizard of Earthsea, which chronicles the early years of a young wizard named Ged as he learns magecraft at a school for wizards on the isle of Roke. Talented yet arrogant, Ged attempts to outshine a rival by summoning the dead but accidentally summons a'shadow' instead. Of the four stories, this was perhaps the most 'epic', and I did indeed enjoy it. I appreciated the message of balance and acceptance, even if it was tiresome to read. Rating: 3/5 stars.

Of the original trilogy, book 2 (The Tombs of Atuan) was my favourite. Unlike the previous book, which followed Ged across Earthsea over a span of many years, The Tombs of Atuan takes place almost entirely within a labyrinth, where the main character is actually Ged's antagonist - a young and brainwashed priestess named Tenar. I found Tenar to be a far more interesting protagonist than Ged. The action is subtle, the atmosphere claustrophobic, and the story is much more character-driven than the other two books in the trilogy. While A Wizard Of Earthsea and The Farthest Shore fall into the trap of merely narrating a series of events, The Tombs of Atuan takes its time, allowing everything to come alive and breathe. I adored this book. Rating: 4/5 stars.

To my great dismay, The Farthest Shore reverted to the sins of the first book (telling, not showing; bouncing around the map like a ping-pong ball, and flat characters). Again, I appreciated the messages regarding the delicate balance between life and death. Some of the physical descriptions of dragons were truly awe-inspiring, and the final showdown in the Dry Lands was so ingenious and powerful, and filled with pathos. I saw the influences on Robin Hobb most strongly in this book. But again, the writing was just so tedious... I found it incredibly difficult to care. And I did not enjoy it as much as either Book 1 or 2. Rating: 2/5 stars.

Then we come to Tehanu. Ah, Tehanu... Tehanu reads almost exactly as I would envision a fourth book in a previously concluded trilogy would read (published 18 years later, no less): disjointed and disappointing. Once more, Tenar is the protagonist in this book, but she is older, different, and essentially exists only to reverse absolutely everything that has already been established in the first three books. Ged too suffers a similar character assassination to serve the same purpose. It is evident to me that Ursula K. Le Guin was offering commentary on her own work with Tehanu, carefully dissecting the inherent misogyny within her world and shining a spotlight on the marginalized. While I find this intention highly admirable and the idea very interesting, the execution is clumsy and extremely heavy-handed. It is also very dated and overly reliant on gender essentialism (yes, I understand that this book was written in the 90s and things were vastly different back then - it's still an issue). The writing style is so different from the previous books as to be positively jarring. Tonally, it is also different. The original trilogy was published as a children's book, but Tehanu is decidedly adult. Rape, sex, torture, murder... It's all here, folks. While this isn't necessarily a bad thing - in fact, I welcomed the darker turn - it is different. On top of that, the pacing was all over the place. The 'plot' (or lack thereof) meandered along at a snail's pace, only for things to become a little bit interesting and then abruptly halt - leaving several unanswered questions - in the space of about 25 pages. Unacceptable. Rating: 1/5 stars.

All this being said, overall, I am glad that I read the Earthsea quartet. I greatly appreciate just how formative and influential these books have been on the fantasy canon. My favourite fantasy author, Robin Hobb, has clearly been profoundly influenced by Ursula K. Le Guin's work. I saw the Realm of the Elderlings everywhere. But I also noticed some similarities to Philip Pullman, Terry Pratchett, J.K. Rowling... That aspect of things was really fascinating. It's always good to trace something back to its roots. Plus, I really did enjoy the vast majority of the stories, despite how they were written.

Overall rating: 2.5 stars - rounding up to 3.

Honestly, forget any of my previous thoughts on the Earthsea series. Looking back, this has to be one of the most significant and beautiful fantasy series written in the 20th century, or ever, for that matter.

The Earthsea series is truly a masterpiece. It takes readers on a captivating journey through a rich and enchanting world. The characters are well-developed and relatable, and the storylines are engaging and full of depth. Ursula K. Le Guin's writing is both poetic and powerful, creating a vivid and immersive reading experience.

Each book in the series builds upon the others, adding new layers and dimensions to the overall narrative. From the first installment, "A Wizard of Earthsea," to the final book, "The Other Wind," readers are drawn into a world of magic, adventure, and self-discovery. The themes explored in the series, such as the balance of power, the importance of responsibility, and the search for identity, are timeless and universal.

In conclusion, the Earthsea series is a must-read for any fan of fantasy literature. It is a work of art that will leave a lasting impression on readers of all ages.

Book 1, A Wizard of Earthsea, is a sweet and Tolkien-ish tale.

Here, a young and powerful wizard starts out arrogant and stupid but then gets humbled and has to correct his mistake. Although it's completely male-dominated, I still found enjoyment in it.

Book 2, Tombs of Atuan, I thought I liked while reading.

However, afterwards I realized how incredibly sexist it was. A girl lives with a group of other women and girls who are all naive and petty, doing absurd things to worship nonexistent gods. Then a man arrives, shows the girl how stupid they all are, and rescues her from the other silly women. Now, that's all I can remember about it, and I have no memory of what I actually enjoyed while reading.

Book 3, The Farthest Shore, is a return to a story more in the style of book 1 but a bit more grown-up.

Yet, it was a bit confusing. It's the classic tale of nutters doing nutty things and destroying their lives in pursuit of immortality or something.

Book 4, Tehanu, gave me the strong impression that the author received a lot of criticism for how sexist or male-centered the previous three books were and then went too far in the opposite direction in this one.

I didn't really notice much of a plot. It just seemed to be about how women are hard done by for putting up with men's crap and how fragile the male ego is. It was all very strange.

General comment on this as a book: It was a very strange grouping.

The first three books formed a quite obvious trilogy, and then the fourth seemed like the beginning of another set of some kind. A compilation of just the first three would have made a lot more sense.

It has been nearly thirty years since I first delved into the world of A Wizard of Earthsea. I am certain that I read most, if not all, of the first three books. However, my memory of them beyond the first novel is rather hazy. If I did indeed read them all, I suspect that at that time, I failed to fully appreciate the incredible literary achievement that they represent. My younger self would have preferred the characters to remain static throughout the series, unchanging in their roles. But what Ursula K. Le Guin has ultimately given us is a mature, nuanced, and utterly compelling sequence of novels. These books build upon each other in a way that I don't recall seeing in any other fantasy series. (To be fair, I haven't read a great deal of fantasy in the past two decades.) Even in the works of J.R.R. Tolkien, the grandmaster of the genre, the characters are relatively fixed from the very beginning. Events occur to and around them, but the emphasis is placed firmly on the plot. In contrast, here in the Earthsea series, although it is clear who the good and bad guys are, Le Guin presents us with the arc of an entire life set against a tumultuous backdrop. She allows us to witness the evolution and maturation of the characters from youth to late middle age as they grapple with evil and with themselves. From the conclusion of the first novel, we can see that there is a significant philosophical undercurrent to the writing. But with all four books fresh in my mind, it is the fourth, Tehanu, where the whole concept truly blossoms. In terms of tone, setting, and character, it is very much a continuation of the trilogy. However, the scope of the action and the far more nuanced intent reveal the extent to which Le Guin's own skill and concerns as an author developed during the eighteen years that elapsed between The Farthest Shore and Tehanu. I cannot stress enough the importance of reading these books in quick succession to fully enjoy this effect. I see that there is another installment, The Other Wind, which was published eleven years after "the last book of Earthsea" (Tehanu's subtitle). I am now off to the library to track down a copy. Honestly, though, it is difficult to imagine anything capping the series more effectively and appropriately than the fourth novel.

The Earthsea Quartet by Ursula LeGuin is a remarkable collection. It contains the first four of her Earthsea novels, with a total of five novels now, along with a collection of short stories. Earthsea is a vast archipelago, some islands inhabited by dragons and most by humans. It's a well-realized world that avoids getting lost in unnecessary details, unlike many other fantasy series. LeGuin keeps it simple in both world-building and style. Her writing is sparse and detached, which suits the philosophical themes she explores. It's also nearly sexless, giving the stories an archaic and Tolkienesque feel.

What truly sets The Earthsea Quartet apart is its concept of magic. It involves knowing the true names of things, the names given at creation, many of which are now forgotten. In LeGuin's universe, power comes from knowing these true names. People like Ged, the hero of the quartet, who can divine true names, are potentially very powerful. However, Ged doesn't care about power. He only wants to keep Earthsea safe, which means preventing other wizards from using too much magic. The central idea is that using too much magic can upset the world's equilibrium, with potentially disastrous consequences. So, while great feats of magic do occur, they are rare and not as prominent as in other fantasy series.

LeGuin also has an interesting take on evil. In the first three books, evil is a nameless and faceless force, adding mystery and dread. The fourth book, Tehanu, is different. It gives evil a human face and has a more familiar setting. Some readers may like this, but for me, it loses the mythical quality of the first three books. Additionally, Tehanu has a strong feminist slant that I don't particularly like. I much prefer the earlier, ideology-free books. If you can only read one, I recommend The Tombs of Atuan. It's an excellent story set in an underground labyrinth, adding a sense of claustrophobia. A life-and-death struggle in a dark place with no escape - it's a great read. More in-depth reviews of each book can be found at the links provided.

I have an intense love for Ursula K. Le Guin. Her works are truly phenomenal.

The impact her writing has had on me is so profound that I am seriously considering purchasing a collector's edition. This way, I can fully immerse myself in reading the last two books of her series and also explore the short stories she has written.

Le Guin's ability to create rich and complex worlds, filled with diverse characters and thought-provoking themes, is truly remarkable. Her writing style is both engaging and lyrical, drawing the reader in and keeping them hooked until the very end.

Owning a collector's edition would not only allow me to have a beautiful set of her works on my bookshelf but also give me the opportunity to study and appreciate her writing even more deeply. It would be a treasure trove of literary genius that I could return to again and again.

I can't wait to get my hands on that collector's edition and continue my journey through the wonderful world of Ursula K. Le Guin.