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A review by marthahope
The Earthsea Quartet by Ursula K. Le Guin
5.0
“If your strength is only the other’s weakness, you live in fear”
I know I am late to the party but I am very glad that I came. Ursula Le Guin's creation of the world of Earthsea is astonishing and a clear poignant feature in the fantasy and sci-fi literary canon. I loved it and I am looking forward to reading the last novel, and collection of short stories, from the Earthsea series.
Le Guin explores themes of self displacement through language and naming, with the repressed shadow self remaining a constant feature after it's key part in the first novel. Ged is haunted by his 'darker self' and spends the first novel on a quest to defeat it, thereafter remaining damaged and 'marked' by this encounter, “That is between me and my shadow.” Tenar's multiple names and selves give her a layered self, she refers to herself by her past names as if they were someone she knew, not someone she is or was. This Jungian approach to the psychology around the self was one of my favourite parts of the series, Le Guin continually disconnects and reconnects her characters to their past, present and future selves, giving a depth of character built up throughout the novels.
Le Guin unpicks gender stereotypes and traditional roles, allowing space for questioning of the common power tropes within fantasy. This is at first subtle, and then by Tehanu, much clearer and forward - when I began the first book, I questioned the common choice of a male-centered world of wizardy, where witches are seemingly in the background and deemed dark and weak. However, as I moved through the books I came to understand the significance of this, 'Why are men afraid of women?'. Theirs is a magic less dramatic and authoritative, and yet they are feared still by wizards and men alike, “Ours is only a little power, seems like, next to theirs," Moss said. "But it goes down deep. It's all roots. It's like an old blackberry thicket. And a wizard's power's like a fir tree, maybe, great and tall and grand, but it'll blow right down in a storm. Nothing kills a blackberry bramble.”
I really enjoyed Tehanu, and the character Therru. It held an anger and an injustice unlike the previous novels and I felt a justified satisfaction at the end.
Ursula is a queen and I am excited to finish the Earthsea series, and then to make my way through the rest of her books (I've read The Left Hand of Darkness and found it pretty excellent too). There is so much more in these books, I have just focused on my favourite elements. It's more than simply a story about wizards, dragons and a tortured protagonist.
I know I am late to the party but I am very glad that I came. Ursula Le Guin's creation of the world of Earthsea is astonishing and a clear poignant feature in the fantasy and sci-fi literary canon. I loved it and I am looking forward to reading the last novel, and collection of short stories, from the Earthsea series.
Le Guin explores themes of self displacement through language and naming, with the repressed shadow self remaining a constant feature after it's key part in the first novel. Ged is haunted by his 'darker self' and spends the first novel on a quest to defeat it, thereafter remaining damaged and 'marked' by this encounter, “That is between me and my shadow.” Tenar's multiple names and selves give her a layered self, she refers to herself by her past names as if they were someone she knew, not someone she is or was. This Jungian approach to the psychology around the self was one of my favourite parts of the series, Le Guin continually disconnects and reconnects her characters to their past, present and future selves, giving a depth of character built up throughout the novels.
Le Guin unpicks gender stereotypes and traditional roles, allowing space for questioning of the common power tropes within fantasy. This is at first subtle, and then by Tehanu, much clearer and forward - when I began the first book, I questioned the common choice of a male-centered world of wizardy, where witches are seemingly in the background and deemed dark and weak. However, as I moved through the books I came to understand the significance of this, 'Why are men afraid of women?'. Theirs is a magic less dramatic and authoritative, and yet they are feared still by wizards and men alike, “Ours is only a little power, seems like, next to theirs," Moss said. "But it goes down deep. It's all roots. It's like an old blackberry thicket. And a wizard's power's like a fir tree, maybe, great and tall and grand, but it'll blow right down in a storm. Nothing kills a blackberry bramble.”
I really enjoyed Tehanu, and the character Therru. It held an anger and an injustice unlike the previous novels and I felt a justified satisfaction at the end.
Ursula is a queen and I am excited to finish the Earthsea series, and then to make my way through the rest of her books (I've read The Left Hand of Darkness and found it pretty excellent too). There is so much more in these books, I have just focused on my favourite elements. It's more than simply a story about wizards, dragons and a tortured protagonist.