The Earthsea Quartet
1 journaler for this copy...
Seems I forgot to register this. Bought last year at the Minster Bookshop.
This book contains the first four Earthsea books, so I am treating it as four books and may not necessarily read all four back to back. Today I finished reading the first one, A Wizard of Earthsea, which I really enjoyed. It felt like a mix of old Scandinavian sagas and Lord of the Rings. It's all imaginary, in a world of many many islands, all with made up names (obviously) and yet none of it reads as sounding a bit silly. It feels genuine. Not over explaining things helps. It's just good story telling. So, Ged aka Sparrowhawk grows up on this island of Gont, and discovers he has magical powers. He is sent to the island of Roke where there is a magician/wizard school (not Harry Potter style), where he learns his craft and has a bit of a feud with a lad called Jasper. They wind each other up, which leads Ged to do something very silly whilst being angry and showing off. He opens up reality to the other side to bring forth the spirit of a long dead witch, and unfortunately this shadow creature crawls out at the same time, almost kills him and then runs off into the wilderness to wait for its next chance to finish him off. It's never been alive and doesn't seem to rightly have a form. And it has no name, for it's from a place and an age where there were no names, or so the wise mages tell him. I'm not sure in reality whether it wasn't some kind of anti-Ged (rather like anti-matter). Anyway, he grows up, graduates, has a few adventures, but always there is this threat in the background of this 'monster' out after him, hunting him down. And in the hunt and the chase, they travel through Earthsea, trying to bring an end to it all.
Book Two: The Tombs of Atuan (finished 12/03/2019)
I love the old-world, almost dreamesque quality to the writing and the atmosphere Le Guin creates in these stories. Written in the 70s but they feel as though they could be old sagas. This tale is an interesting look at old religion, and believing in things because it always has been believed it - but not necesserily because it is so.
The Tombs of Atuan are in a desert where there are temples above ground and many priestesses to pray to the gods and keep things running. Most work for the godking and his luxurious temple. The godking being literally what it says; the ruling family of the group of islands who put themselves into god status a few generations back and put themselves higher than the old religion. On the site there is also a crumbling temple to the nameless ones, who exist in the darkness down in the caverns and labyrinths beneath the ground. This temple is managed by the ultimate high priestess, who is pretty much on her own here. When she dies the other priestesses go about the island looking for a baby girl born the moment the priestess dies. And this child is taken from its family at the age of five to be trained and serve this religion and these dark shadowy gods.
The story follows a little girl, Tenar, who is taken from her family and in the ceremony, essentially "eaten" so that she herself is gone, now known as Arha ("the eaten one") and her sole purpose is to serve her nameless gods. Which all sounds very noble and spiritual, but of course they are all real people living at this site, so there are jealousies and plotting and a bit of back stabbing. And although in theory she is no longer herself, Arha struggles with growing up and the fact that she is still a person with her own thoughts.
Only the priestess can go into the labyrinth, many rooms of which may never have light in them. One day she goes down and is horrified to discover a strange light in one such cavern. Worse still, a stranger is there - and a man. The sacriledge just keeps building up. She locks the door and makes sure he is trapped within the labyrinth. According to the religion she ought to have him killed, but her compassion stops her, and she finds herself sneaking down to find out who this person is. And here was I thinking this was a completely seperate story of Earthsea, but our favourite wizard, Sparrowhawk/Ged has turned up again on a mission.
Really enjoyed this story. Perhaps not the most fast paced or dramatic but very evocative and thoughtful.
I love the old-world, almost dreamesque quality to the writing and the atmosphere Le Guin creates in these stories. Written in the 70s but they feel as though they could be old sagas. This tale is an interesting look at old religion, and believing in things because it always has been believed it - but not necesserily because it is so.
The Tombs of Atuan are in a desert where there are temples above ground and many priestesses to pray to the gods and keep things running. Most work for the godking and his luxurious temple. The godking being literally what it says; the ruling family of the group of islands who put themselves into god status a few generations back and put themselves higher than the old religion. On the site there is also a crumbling temple to the nameless ones, who exist in the darkness down in the caverns and labyrinths beneath the ground. This temple is managed by the ultimate high priestess, who is pretty much on her own here. When she dies the other priestesses go about the island looking for a baby girl born the moment the priestess dies. And this child is taken from its family at the age of five to be trained and serve this religion and these dark shadowy gods.
The story follows a little girl, Tenar, who is taken from her family and in the ceremony, essentially "eaten" so that she herself is gone, now known as Arha ("the eaten one") and her sole purpose is to serve her nameless gods. Which all sounds very noble and spiritual, but of course they are all real people living at this site, so there are jealousies and plotting and a bit of back stabbing. And although in theory she is no longer herself, Arha struggles with growing up and the fact that she is still a person with her own thoughts.
Only the priestess can go into the labyrinth, many rooms of which may never have light in them. One day she goes down and is horrified to discover a strange light in one such cavern. Worse still, a stranger is there - and a man. The sacriledge just keeps building up. She locks the door and makes sure he is trapped within the labyrinth. According to the religion she ought to have him killed, but her compassion stops her, and she finds herself sneaking down to find out who this person is. And here was I thinking this was a completely seperate story of Earthsea, but our favourite wizard, Sparrowhawk/Ged has turned up again on a mission.
Really enjoyed this story. Perhaps not the most fast paced or dramatic but very evocative and thoughtful.
Book Three - The Farthest Shore - Finished 14 Feb 2020
There is something fantastic about this writing that makes the story feel older than time. It's not overwritten or overdescriptive. Only what is really needed is here. There's a quiet wisdom under the surface. It feels ancient. A wonderful place to escape to. I am a fan of little islands, so a whole world of little islands is like a dream to me. And despite the fact that she doesn't overdo it with the flowery descriptions, there are some wonderfully evocative moments. I particularly liked the part towards the end when Sparrowhawk and Arran come to the dragon islands and see all the dragons flying and twisting about in the air in the morning.
This book is dealing with some heavy themes, belief and death. It's a world where magic and dragons exist, and on the island of Roke there is a school of mages and magicians. A messenger, the son of a king, comes to tell of growing troubles. Neighbouring islands seem to have lost their magicians, and people don't believe anymore. The archmage, our old friend Sparrowhawk/Ged, sets out in his trusty boat, along with the son to find out what is going on and who is responsible. They find people who had lost their faith - magic is just all trickery - magic folk who have given up their talents, communities who have given up producing and are loosing themselves in narcotics and the search for eternal life. Dragons forget how to speak and become base animals. Rather like the people who have lost their faith.
This isn't a high action story, but it is one of thought and exploration and great fantasy lands.
There is something fantastic about this writing that makes the story feel older than time. It's not overwritten or overdescriptive. Only what is really needed is here. There's a quiet wisdom under the surface. It feels ancient. A wonderful place to escape to. I am a fan of little islands, so a whole world of little islands is like a dream to me. And despite the fact that she doesn't overdo it with the flowery descriptions, there are some wonderfully evocative moments. I particularly liked the part towards the end when Sparrowhawk and Arran come to the dragon islands and see all the dragons flying and twisting about in the air in the morning.
This book is dealing with some heavy themes, belief and death. It's a world where magic and dragons exist, and on the island of Roke there is a school of mages and magicians. A messenger, the son of a king, comes to tell of growing troubles. Neighbouring islands seem to have lost their magicians, and people don't believe anymore. The archmage, our old friend Sparrowhawk/Ged, sets out in his trusty boat, along with the son to find out what is going on and who is responsible. They find people who had lost their faith - magic is just all trickery - magic folk who have given up their talents, communities who have given up producing and are loosing themselves in narcotics and the search for eternal life. Dragons forget how to speak and become base animals. Rather like the people who have lost their faith.
This isn't a high action story, but it is one of thought and exploration and great fantasy lands.
Book Four Tehanu (finished 16/04/2020)
This was just beautiful. It's very different in style and content to Tolkien, and yet she creates such a real and vivid world that makes her comparible. I really liked this story, and the fact that we see time moving on, characters we've seen before, Ged (obviously) and Tenar from the Tombs of Atuan is back, but in new life roles. Getting older, but still of use and interest, rather than yet another adventure story of an all knowing twenty year old. Tenar is a farmer's widow on the Island of Gont. Her children have grown up and set out on their own lives. At the start of the book some travellers are stopping close by and do something despicable to their own tiny child before abandoning her to die. Tenar takes the girl, whom she calls Therru, in and heals her as best she can, although the scars are major. I found this relationship between Tenar and Therru just wonderful through the story. It felt real, not sentimentalised and with no magical ending to remove the girl's disfigurement, but just wonderful. A year or so later Tenar get s a message that Ogion is dying - and she goes to him and there is the point at which all the old characters, now ageing and losing either the power of their youth, or simply their lives, converge.
This was just beautiful. It's very different in style and content to Tolkien, and yet she creates such a real and vivid world that makes her comparible. I really liked this story, and the fact that we see time moving on, characters we've seen before, Ged (obviously) and Tenar from the Tombs of Atuan is back, but in new life roles. Getting older, but still of use and interest, rather than yet another adventure story of an all knowing twenty year old. Tenar is a farmer's widow on the Island of Gont. Her children have grown up and set out on their own lives. At the start of the book some travellers are stopping close by and do something despicable to their own tiny child before abandoning her to die. Tenar takes the girl, whom she calls Therru, in and heals her as best she can, although the scars are major. I found this relationship between Tenar and Therru just wonderful through the story. It felt real, not sentimentalised and with no magical ending to remove the girl's disfigurement, but just wonderful. A year or so later Tenar get s a message that Ogion is dying - and she goes to him and there is the point at which all the old characters, now ageing and losing either the power of their youth, or simply their lives, converge.
