The Earthsea Series by Ursula K. Le Guin

[Werthead]

Book 1: A Wizard of Earthsea

When Karg raiders attack the island of Gont, the inhabitants of a small village are saved by a young boy who has discovered that he has magical powers. A sorcerer directs him to the island of Roke to there learn the ways of wizardry and controlling his abilities. Ged, as he becomes known, shows great promise but his pride is his downfall: an arrogant display of magical power goes awry, and unleashes a dark evil upon the world which only Ged can defeat.

Originally published in 1968, Ursula K. Le Guin's A Wizard of Earthsea has become an acknowledged classic and required reading in the fantasy canon. Fantasy was in a far more nascent state in the 1960s than now, with the genre divided between more literary works (such as Gormenghast) and action-driven swords and sorcery adventures, such as the Conan tales by Robert E. Howard. However, the immense success of The Lord of the Rings had driven publishers to seek out or even commission more work in the genre. Le Guin agreed to write a story about a wizard, inspired by the idea of what Merlin was like when he was a child. For a setting Le Guin was struck by Earthsea, a vast archipelago of hundreds of islands she'd created for a couple of short stories in 1964, and began work on a story that expanded the detail of the setting considerably.

She also tremendously popularised the "wizarding school" idea later used to blockbuster effect by J.K. Rowling. Le Guin didn't create the trope, which was first deployed by T.H. White in The Sword in the Stone (1939) and then by Theodore Cogswell in "The Wall Around the World" (1953), Robert Sheckley in "The Accountant" (1954) and Eleanor Estes in The Witch Family (1960), but she certainly ran with it.

A Wizard of Earthsea is still, however, a work that wrong-foots the audience. Most such fantasy tales feature the hero encountering an external threat (a monster, a dragon, an enemy wizard, a dark lord) and working to overcome it with their wits, skills and the help of friends they meet upon the way. This book doesn't do that: instead, Ged's primary opponent is himself, his own hubris, arrogance and the dark shadow of his own soul. His enemy is his internal fears and weaknesses, given form. The result is a profoundly introspective book about a character having to find himself and grow up, but where the metaphor becomes literal.

It's an audacious and, I suspect, slightly bemusing idea for younger children, but it certainly adds a tremendous amount of depth to the character of Ged, helping him avoid being a traditional "chosen one" hero figure. Before he can do any heroics in the future, he has to first come to terms with himself.

Which isn't to say that Le Guin skimps on the other elements required for a classic fantasy. The worldbuilding is excellent and atmospheric, the small secondary cast of characters is well-drawn, and for such a short book there's quite a few memorable set-pieces, running from Ged defeating the Karg raiders with his wits, to his mage-duel with Jasper which goes horribly wrong to his epic confrontation with the Dragon of Pendor. The book also touches on the value of friendship and the true nature of a hero.

A Wizard of Earthsea (*****) is fifty years old this year, but with its focus on internal conflict and its sophisticated worldbuilding, feels fresher and more vibrant than ever. It works well as both a stand-alone novel and as the opening novel of the six-book Earthsea sequence. It is available now in the UK and USA as part of The Books of Earthsea omnibus edition.

 

[HareBrain]

I don't remember an eagle in the story?

 

[farntfar]

It's presumably a Sparrowhawk HB.

Ged, as he becomes known

He "becomes known" as Sparrowhawk, not Ged surely, which was his true name and therefore kept fairly secret.

 

[HareBrain]

Yes, you're probably right, thinking about it. It's a very inaccurate depiction, though.

 

[Extollager]

We had a Chrons exclusive a few years ago with Ursula Le Guin, with information about the sparrowhawk.

Ms. Le Guin on which kind of Sparrowhawk

 

[Werthead]

Book 2: The Tombs of Atuan

Tenar is the high priestess of the Nameless Ones. She serves at the Tombs of Atuan, deep within the Kargish Empire, a place of rote and ritual. Despite the importance of her role she feels lonely and listless...until the day a wizard comes to her island.

The Tombs of Atuan (originally published in 1971) is the second novel in Ursula K. Le Guin's classic Earthsea sequence of novels, set in an enormous archipelago. It is not a direct sequel to A Wizard of Earthsea, the preceding novel, and in fact feels like a companion book more than a successor. The book focuses almost exclusively on the new character of Tenar, with the book's connection to A Wizard of Earthsea not becoming clearer until later on.

Tenar is an interesting character and it's a surprise to learn that she is Le Guin's first major female protagonist. Tenar is painted in Le Guin's traditional depth, as we get to know this young woman who combines curiosity, ruthlessness, loneliness and leadership skills. The book also inverts its presentation of Ged from the earlier novel. A Wizard of Earthsea was, for all of its travelling and epic journeys and mighty set-pieces, a deeply internal story of a boy finding out who he really is and making peace with himself. The Tombs of Atuan, being told entirely from Tenar's POV, instead allows us to meet and see Ged as strangers see him, wholly externally with only hints at what's going on under the surface. Thus our understanding of the main character of the series is expanded.

Le Guin's prose is powerful and evocative, and it's interesting in this novel that she flips the setting and feel of the earlier book on its head. A Wizard of Earthsea took place on land and sea under the sky, with the wind blowing in the characters' faces and freedom all around them, even as they were forced into a confrontation with a dark force they didn't understand. The Tombs of Atuan takes place almost entirely underground, our characters sometimes literally stifled and near-entombed under the earth, in claustrophobic surroundings. Le Guin nails this oppressive, stifled atmosphere and the elation the characters experience when they finally escape (not a spoiler, hopefully, since this is Book 2 of a six-book series).

There are some weaknesses to the novel. This is a short book, but even so, it does feel like an extended single episode rather than a novel-length narrative. Indeed, the book started as a short story for a magazine and had to be expanded to a longer word count for commercial reasons. It feels like maybe this should have been the opening section of a longer novel exploring more of Tenar's character (and it feels like her development is cut off just as it was starting to get interesting, and won't be revisited until the fourth book of the series) or remained as a short story. As it stands, the story feels a bit too slight and claustrophobic to sustain a full novel, despite the strengths of the writing and characterisation.

The Tombs of Atuan (****) is a slight story and perhaps a tad underwhelming compared to A Wizard of Earthsea, but it remains an ambitious and fascinating novel. Le Guin's writing power and her mastery of character is on full display. It is available now in the UK and USA as part of The Books of Earthsea omnibus edition.

 

[HareBrain]

The Tombs of Atuan is my favourite of the original trilogy. It absolutely nails that feeling of an ancient chthonic religion that has almost been forgotten and is hanging on by a few shreds of ritual, but which, when challenged by something fresh and new, still shows itself to have a dark, bitter power. (That might, to be fair, be a feeling unique to this book.) I think it's the book in this series that most shows le Guin's anthropological knowledge.

 

[CTRandall]

I second the Great Rabbit's comments. Out of the series, The Tombs of Atuan is the one that stands clearest in my mind.

On a different note, after recently reading Madeline Miller's Circe, it occurred to me that I couldn't imagine that book without The Wizard of Earthsea as a predecessor. Despite all of Circe's travails, Miller defines her fundamental struggle as internal and psychological. It is Circe's attempt to escape herself (or at least a part of herself). Not to take away from Miller's storytelling--which is inspired--but echoes of Earthsea ring through much of the book. I found the connection quite pleasing and it would be interesting to know if Miller is a fan of Le Guin.

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

The Tombs of Atuan is my favourite of the original trilogy. It absolutely nails that feeling of an ancient chthonic religion that has almost been forgotten and is hanging on by a few shreds of ritual, but which, when challenged by something fresh and new, still shows itself to have a dark, bitter power. (That might, to be fair, be a feeling unique to this book.) I think it's the book in this series that most shows le Guin's anthropological knowledge.

I agree!

It's always been my favorite, too. But my favorite of all the Earthesea books, not just the original trilogy.

 

[HareBrain]

But my favorite of all the Earthesea books, not just the original trilogy.

I wouldn't like to firmly decide between it and Tehanu. I'd need another read of both first. But on reflection, it's certainly the one that made the deepest impression. I'll go further and say it perhaps made the deepest on me of any book I first read as an adult, similar to reading The Dark is Rising or The Grey King as a child.

(The Other Wind, sadly, I was very disappointed by. Another thread recently mentioned that le Guin was reluctant to return to Earthsea, and I think it shows.)

 

[Hugh]

"The Tombs of Atuan". I can see it'll be good to re-read this before long. The other three of those first four are all part of my inner landscape (whatever that means). They connected with me in some helpful way that gave meaning/ expression to the place I was in. It's not that Atuan was not a good story, it's just that there was not that inner connection. I'll give it another try in a while.
And yes "The Other Wind" disappointing. I thought at the time that it was as if she was trying to re-balance the Earthsea World in line with her evolving understanding of Taoism and patriarchy.

 

[farntfar]

Another vote for the Tombs of Atuan as the best book in the series.

And I certainly preferred Tehanu to The Other Wind, which seemed like the final episode of a TV series often is: trying too hard to tie up all the loose ends.

Tales from Earthsea had already tied them up really, I felt.

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

I wouldn't like to firmly decide between it and Tehanu.)

I admired Tehanu, but it didn't pull me in like the first trilogy did (and does). I was impressed with some of the things that she was doing, which were fairly groundbreaking at the time, but story and characters were not as immersive for me.

 

[Werthead]

Book 3: The Farthest Shore

Magic is losing its power throughout Earthsea. Ged, now the Archmage of Roke, decides to investigate and embarks on a fateful voyage which will take him to distant corners of the archipelago. He is accompanied by Arren, Prince of Enlad, a young man who is also seeking his own destiny and fulfilment.

The Farthest Shore (1972) concludes the original Earthsea trilogy, which was never meant to be a trilogy; Le Guin started work soon afterwards on a fourth book, Tehanu, but for various reasons it was delayed and not completed and published until 1990. Still, as a wrapping-up of storylines and character arcs from the three books it does thematically feel like the ending of a series.

At its core, The Farthest Shore is the story of confronting one's own demons and recognising the consequences for poor choices. In this sense the book feels like an echo of A Wizard of Earthsea (1968), the first novel in the series. In that novel Ged unleashes a dark shadow of himself into the world and has to find and confront it, which he eventually does at great cost. In The Farthest Shore the threat is more traditional, with Ged having acquired a nemesis in his adventures who now seeks revenge on Ged and domination over all the lands of Earthsea. In terms of the standard, trope-filled fantasy narrative, The Farthest Shore is the most traditional book in the series, with a callow young youth hero (Arren) learning wisdom from his mentor (Ged), who seeks out the enemy who would become a dark lord.

But this is a crude, reductionist reading of the story. As with the earlier Earthsea books and indeed much of Le Guin's work, the tone is melancholy rather than celebratory. Ged is a much older man than the last time we saw him and any hope that he may have found a life of happiness with Tenar (the protagonist of The Tombs of Atuan) appears to have been dashed. His life has been filled with great accomplishments and deeds, but Ged seems decidedly unhappy and bowed with the weight of responsibility. The decision to leave these behind and strike out himself in search of the answer to the mysteries afflicting the islands is clearly joyous. This novel, then, is the story of Ged resolving the lingering issues of his childhood and trying to find a way of achieving happiness in middle and older age; The Farthest Shore may therefore be the quintessential mid-life crisis novel, but with dragons.

As usual, Le Guin's inventiveness with worldbuilding and striking prose makes for an atmospheric and at times haunting story. Her characters are interesting, complex figures, although Arren occasionally risks blandness compared to Ged, his enemy and the dragons. The Tombs of Atuan was interesting in that it presented Ged solely from Tenar's point of view and gave us the external image of the character we spent all of A Wizard of Earthsea getting to know. The Farthest Shore gives us both, with Arren's view of Ged contrasting with Ged's own, less awe-inspired reflections.

This is therefore a sombre and at times dark book, but also one that is ultimately life-affirming, ending on a note that gives Ged and Earthsea hope for a much better future.

The Farthest Shore (****½) wraps up the opening Earthsea trilogy in fine, if occasionally maudlin, form. It is available now in the UK and USA as part of The Books of Earthsea omnibus edition.

 

[Ian Fortytwo]

Actually I only liked the first book. The rest of the series lost me.

 

[hitmouse]

I grew up with the original trilogy. I found the subsequent books to be disappointing.

 

[Werthead]

Book 4: Tehanu

Since leaving the Tombs of Atuan more than twenty years ago, the former priestess Tenar has found a new life and a new family on the island of Gont. When her husband dies and her son goes to sea, she finds herself alone. When an injured child comes into her care and the wizard Ged returns to his home island after an arduous journey, Tenar finds her life changing once more.

Tehanu is an unusual book. It is the fourth novel in the Earthsea series but it is very different in tone and content to the original trilogy. It is a quieter, more reflective book, less concerned with adventure than it is with the musings over the value of life, love, freedom, motherhood and responsibility.

The book focuses on Tenar, the main character of The Tombs of Atuan, the second book of the series. We learn that, despite the romantic tension between her and Ged, they never realised that affection and instead went their different ways, Ged rising to become Archmage of Earthsea (as seen in The Farthest Shore) and Tenar choosing a quiet life as a farmer's wife, despite being given the opportunity to live in luxury in Havnor or learn the ways of magic from Ged's old tutor. The book sees Tenar reflecting on her decisions, mixing satisfaction with raising two children well with regrets that perhaps she could have made other choices.

In this sense the book is about the hesitancy of middle age, when one is still young enough to find a new career or relationship or path to happiness, but old enough for some weariness and cynicism to set in. Tenar and Ged are now mature adults rather than the callow youths of their first meeting and now have to ask some serious questions about how they are going to spend their latter years.

The book is reflective but not devoid of incident. A forbidding enemy has arrived on the island and Ged and Tenar have to face down and defeat him. Dragons are seen and magic is performed. But Tehanu is not an epic fantasy novel of action and sorcery and explosions, but a book that uses fantasy to explore the common, human condition. On that level it is reflective and melancholy, but powerfully and beautifully written.

Tehanu (****½) is an introspective, quietly powerful fantasy novel. It is available now in the UK and USA as part of The Books of Earthsea omnibus edition.

 

[Mark_Harbinger]

I just wanted to mention Firelight, the marvelous short-story that ended The Earthsea Saga. Firelight was published posthumously in the Paris Review in 2018. One of the most moving things I've ever read. I think you can still find it online...

 

[Ambrose]

Firelight is in The Books of Earthsea, illustrated edition, Gollancz 2018,