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al3x's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
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
5.0
A Wizard of Earthsea
I cannot believe how masterfully LeGuin started this story. She introduced the magic system, the main character and his family, his standing in life and his relationship to magic, and a battle in his village with Viking-like invaders that the young protagonist helps in defeating. All this within the first few couple of pages. Absolutely masterful writer.
I feel so bad for not having gone into her work sooner.
The first book introduces us to Dunny, a naturally magic gifted boy that does some dumb stuff in his childhood. He is rude, petty, and quite frankly a pest sometimes. This characterization of him made it glaringly obvious that he will get a huge slap on the wrist for something dumb he will do, which will teach him humility. Lo and behold that exact thing happened.
Wizard of Earthsea is a short tale and it’s very easy to read. It has a clear-cut character development arc, one that is predictable, but satisfying.
The antagonist of the story was someone I had guessed from the beginning of his introduction, but it didn’t make it any less satisfactory when it was revealed.
I like how the magic system relies on names, and how Dunny, goes from his childhood name to Ged his true name, and then to Sparrowhawk, his use name. It’s an interesting concept.
The world is very intriguing. Most people in Earthsea are relegated to islands, and most are people of colour. The only people that are white were the invaders at the beginning, and I absolutely love this. I can also imagine why this book didn’t get as much attention in the ’60s, ’70s and even further. It’s sad that this, and the fact that the writer was a woman is what made Earthsea so sidelined, despite it having a brilliant story that could compete with other similar stories at the time.
Nevertheless, A Wizard of Earthsea is a beautiful story, with masterful writing, and of course, dragons.
The tombs of Atuan
I’ll admit, I was a little confused when I first started reading Tombs of Atuan. I was expecting, and was very curious, to see more of Ged’s story. But the main character of this next book in the series was a young girl, Arha. A reincarnated priestess, presiding over some ancient catacombs blanketed in darkness that she needs to learn to navigate and absolutely not rely on any source of light.
As confusing as it seemed at first, again LeGuin’s writing and characterisation pulled me in, and I began to feel more and more curious. The place, or island, where this story was taking place was none other than the very same one that the invaders came from in Ged’s village at the beginning of the first book.
We didn’t get to see the lives of the ordinary people of this place, instead, we explored the life of this religious figure and her struggles with faith. I thoroughly enjoyed the first book, but Tombs was even more interesting than I could have imagined. Maybe because of my own struggles with faith in a higher power, who knows, but Arha’s confidence in her faith that slowly started to wane was very sad and weirdly empowering for her at the same time.
Her meeting with Ged was an interesting shift in character dynamics. Especially since we now discover a more mature Ged. He is very wise, patient and confident. No longer that petty child, desperate to prove himself, and much older than the young priestess that confronts him. He manages to strip the last drops of faith Arha may have had in her beliefs and at the end he gifts Arha her true name: Tenar. A name she had used as a child but which she had long left behind. Since names hold power in this world, Tenar basically gets her power back with her name.
This story of losing faith made me a little sad. The ending itself seems a little sad, at least from Tenar’s perspective. We never really get a sense of what Ged might be feeling, as he is not the one we are following along in the story, so it’s hard to understand what he might be going through. Ged had come to the Tombs to steal something, and having been successful, he returns with Tenar to the inner isles.
The farthest shore
Again another shift in protagonist, we have Arren, a prince that comes to meet the Archmage of Roke, Sparrowhawk. The two are to travel together to find out what is happening with the magic in the world as it seems to be fading away, and even people who knew of the existence of magic, are negating it ever existed in the first place.
This book was slower, to me at least. It felt moodier in a way. Ged’s and Arren’s relationship is very quiet; they barely speak if at all. I couldn’t help but feel like the young man was crushing on the wizard a little bit, but maybe that was in my head.
They have this very long journey and encountered so many oddities. It almost feels like horror at times. They do get to find out what is happening with the magic and are able to stop it.
The prince becomes a king, and the wizard returns home on the back of a dragon. I’m trying very hard not to spoil anything, these are just the bare bones of what happened.
It was very interesting how this epic dragon flight at the end actually happens. The dragon offers Ged a lift not because he was tamed but the wizard, but because he respects Ged. And the ride is not in any way pleasant, as we will find out in the next book.
Tehanu
This last entry was my favourite, but I only knew it was my favourite at the very end. It’s slow, very slow, and you don't really know where the story is going. We follow Tenar again, who now goes by Goha on Gont, Ged’s home island. We find that she had refused to be treated as nobility on Havrnor, and came to Gont with Ged.
She got married, had kids, became a widow, and now her kids are either away or married and she cares for a very severely burnt child names Therru. Ogion, Ged’s first mentor, had taken care of her for a time, and now Goha is going to Ogion’s house because he is sick.
She makes a very difficult journey with Therru in tow, as she can't leave the girl, and stays with Ogion until he dies. She was hoping Ged would return in time to be with his former master in magic as he died, but alas he did not come.
Goha lingers for a while yet after Ogion dies, and she was right to do so because Ged did finally come.
Ged arrives on Gont the back of a dragon and the way LeGuin chose to write this scene is very interesting. Ged experiences burns and cuts from the dragon’s back. His hand is cut, he’s nestling in a small nook between the dragon’s scales and it hurt the wizard quite a lot.
Tenar took care of him and here is where this book became so beautiful. LeGuin gives us so much information on her world, but it also seems like she was discovering and adding things to Earthsea as her opinions changed throughout the years.
We have heard the phrase “weak as women's magic, wicked as women's magic” many times in her previous books. Women have magic but only men get to go to Roke Island where the wizard school is, and only men become wizards. Men’s magic is seen as respectful while women’s sorcery is reviled and seen as unclean.
In this book, we also discover that wizards have to celibate otherwise they forgo their magic. But it might not be true, because women don't become celibate and they still have magic. The way in which this dynamic is explored is absolutely beautiful. Women are still the lowest of the low in society, but LeGuin seems to be adding more to them. Women’s magic sounds more complex.
Tenar, although not a full witch herself, does have her own sliver of magic as she did learn some words of power from Ogion. She was able to talk with the dragon that brought Ged. Only wizards are able to talk to dragons, and even if they are able they might still become a snack, so Tenar’s wisdom is evident.
We see a dynamic between Tenar and Ged that is reversed. She is the confident, wise, and strong one, while Ged is weak, pitiful, and self-deprecating. Ged thinks he is nothing without his magic which he lost, and seems quite depressed. Even after Tenar helps and cares for him he still stays in this moody depressive state, until he just leaves.
Tenar then has to leave Ogion’s home herself and return to her own home. The two do meet again, as Ged helps Tenar when her home gets attacked by some ruffians. A few other quarrels happen with a local sorcerer that hates Tenar but they get out of the situation in a very surprising war. Therru is more special than she led on as we find out later.
Ged and Tenar finally, FINALLY, remain together. Tenar then teaches Ged some other magic and I’m assuming it’s sex, LeGuin is very delicate here but she does ship these two together, which made my day.
There are some other side conflicts here but I don't want to spoil them, suffice to say it ended quite nicely.
I cannot believe how masterfully LeGuin started this story. She introduced the magic system, the main character and his family, his standing in life and his relationship to magic, and a battle in his village with Viking-like invaders that the young protagonist helps in defeating. All this within the first few couple of pages. Absolutely masterful writer.
I feel so bad for not having gone into her work sooner.
The first book introduces us to Dunny, a naturally magic gifted boy that does some dumb stuff in his childhood. He is rude, petty, and quite frankly a pest sometimes. This characterization of him made it glaringly obvious that he will get a huge slap on the wrist for something dumb he will do, which will teach him humility. Lo and behold that exact thing happened.
Wizard of Earthsea is a short tale and it’s very easy to read. It has a clear-cut character development arc, one that is predictable, but satisfying.
The antagonist of the story was someone I had guessed from the beginning of his introduction, but it didn’t make it any less satisfactory when it was revealed.
I like how the magic system relies on names, and how Dunny, goes from his childhood name to Ged his true name, and then to Sparrowhawk, his use name. It’s an interesting concept.
The world is very intriguing. Most people in Earthsea are relegated to islands, and most are people of colour. The only people that are white were the invaders at the beginning, and I absolutely love this. I can also imagine why this book didn’t get as much attention in the ’60s, ’70s and even further. It’s sad that this, and the fact that the writer was a woman is what made Earthsea so sidelined, despite it having a brilliant story that could compete with other similar stories at the time.
Nevertheless, A Wizard of Earthsea is a beautiful story, with masterful writing, and of course, dragons.
The tombs of Atuan
I’ll admit, I was a little confused when I first started reading Tombs of Atuan. I was expecting, and was very curious, to see more of Ged’s story. But the main character of this next book in the series was a young girl, Arha. A reincarnated priestess, presiding over some ancient catacombs blanketed in darkness that she needs to learn to navigate and absolutely not rely on any source of light.
As confusing as it seemed at first, again LeGuin’s writing and characterisation pulled me in, and I began to feel more and more curious. The place, or island, where this story was taking place was none other than the very same one that the invaders came from in Ged’s village at the beginning of the first book.
We didn’t get to see the lives of the ordinary people of this place, instead, we explored the life of this religious figure and her struggles with faith. I thoroughly enjoyed the first book, but Tombs was even more interesting than I could have imagined. Maybe because of my own struggles with faith in a higher power, who knows, but Arha’s confidence in her faith that slowly started to wane was very sad and weirdly empowering for her at the same time.
Her meeting with Ged was an interesting shift in character dynamics. Especially since we now discover a more mature Ged. He is very wise, patient and confident. No longer that petty child, desperate to prove himself, and much older than the young priestess that confronts him. He manages to strip the last drops of faith Arha may have had in her beliefs and at the end he gifts Arha her true name: Tenar. A name she had used as a child but which she had long left behind. Since names hold power in this world, Tenar basically gets her power back with her name.
This story of losing faith made me a little sad. The ending itself seems a little sad, at least from Tenar’s perspective. We never really get a sense of what Ged might be feeling, as he is not the one we are following along in the story, so it’s hard to understand what he might be going through. Ged had come to the Tombs to steal something, and having been successful, he returns with Tenar to the inner isles.
The farthest shore
Again another shift in protagonist, we have Arren, a prince that comes to meet the Archmage of Roke, Sparrowhawk. The two are to travel together to find out what is happening with the magic in the world as it seems to be fading away, and even people who knew of the existence of magic, are negating it ever existed in the first place.
This book was slower, to me at least. It felt moodier in a way. Ged’s and Arren’s relationship is very quiet; they barely speak if at all. I couldn’t help but feel like the young man was crushing on the wizard a little bit, but maybe that was in my head.
They have this very long journey and encountered so many oddities. It almost feels like horror at times. They do get to find out what is happening with the magic and are able to stop it.
The prince becomes a king, and the wizard returns home on the back of a dragon. I’m trying very hard not to spoil anything, these are just the bare bones of what happened.
It was very interesting how this epic dragon flight at the end actually happens. The dragon offers Ged a lift not because he was tamed but the wizard, but because he respects Ged. And the ride is not in any way pleasant, as we will find out in the next book.
Tehanu
This last entry was my favourite, but I only knew it was my favourite at the very end. It’s slow, very slow, and you don't really know where the story is going. We follow Tenar again, who now goes by Goha on Gont, Ged’s home island. We find that she had refused to be treated as nobility on Havrnor, and came to Gont with Ged.
She got married, had kids, became a widow, and now her kids are either away or married and she cares for a very severely burnt child names Therru. Ogion, Ged’s first mentor, had taken care of her for a time, and now Goha is going to Ogion’s house because he is sick.
She makes a very difficult journey with Therru in tow, as she can't leave the girl, and stays with Ogion until he dies. She was hoping Ged would return in time to be with his former master in magic as he died, but alas he did not come.
Goha lingers for a while yet after Ogion dies, and she was right to do so because Ged did finally come.
Ged arrives on Gont the back of a dragon and the way LeGuin chose to write this scene is very interesting. Ged experiences burns and cuts from the dragon’s back. His hand is cut, he’s nestling in a small nook between the dragon’s scales and it hurt the wizard quite a lot.
Tenar took care of him and here is where this book became so beautiful. LeGuin gives us so much information on her world, but it also seems like she was discovering and adding things to Earthsea as her opinions changed throughout the years.
We have heard the phrase “weak as women's magic, wicked as women's magic” many times in her previous books. Women have magic but only men get to go to Roke Island where the wizard school is, and only men become wizards. Men’s magic is seen as respectful while women’s sorcery is reviled and seen as unclean.
In this book, we also discover that wizards have to celibate otherwise they forgo their magic. But it might not be true, because women don't become celibate and they still have magic. The way in which this dynamic is explored is absolutely beautiful. Women are still the lowest of the low in society, but LeGuin seems to be adding more to them. Women’s magic sounds more complex.
Tenar, although not a full witch herself, does have her own sliver of magic as she did learn some words of power from Ogion. She was able to talk with the dragon that brought Ged. Only wizards are able to talk to dragons, and even if they are able they might still become a snack, so Tenar’s wisdom is evident.
We see a dynamic between Tenar and Ged that is reversed. She is the confident, wise, and strong one, while Ged is weak, pitiful, and self-deprecating. Ged thinks he is nothing without his magic which he lost, and seems quite depressed. Even after Tenar helps and cares for him he still stays in this moody depressive state, until he just leaves.
Tenar then has to leave Ogion’s home herself and return to her own home. The two do meet again, as Ged helps Tenar when her home gets attacked by some ruffians. A few other quarrels happen with a local sorcerer that hates Tenar but they get out of the situation in a very surprising war. Therru is more special than she led on as we find out later.
Ged and Tenar finally, FINALLY, remain together. Tenar then teaches Ged some other magic and I’m assuming it’s sex, LeGuin is very delicate here but she does ship these two together, which made my day.
There are some other side conflicts here but I don't want to spoil them, suffice to say it ended quite nicely.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Misogyny, Sexism, and Slavery
Minor: War, Violence, Torture, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Sexual violence
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