Reviews with content warning for Ableism - Earthsea: The First Four Books

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Earthsea: The First Four Books by Ursula K. Le Guin

3 reviews

little_white's review

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adventurous challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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cookiecat73's review

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

wizard of earthsea - good, but predictable
the tombs of atuan - intresting, I liked it
the farthest shore - probably my least favourite of the four
tehanu - slightly mixed feelings about some parts, but might be my favourite?? very different to the others

I rarely get on too well with classics, and this was far from 5 stars, but still very good. World building was great, felt a little unoriginal, but it was written *before* most of the other fantasy that feels similar, so credit where credit is due.

I read for fun, so I rate books based on my enjoyment of them. This book is hard to rate - not just because it's actually 4 books which are all very different. Maybe I rated it too low, maybe I'll edit it later

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brnineworms's review

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adventurous challenging dark hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

A Wizard of Earthsea (1968) – 4.0☆

A typical coming-of-age fantasy adventure in many ways. It does carve out its own unique identity in its worldbuilding and its largely non-white cast, but otherwise it’s not particularly groundbreaking. And that’s okay – it doesn’t need to reinvent the wheel.

I liked the way real and perceived threats ended up blurring together, adding to the atmosphere of dread and despair. I also appreciate the way Ged’s sense of detachment came across through the narrative’s drifting from place to place and the transient cast of characters. Though, on the other hand, it did make it a bit difficult to get invested; by the time I met Jasper and Vetch, I’d already been conditioned not to get too attached. And it’s a little odd because, really, Ged isn’t all that detached? He does form meaningful relationships with people, it’s just that they occur offscreen (offpage?)

Similarly, we don’t really get to see the thought process behind Ged calling his shadow his own name.

The ending in general felt quite rushed, and I wish I had a better understanding of what Le Guin was going for thematically.

Still, I did enjoy A Wizard of Earthsea overall. I think it has a healthy balance of familiar tropes and innovation. Reading it was a nostalgic experience for me, as someone who used to devour fantasy novels as a kid :)

The Tombs of Atuan (1970) – 4.0☆

Now this one is interesting, both on its own and in conversation with A Wizard of Earthsea. Both are coming-of-age stories, but Wizard’s detachment is contrasted by Tombs’s claustrophobic atmosphere. The shadow metaphor is reworked and reused here, and the worldbuilding and mythos are expanded upon well.

The Tombs of Atuan can be interpreted a number of ways, especially when it comes to gender politics. Maybe it’s a feminist tale about a female protagonist asserting her own identity and gaining independence. Maybe it’s unfeminist because she ends up needing a heroic man to save her from the delusional women. And not only are these women delusional, they’re literally a man-hating cult – perhaps there’s an antifeminist message here? A transphobe might feel vindicated because Tenar’s real name is the one given to her by her parents and the cultists telling her otherwise are just conning themselves. A trans person may rejoice as Tenar reclaims her repressed identity and rejects the role that was forced onto her for completely arbitrary reasons. I’m not trying to identify any of these readings as Le Guin’s intent – I think that’s a fruitless endeavour. I just think it’s neat that a single story can be looked at through so many different lenses (though obviously I prefer some interpretations over others)

I must say I was a little disappointed by the introduction of racism into the world of Earthsea. I don’t mean that the story is racist or the author is racist, it’s just that there are racist characters in this story whereas in A Wizard of Earthsea people of varying skin tones seemed to coexist without this particular bigotry impacting their lives. It’s a shame because it seemed like Earthsea was this utopian racismless – maybe even raceless – society.

The Farthest Shore (1972) – 3.0☆

This is definitely a step down compared to the previous two instalments, but I wouldn’t say it’s outright bad. It’s fine? I think the themes of death and suicidality were handled fairly well,

and I like that Ged must once again confront his shadow, though in a less literal sense this time.

Unfortunately, The Farthest Shore isn’t particularly well written. It has many of the same weaknesses as A Wizard of Earthsea and, to a lesser extent, The Tombs of Atuan: exposition dumps, a lack of flow, an aimless plot wrapped up with a rushed ending, etc. The premise of this story is very cliché and Le Guin doesn’t really subvert it or add a fresh twist. It’s kind of generic. To me it reads like someone trying to write a fantasy story – it runs through the checklist of magic and dragons and royal lineages and so on, but it lacks depth and substance. The characters were flat, there was very little plot progression until the last few chapters, and the misanthropic belief that “men are savages” who need a king to establish “peace” goes unchallenged (for now – this line of thinking and other right wing biases are questioned in Tehanu).

The idea of Earthsea losing its magic is perhaps unintentionally meta...

Maybe I’m being a bit too harsh. In fairness, most of my disappointment stems from comparisons to A Wizard of Earthsea and The Tombs of Atuan which, in my opinion, are better-written stories. The Farthest Shore isn’t bad. But it’s not particularly good either.

Tehanu (1990) – 4.0☆

This is no quadrilogy; The Farthest Shore was the end of the Earthsea trilogy, and Tehanu is an addendum. As I mentioned before, Le Guin uses Tehanu as an opportunity to deconstruct some of her earlier biases, particularly the patriarchal aspects of Earthsea. I applaud her for taking this approach rather than doubling down or sweeping the matter under the rug – she assessed her own worldbuilding with a critical eye and expanded on it using her newfound feminist and anarchist philosophies. I feel strangely proud of her :)

Tehanu takes on a much different tone and scope compared to the stories that preceded it. Rather than an epic fantasy quest, this story is more concerned with domestic life and the everyday reality of existing as a woman in this world – “ordinary fears,” as Tenar puts it. It explores themes of power and privilege and ignorance as a tool of oppression. It’s a little on the nose at times but for the most part it’s handled with tact and grace. There are some absolutely iconic quotes, like “she had been told that men must not look into a dragon’s eyes, but that was nothing to her.”

I was actually considering rating Tehanu four and a half stars, but the ending brought it down to a round four. In typical Le Guin style, the story plods along, virtually plotless, then everything happens so much in the last couple of chapters. It just implodes. At least in The Farthest Shore Ged and Lebannen were ostensibly searching for the cause of magic’s disappearance; what happens here is shocking and absurd, and not in a good way.

Through the original trilogy, Ged has something of a genderbent maiden/mother/crone arc, then in Tehanu he’s free to be someone new. There’s also a neat transition from the abstract threats in A Wizard of Earthsea to the material threats in Tehanu.

I’ve mentioned a couple of times a recurrent flaw in Le Guin’s writing: the meandering flow ended abruptly by a waterfall. That said, her worldbuilding is fantastic and won me over. I think The Tombs of Atuan is probably my favourite of the set though I value them all (even The Farthest Shore)

I’m so glad I finally read these stories, and reading them back-to-back in one volume meant I could compare them and recognise similarities and differences between them that I otherwise might not have picked up on. I would definitely recommend this book to any fans of fantasy or people looking to get into fantasy.

I’ll probably read the other Earthsea stories at some point but I’m also curious about Le Guin’s sci-fi work, so maybe I’ll read some of those first.

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