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mercymourn's review
4.0
I found this at the library last year and it's a very nice speech that gives le guin's perspective on how to place earthsea within feminist writing tactics and discusses the way tehanu as a book adds to the universe and to tenar's story
octavia_cade's review
4.0
A really interesting essay (originally a speech) about Le Guin's experience writing her Earthsea books. More specifically, it's about how her understanding of fantasy changed in the long period between the third and fourth books - what she thought about gender and how it related to the hero's journey. This brings up questions of what a hero is (and isn't), and the importance of quest narratives in propping up the traditional notion of the hero, and the corresponding role of women in fantasy. Given that my favourite Earthsea books were the two that focused on Tenar - to be honest, Ged has always bored me a little bit - Le Guin's analysis and honesty about her own biases was a fantastic read. I haven't come across a lot of her non-fiction before this, and I'm excited to read more of it.
lnatal's review
4.0
From BBc Radio 4 Extra:
Ursula Le Guin's enduring fantasy saga set on the magical archipelago rich with wizards and dragons. Made for BBC Radio 4 Extra.
Based on the novels A Wizard of Earthsea and The Tombs of Atuan by Ursula Le Guin. Adapted by Judith Adams.
Published between 1968 and 1972, the first three books of Ursula Le Guin's Earthsea cycle (A Wizard of Earthsea, The Tombs of Atuan, The Farthest Shore) are re-told across six intertwined episodes. Set on a vast archipelago of islands, where magic is a central part of life, they tell the stories of Ged and Tenar. Ged is a boy from the island of Gont, born with innate magical talent and a reckless nature, who releases a terrible shadow into the world and must risk everything in order to restore the balance. Tenar, a girl from the island of Atuan, is taken from her home and family to become Arha, the Priestess Ever Reborn, guardian of the ominous Tombs of Atuan. Deep within the Tombs, Ged and Tenar encounter one another and seek a way of bringing peace to the troubled archipelago.
Ged ..... James McArdle
Tenar ..... Aysha Kala
Young Ged ..... Kasper Hilton-Hille
Young Tenar ..... Nishi Malde
Ogion ..... Paul Hilton
Manan ..... Zubin Varla
Thar ..... Souad Faress
Father ..... David Hounslow
Boy ..... Adam Thomas-Wright
Oarsman ..... Mark Edel-Hunt
Witch ..... Jessica Turner
Serret ..... Lucy Hutchinson
Shipmaster ..... Stephen Critchlow
Original music by Jon Nicholls.
Sound design by Caleb Knightley.
Directed by Sasha Yevtushenko.
1/6 Shadow
Hungry for power and knowledge, the young wizard Ged tampers with long-held secrets and releases a terrible shadow into the world. Meanwhile, Tenar is taken away from her home and family to become Arha, the guardian of the ominous Tombs of Atuan.
2/6 Schooling
The young mage Ged is sent to the school for wizards on Roke Island but his pride and recklessness prove fatal. Meanwhile on Atuan, Tenar struggles to understand her role as guardian of the ominous Tombs. Her first official task will fill her with horror.
3/6 Lookfar
At Roke School, Ged released a terrible shadow into the world when he recklessly cast a spell for summoning the dead. It nearly cost him his life then and now it hunts him wherever he goes. He must make a choice: keep running or turn around and become hunter himself.
4/6 The Ring
When Tenar is chosen as high priestess to the ancient and nameless Powers of the Earth, everything is taken from her - home, family, even her name. She is now known only as Arha, the Eaten One, and guards the shadowy, labyrinthine Tombs of Atuan. Then Ged comes to steal the Tombs' greatest hidden treasure, the Ring of Erreth-Akbe. Tenar's duty is to protect the Ring, but Ged possesses the light of magic and tales of a world that Tenar has never known. Will she risk everything to escape from the darkness that has become her domain?
5/6 Dragonfly
It's now over 20 years since the action of The Tombs of Atuan, and magic has gone out of Earthsea. Mages have forgotten their spells and the springs of wizardry have running dry. Ged, Dragonlord and now Archmage of Earthsea, sets out with a young prince to seek the source of the darkness.
6/6 The Other Earths
A strange plague is spreading over Earthsea and the springs of wizardry are drying up. Driven to seek out the source of the trouble, Archmage Ged has embarked on a perilous journey with young prince Arren. Their travels have taken them to a land cursed with a strange soul sickness, as they seek the man behind this darkness.
Ursula Le Guin's enduring fantasy saga set on the magical archipelago rich with wizards and dragons. Made for BBC Radio 4 Extra.
Based on the novels A Wizard of Earthsea and The Tombs of Atuan by Ursula Le Guin. Adapted by Judith Adams.
Published between 1968 and 1972, the first three books of Ursula Le Guin's Earthsea cycle (A Wizard of Earthsea, The Tombs of Atuan, The Farthest Shore) are re-told across six intertwined episodes. Set on a vast archipelago of islands, where magic is a central part of life, they tell the stories of Ged and Tenar. Ged is a boy from the island of Gont, born with innate magical talent and a reckless nature, who releases a terrible shadow into the world and must risk everything in order to restore the balance. Tenar, a girl from the island of Atuan, is taken from her home and family to become Arha, the Priestess Ever Reborn, guardian of the ominous Tombs of Atuan. Deep within the Tombs, Ged and Tenar encounter one another and seek a way of bringing peace to the troubled archipelago.
Ged ..... James McArdle
Tenar ..... Aysha Kala
Young Ged ..... Kasper Hilton-Hille
Young Tenar ..... Nishi Malde
Ogion ..... Paul Hilton
Manan ..... Zubin Varla
Thar ..... Souad Faress
Father ..... David Hounslow
Boy ..... Adam Thomas-Wright
Oarsman ..... Mark Edel-Hunt
Witch ..... Jessica Turner
Serret ..... Lucy Hutchinson
Shipmaster ..... Stephen Critchlow
Original music by Jon Nicholls.
Sound design by Caleb Knightley.
Directed by Sasha Yevtushenko.
1/6 Shadow
Hungry for power and knowledge, the young wizard Ged tampers with long-held secrets and releases a terrible shadow into the world. Meanwhile, Tenar is taken away from her home and family to become Arha, the guardian of the ominous Tombs of Atuan.
2/6 Schooling
The young mage Ged is sent to the school for wizards on Roke Island but his pride and recklessness prove fatal. Meanwhile on Atuan, Tenar struggles to understand her role as guardian of the ominous Tombs. Her first official task will fill her with horror.
3/6 Lookfar
At Roke School, Ged released a terrible shadow into the world when he recklessly cast a spell for summoning the dead. It nearly cost him his life then and now it hunts him wherever he goes. He must make a choice: keep running or turn around and become hunter himself.
4/6 The Ring
When Tenar is chosen as high priestess to the ancient and nameless Powers of the Earth, everything is taken from her - home, family, even her name. She is now known only as Arha, the Eaten One, and guards the shadowy, labyrinthine Tombs of Atuan. Then Ged comes to steal the Tombs' greatest hidden treasure, the Ring of Erreth-Akbe. Tenar's duty is to protect the Ring, but Ged possesses the light of magic and tales of a world that Tenar has never known. Will she risk everything to escape from the darkness that has become her domain?
5/6 Dragonfly
It's now over 20 years since the action of The Tombs of Atuan, and magic has gone out of Earthsea. Mages have forgotten their spells and the springs of wizardry have running dry. Ged, Dragonlord and now Archmage of Earthsea, sets out with a young prince to seek the source of the darkness.
6/6 The Other Earths
A strange plague is spreading over Earthsea and the springs of wizardry are drying up. Driven to seek out the source of the trouble, Archmage Ged has embarked on a perilous journey with young prince Arren. Their travels have taken them to a land cursed with a strange soul sickness, as they seek the man behind this darkness.
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