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kelenken 's review for:
The Books of Earthsea: The Complete Illustrated Edition
by Ursula K. Le Guin
A Wizard of Earthsea: Liked it.
The Tombs of Atuan: Liked it. Tenar is mostly credible and an interesting character. she never really chooses the decisions she makes which is a bit frustrating to read but interesting
The Farthest Shore: good book. I felt like the antagonist's evil was maybe underexplored
Tehanu: great book. I really liked it as a complement to the first three, in comparison to which it is fairly depressing. feels cheap to praise it for not failing but it is much better than most fantasy treatments of the role of women, which usually go for cheap shocks or perpetuate ahistorical conceptions (often condemning an imagined past, in one way or another, in order to exalt the culture of the present, and in order to lend the setting an air of Gritty Realism). instead tehanu addresses (a) the gendered nature of the public & private spheres, yes in a vaguely mediaeval fantasy setting but only bc it resembles the basic assumptions of contemporary society (b) the role of women in the first three books, fleshing out the gaps left (the only women characters are essentially prisoners with very limited agency, even by the standards of Earthsea) and questioning the sexist assumptions of the in-world characters (and to a certain extent of the genre). I also really liked that the villains in this book were just pieces of shit rather than representing an alternate, misguided perspective. it feels like it grounds the setting somewhat. (for this reason I didn't like that some were revealed to have links to the villain in The Farthest Shore. felt unnecessary and too close to Good vs Evil tropes).
Tales from Earthsea: I liked all of the tales from earthsea. First one about the origins of Roke felt real (though maybe also a bit Disney's Star Wars: Andor). not that moved by the second one but it was short. liked what the third one brought to the world and the fourth one as a story. the fifth was a bit predictable (a lot of the stories are to be fair) but a good bridge to the last book
The Other Wind: it makes sense as a conclusion to the series and I enjoyed reading it but I was a bit annoyed by the ensemble cast which felt a bit fan-servicey. I did hope the finale was going to be them rejecting various binaries (especially human/dragon) and it's one book where the conclusion feels too telegraphed. but getting there was still enjoyable
All the books are written in a very nice narrative style, most of what happens is delivered via the thoughts of the protagonists (even a lot of the dialogue) and there isn't a lot of "action", mostly travelling around, talking to people, inching towards various realisations. it's a bit slow but not too slow. feels halfway between a dream and an extemporised bedside story.
The Tombs of Atuan: Liked it. Tenar is mostly credible and an interesting character. she never really chooses the decisions she makes which is a bit frustrating to read but interesting
The Farthest Shore: good book. I felt like the antagonist's evil was maybe underexplored
Tehanu: great book. I really liked it as a complement to the first three, in comparison to which it is fairly depressing. feels cheap to praise it for not failing but it is much better than most fantasy treatments of the role of women, which usually go for cheap shocks or perpetuate ahistorical conceptions (often condemning an imagined past, in one way or another, in order to exalt the culture of the present, and in order to lend the setting an air of Gritty Realism). instead tehanu addresses (a) the gendered nature of the public & private spheres, yes in a vaguely mediaeval fantasy setting but only bc it resembles the basic assumptions of contemporary society (b) the role of women in the first three books, fleshing out the gaps left (the only women characters are essentially prisoners with very limited agency, even by the standards of Earthsea) and questioning the sexist assumptions of the in-world characters (and to a certain extent of the genre). I also really liked that the villains in this book were just pieces of shit rather than representing an alternate, misguided perspective. it feels like it grounds the setting somewhat. (for this reason I didn't like that some were revealed to have links to the villain in The Farthest Shore. felt unnecessary and too close to Good vs Evil tropes).
Tales from Earthsea: I liked all of the tales from earthsea. First one about the origins of Roke felt real (though maybe also a bit Disney's Star Wars: Andor). not that moved by the second one but it was short. liked what the third one brought to the world and the fourth one as a story. the fifth was a bit predictable (a lot of the stories are to be fair) but a good bridge to the last book
The Other Wind: it makes sense as a conclusion to the series and I enjoyed reading it but I was a bit annoyed by the ensemble cast which felt a bit fan-servicey. I did hope the finale was going to be them rejecting various binaries (especially human/dragon) and it's one book where the conclusion feels too telegraphed. but getting there was still enjoyable
All the books are written in a very nice narrative style, most of what happens is delivered via the thoughts of the protagonists (even a lot of the dialogue) and there isn't a lot of "action", mostly travelling around, talking to people, inching towards various realisations. it's a bit slow but not too slow. feels halfway between a dream and an extemporised bedside story.