Tales From Earthsea
In Tales From Earthsea, LeGuin departs from the novel format
to tell a collection of short stories set in various places and times in
Earthsea. Although short stories is, perhaps, a generous term. Two of
the five stories are closer to novellas in length.
Overall this book was more successful than LeGuin's previous Earthsea novels. The shorter length gives her writing a focus it definitely needs. There are no lengthy passages about sailing, no extended diatribes about the differences between men and women. Instead we get some neat character studies, woven together with some history of Earthsea.
The Finder is the longest of the five stories, taking up over 150 pages in my book. It tells the history of the wizard's school, how it was founded and why. And although I'm not quite sure I understand why the men decided to force their female peers out of the school, or why the women let them, it was fun to see this bit of Earthsea history, and to see what the world was like before there was a formal education system for the magically inclined.
Darkrose and Diamond is a very sweet love story about following your heart. The moral of this story is that happiness is better than power or money, and you can be just as successful if you follow your offbeat dream as you can in more traditional professions. This was probably my favorite story of the book - short and sweet.
The Bones of the Earth is an origin story of sorts for Ogion, the first teacher of Ged. It focuses on the event that led to Ogion's teacher ceding his position and status to Ogion through an impressive sacrifice to save the island. There are musings here on power and some refreshingly subtle commentary on society's views of gender and power.
On the High Marsh provides a nice bit of Ged's history wrapped up in a bit of a mystery. The central character in this story is a bit of an enigma and following him around was fun. While it would have been nice to have a slower, more natural reveal of his history, it's probably for the best that LeGuin kept this story short and straightforward.
Dragonfly bridges the events of Tehanu to the final book The Other Wind, though it doesn't seem to have any common characters with Tehanu. While Tehanu concerned itself with Ged and Tenar's lives after the changes they caused in the archipelago, Dragonfly focuses on how those changes are affecting the wizard's school at Roke. Another powerful woman with apparent ties to dragon heritage appears and stirs things up on Roke, forcing the division between the masters there to a head. I can only hope that the final book leads to a more equitable world with opportunities for girls to study magic alongside boys.
Overall this book was more successful than LeGuin's previous Earthsea novels. The shorter length gives her writing a focus it definitely needs. There are no lengthy passages about sailing, no extended diatribes about the differences between men and women. Instead we get some neat character studies, woven together with some history of Earthsea.
The Finder is the longest of the five stories, taking up over 150 pages in my book. It tells the history of the wizard's school, how it was founded and why. And although I'm not quite sure I understand why the men decided to force their female peers out of the school, or why the women let them, it was fun to see this bit of Earthsea history, and to see what the world was like before there was a formal education system for the magically inclined.
Darkrose and Diamond is a very sweet love story about following your heart. The moral of this story is that happiness is better than power or money, and you can be just as successful if you follow your offbeat dream as you can in more traditional professions. This was probably my favorite story of the book - short and sweet.
The Bones of the Earth is an origin story of sorts for Ogion, the first teacher of Ged. It focuses on the event that led to Ogion's teacher ceding his position and status to Ogion through an impressive sacrifice to save the island. There are musings here on power and some refreshingly subtle commentary on society's views of gender and power.
On the High Marsh provides a nice bit of Ged's history wrapped up in a bit of a mystery. The central character in this story is a bit of an enigma and following him around was fun. While it would have been nice to have a slower, more natural reveal of his history, it's probably for the best that LeGuin kept this story short and straightforward.
Dragonfly bridges the events of Tehanu to the final book The Other Wind, though it doesn't seem to have any common characters with Tehanu. While Tehanu concerned itself with Ged and Tenar's lives after the changes they caused in the archipelago, Dragonfly focuses on how those changes are affecting the wizard's school at Roke. Another powerful woman with apparent ties to dragon heritage appears and stirs things up on Roke, forcing the division between the masters there to a head. I can only hope that the final book leads to a more equitable world with opportunities for girls to study magic alongside boys.
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