Reviews with content warning for Death - Tales from Earthsea

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Tales from Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin

5 reviews

conspystery's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful reflective 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

4.75

I concur with the popular opinion that Tales from Earthsea is not the strongest book in the Earthsea Cycle-- but that’s a relative measure. Even though I don't think this book is the best in the series, it’s still exceptional.

I think my main issue here was that the short story structure of this book set it apart from the rest of the series to the extent of feeling a bit detached. The wide expanse of time and subject matter these stories cover makes Tales from Earthsea read almost like an in-world storybook or a book of legends. I recognize, of course, that that is the point, and I completely understand why the stories were presented this way. The foreword and afterword included in my edition of the book were enlightening in that regard-- I liked them almost as much as I liked the stories themselves.

This book isn’t a direct sequel or prequel, and while it does gracefully bridge the gap between Tehanu and The Other Wind, I wish it had been more overt with its status as a disruptor of the series’ structure. I would’ve loved to see even more of a leaning in to that kind of diegetic lore-book feel. That’s my only problem with it, and it’s hardly even a problem-- the other Earthsea books are just so phenomenal that this one stands out in comparison.

Structure and pacing aside, the stories included in this collection were wonderful, if not as always immediately gripping and familiar as the other Earthsea books. “The Finder” reminded me quite a bit of A Wizard of Earthsea in the best possible way; the epic feel of a legendary historical narrative carries through. It’s obviously a proficiency of Le Guin’s. There’s just something about the way she writes this kind of biographical account that gives it an air of monumentality, and I am obsessed with it. I could feel how important this story was to the world of Earthsea while reading it; it builds context like Tehanu does with all the legendary flair of A Wizard of Earthsea too, a great combination. I love its irony and foreshadowing and characters (even the creepy ones are endlessly interesting)! It’s super solid, and a great start to the collection.

“Darkrose and Diamond” is sweet, though not an immediate standout to me. I like its meditations on art and music and power in society, as well as the quest for independence young people strive for. I didn’t connect as much with the romance here, and since love was a central part of its themes, that probably impacts my view of the story. I liked it a lot nonetheless, especially how it plays with names. However small, I found the details related to naming in this story to be clever and fascinating. Overall, this one is a departure from what we see in A Wizard of Earthsea and The Farthest Shore and even The Tombs of Atuan towards the end, building on Tehanu but set ages before: in a world where magical power is expected to be the sole priority of men and men only, people can and will break that mold with their determination and yearning. I liked this one.

“The Bones of the Earth” is easily my favorite story in this collection. I love Ogion as a character, and despite feeling completely satisfied with the amount of detail and presence he was afforded in the earlier books (and with the ending he receives in Tehanu, AND with his continued legacy in The Other Wind!), I still wish there was more of him to be read. This story was such a humanizing, lovely insight into him and his teacher. It combines all the things I love about the other stories in the book (and the series as a whole) into one: the powerful, narratively epic feel of the writing and story, the expansion of the world’s context and added relevance of women in the story, the clever naming details and other quirks of magic… the reveal of the use-name Silence was particularly interesting and funny and sad at the same time. It felt like a lightbulb when I heard it: “right, because they call him Ogion the Silent!” So good. I also really enjoy the prose of this story in general. It’s beautifully, carefully written-- all of Le Guin’s work is, but here especially-- and I appreciate it immensely. My favorite part writing-wise was when Ogion’s master started confusing his memories together, blurring them across timelines. In Tehanu, we see a similar unreliable narrator (though it’s in third person, so maybe not narrator) scenario when Tenar’s mind is commandeered by the curse, and seeing how that style has developed here is a treat.

“On the High Marsh,” and I understand this is controversial, was not actually a favorite of mine in this collection. Of course, I think it’s amazing in its own right, but for whatever reason it just didn’t stand out as much to me compared to the rest of the stories here. This isn’t to say I didn’t enjoy it, because I absolutely did. I liked how quotidian it was, how it leans into the domesticity Tehanu establishes for Ged-- which, after reading The Other Wind, feels even more fitting for Ged’s character. It’s a good setup there. Even though it wasn’t a total showstopper for me, I still really loved it.

“Dragonfly” is a great closer for the book. I feel like I enjoyed it more and more as it went on rather than being hooked immediately, though of course this is Earthsea so that’s quite a relative judgment. This story feels like a convergence, intensifying as it goes on-- which is perfect, because that’s exactly how The Other Wind feels, too. I think “Dragonfly” works really well as a prequel to The Other Wind; I almost wish it had been. I don’t think it works as well as a post-script to Tehanu, which is what Wikipedia calls it (though I do recognize and love the way it works as a kind of parallel to Tehanu’s insights on identity.) Either way, it’s situated somewhere in between a postscript and a prologue as a standalone bridge between the fourth and sixth books, and I’ve made my peace with that. The narrative itself is wonderful; I love how it builds on the characters of Earthsea in the “now” Le Guin refers to in the foreword and afterword. It’s a very present story in that sense. I think Irian is a great character and I really loved following her in this story… and I appreciate all of it even more now, after having finished The Other Wind. I think that’s my main takeaway with this one: I like what it sets up and how it goes about doing that while still remaining self-contained. And, I mean, people turning into dragons is always a fun time.

Ultimately, I loved Tales From Earthsea-- I don’t think it’s quite as strong as the other books in the series, but only fractionally so, and only for minor structural reasons. Earthsea is a pretty high bar to match, anyway. All the stories were fascinating in their own ways, even the reference material included at the end (which I also loved stylistically-- those kind of description texts are so much fun), and I think they’re definitely worth a reread now that I’ve finished the whole Earthsea Cycle. This book in conversation with The Other Wind is just endlessly intriguing to me, and I know when I go back and reread the whole series from the beginning, the same will be true for its connections to all the other novels. Plus, the foreword and afterword were genuinely affecting! I’m normally unmoved by that kind of thing, but these ones are lovely and impactful and enlightening in all senses of the word. Le Guin remains unparalleled. This book was phenomenal.

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achingallover's review against another edition

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adventurous informative slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Hard to rate a collection of short stories, the foreward was excellent though.

The Finder, The Bones of the Earth and Dragonfly were all very good. On the High Marsh was alright, but Darkrose and Diamond was so-so.

History of Earthsea is useful reference material, less good for just reading in one go :P

Content Warnings