The Earthsea Trilogy

Back in the mid-80s when Harry Potter wasn’t even a twinkle in JK’s eye, A Wizard of Earthsea won my heart as a magical coming of age story. I had some reservations about revisiting this series: I shouldn't have. This is gloriously written, richly imagined and deeply thoughtful. And oh, my poor aching heart - one of the poignant joys of Earthsea is how much more moving it is to read as an adult.

More thoughts on:
A Wizard of Earthsea
The Tombs of Atuan

These books are AWESOME!!!! You should read them if you are interested in practicing magic, ritual, or meditation because they illustrate why it's important to deal with your own sh*t if you're going to go exploring "inner space," and what happens if you don't. Serves as a good warning to those just starting out on their path of spiritual soul-searching, of the harm that ego, selfishness, and hubris (that fatal flaw the old Greek tragedies warned against) can do to a seeker and those near and dear to her.

The first book, "A Wizard of Earthsea" was on my first coven's reading list, and I learned a great deal from it. I now own a hardcover copy of the book, and I'm never letting go of it! That was my introduction to the "Earthsea" show more trilogy. LeGuin wrote several more stories beyond the original trilogy, including "The Other Wind" and "Tales from Earthsea." show less

Coming to this trilogy after reading LeGuin's "The Dispossesed" and "The Left Hand of Darkness" is probably not the right way to do it. I had also read her other early novels: Rocannon's World; Planet of Exile and City of Illusions, and Earthsea is definitely along those lines: poetic, dramatic sci-fi but without the allure of her 'smart' sci-fi works that deal with larger issues of identity and politics.

You can certainly see where other authors (like Patrick Rothfuss' Kingkiller Chronicles) have stolen some ideas, since the mage at the heart of the story is quintessential-wise-young man material.

All in all, it's enjoyable, and it certainly would have lingered more in my mind if I had read it at an earlier age or before reading better show more crafted fantasy and sci-fi (even by LeGuin herself). It doesn't disappoint, but it should be a 'starter' book for a fantasy fan, since it loses in comparison to newer, better plotted books. show less

In A Wizard of Earthsea, we get to know Ged/Sparrowhawk on his journey to becoming a magician, through battles with dragons and with the conjured darkness that threatens to destroy him. In The Tombs of Atuan, we follow the Priestess through her training as a guardian of the tombs through to her eventual meeting with Ged and her subsequent flight. In The Farthest Shore, it is again time for Ged, now Archmage, to hunt the darkness, but now in the company of the boy-prince, Arren. For some unknown reason, I never read this while I was a child, and I sorely wish I had even if it's quite appropriate for adults as well. It's a proper adventure tale, where the baddies are extremely powerful and the only reason the hero falters is because his show more powers are not adequate - no characters getting in trouble because they do something stupid here (my biggest pet peeve). The first installment does a fantastic job at setting up the world of Earthsea (although my edition came with a very handy map) and you get the feel that this is a real universe. The second installment deals with the world from a completely different angle, which obviously adds even more depth to the world building. The third installment (which was for many years the last one in the series) wraps up Ged's fate nicely and shows a hint of optimism for the future. I particularly like that this is a world where you have to work for your magic - Ged is talented, but he still needs to study and work at getting his magic to work and when things go awry, there are real consequences. show less

Book One - A Wizard of Earthsea
This is about a young man's journey from a lonely poor boy to a wizard of legend. I think This little adventure is well written. It is about the way pride and envy can make you loose yourself. This is one man's quest to find it again before it destroys him forever Just like any quest it is full of adventure, joy and pearl.

The moral of it all being to face your fear head on and beat it before it beats you. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes fantasy especially young adults.

Book Two- The Tombs of Atuan
At age five a young girl is taken from her family and is striped of everything including her name. Her job is to be the High priestess to the ancient and nameless powers of the earth. Her whole show more existence is changed however when she meets a thief who has come to claim a treasure that was long since lost.

I think that this book is about the dangers of major organizations that have to much power and how they can take everything away from you. Then blind you from the reality of what is really important Love!
A quote from the book says it best
"What she had begun to learn was the weight of liberty. Freedom is a heavy load, a great and strange burden for the spirit to undertake. It is not easy. It is not a gift given, but a choice made, and the choice maybe a hard one. The road goes upward towards the light but the laden traveler may never reach the end of it." © Page 141 in the book The Tombs of Autan by Ursula K. Le Guin
I would recommend this book to anyone who likes fantasy especially young adults.



Book Three- The Farthest Shore
In the beginning of this book a boy fallows a wizard on a quest to find what has gone wrong with the world. In the end the Wizard fallows the man to his destiny. This book is about the circle of life and the balance between good and evil. Everything that lives must die and everything that dies must live first. That is the way of the world. I think that this book was a good summery of all that one has learned from the other books. That you have to live and do what you love because that is what holds the world together. Balance and order are accomplished by the the opposites of Life, Death, Hate and love.
I would recommend this book to anyone who likes fantasy especially young adults.


As a whole this Trilogy is a fantasy twist of the truths of reality. They all are worth the read for young and old alike. show less

Finally a book worth finishing!
I got Book 1 from a free library at work and enjoyed it enough that I wanted to finish the series. I got this book -- with all 3 books in it -- from the local public library. It took me a long time to read but that wasn't the fault of the book, just my not making time to read.

I am so glad I kept at it and eventually did finish it because it was so worth it! Each book was so good.

I would describe the series as a younger version of The Lord of the Rings and an older version of Harry Potter -- if you enjoyed either of those series, you'll enjoy this one.

Adrianne

Having previously read Ursula Le Guin's Left Hand of Darkness, I was a little leery of starting on the Earthsea Trilogy. I found Le Guin's style in Left Hand of Darkness to be very difficult to slog through for me and, while her ideas and story were very well crafted, I did not enjoy my reading experience at all.

My experience with the Earthsea Trilogy couldn't have been more different from that of Left Hand of Darkness. Maybe because Earthsea is more intended for a younger audience, none of the writing seemed nearly as heavy and dense as Left Hand of Darkness. I once again did find the story and ideas to be well-crafted, however this time the language and style conveyed a magical quality to the story and I found all three volumes show more included within this omnibus to be unique and enjoyable in all aspects.

This was a fun trilogy to read and I will continue the series with the final volume and the short story collection that Le Guin has also written. show less