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362nd out of 1,145 books
—
14,892 voters
Tales from Earthsea (Earthsea Cycle #5)
Five stories of Ursula K. Le Guin's world-renowned realm of Earthsea are collected in one volume. Featuring two classic stories, two original tales, and a brand-new novella, as well as new maps and a special essay on Earthsea's history, languages, literature, and magic.
Paperback, 304 pages
Published
October 28th 2003
by Ace
(first published May 4th 2001)
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I got this as a gift, from a friend who knew I'd read the Earthsea books (the first four) more than once.
These tales are based on the world of Earthsea, and the author reports that they are best read 'after' reading the first four novels of the Earthsea collection. I would concur, as it adds the necessary depth and context for entering the world of these tales.
The first 'tale' in this book is called "The Finder"... and I found myself quietly weeping near the end of it. Stunning, to be moved so....more
These tales are based on the world of Earthsea, and the author reports that they are best read 'after' reading the first four novels of the Earthsea collection. I would concur, as it adds the necessary depth and context for entering the world of these tales.
The first 'tale' in this book is called "The Finder"... and I found myself quietly weeping near the end of it. Stunning, to be moved so....more
These stories were not nearly as compelling as the first four Earthsea books, either in the plot or the writing. Also, several stories seem overly concerned with demonstrating that women have more importance in Earthsea than the fist three books indicate, especially the last story, "Dragonfly." This story and the first one, "The Finder," read as though the author is trying to re-write women into the Earthsea stories as an afterthought. I didn't mind their near absence in the first three books, s...more
In her foreword, Urusula K. Le Guin pokes fun at herself for subtitling Tehanu "The Last Book of Earthsea." She has revealed in interiews elsewhere that she meant this to stave off thoughts of another series involving Ged and in her foreward explains that on finishing Tehanu, she felt she'd reached the "present" of Earthsea. There was no more to tell.
For fans of her work, it was a happy error. this collection of longish short stories delves into the corners of Earthsea's history. We have learned...more
For fans of her work, it was a happy error. this collection of longish short stories delves into the corners of Earthsea's history. We have learned...more
The fifth book in Le Guin's Earthsea series is a collection of short stories instead of a novel. This change provides a different lens to see her world in, and is very welcome. However, this book starts off a bit more darker and mature, something that was started at the end of "Tehanu." While not detrimental, the series does feel a bit more adult, and some may dislike that shift. This is most likely because 30 real-time years have passed since Le Guin started the series. The five stories are org...more
The more I read Le Guin the less I like her writing. She has no sense of pacing or plotting whatsoever, leaving the single "event" of each book or story until the last few pages, reached only after a slow and tedious preamble in which the characters sit around doing nothing (as if that's a plot point or an action of its own), and somehow we're supposed to identify with them in their non-quest for nothing. Some of her characters show promise, but we never see it come to true fruition.
I appreciate...more
I appreciate...more
Technically, Tales from Earthsea was the fifth book written as part of Ursula LeGuin's Earthsea Cycle, but it doesn't follow the story that began with A Wizard of Earthsea chronologically. It does, however, provide some fascinating background information and "history" for the world of Earthsea.
::: Tales? :::
Tales from Earthsea contains several different tales: a novella, four short stories, and a "history" of the world of Earthsea. The novella is called The Finder, and tells the story of Otter/T...more
::: Tales? :::
Tales from Earthsea contains several different tales: a novella, four short stories, and a "history" of the world of Earthsea. The novella is called The Finder, and tells the story of Otter/T...more
UKL is one of my favorite authors of all time, one of two authors (along with Tolkien) whose fantasy I love because it feels real to me down to the deepest level. This book is five stories set in the same world as her Earthsea novels. All five are just jewels. They flesh out that universe a bit more, in quite interesting ways, and all are delightful in their own right, as well. One is from the time that Ged is Archmage. Another is from after his time. One is from long ago, telling something of h...more
I should state up front that I love Le Guin as an author and as a person (whom I've never met). She's a clear and honest thinker, and she's always been a model in her struggles with her fiction as experiments in politics and social morality. For instance, although The Left Hand of Darkness is a gigantic triumph in terms of rethinking gender, it has a few holes which she is very honest about in her later essays.
Which is why it's so interesting to see her revisit her straight-up fantasy world of E...more
Which is why it's so interesting to see her revisit her straight-up fantasy world of E...more
This is a collection of five short stories and one essay, all about Earthsea. The essay is a descriptive one, profiling languages, history, lands, and customs of Earthsea.
Here are my thoughts on the stories:
The Finder--A story about the beginnings of Roke school and the "why" behind a lot of the customs and gender roles of Earthsea. Feminism, romance, and the birth of misconceptions, all rolled together in a story.
Darkrose and Diamond--This is a love story at the root. A young man called Diam...more
Here are my thoughts on the stories:
The Finder--A story about the beginnings of Roke school and the "why" behind a lot of the customs and gender roles of Earthsea. Feminism, romance, and the birth of misconceptions, all rolled together in a story.
Darkrose and Diamond--This is a love story at the root. A young man called Diam...more
Since I'm one of those people who have the luxury of reading these books one after another in a short period of time (as in, the first book of this cycle is older than me! There are no years in between reading them.) I enjoy how Le Guin builds her world more and more through the stories in this book. I enjoyed the story about the founding of Roke, the run-away wizard - Diamond, Ogion's past and how his master found his end when they stilled the earthquake, the episode about Sparrowhak's past as...more
My Earthsea experience was a long time ago--it's been at least 10 years since I read any of them. Back then, I plowed through the original trilogy and was sort of surprised by Tehanu, which I found kind of slow. I told myself, "Newer Le Guin just isn't my thing."
But it turns out that I was wrong, not Le Guin; clearly I just needed to grow up a bit. These 5 stories showed me that sometimes thoughtful, strong, tree-like characters are more interesting than ACTION-PACKED ACTION. They're beautiful a...more
But it turns out that I was wrong, not Le Guin; clearly I just needed to grow up a bit. These 5 stories showed me that sometimes thoughtful, strong, tree-like characters are more interesting than ACTION-PACKED ACTION. They're beautiful a...more
Dec 08, 2011
Elisa
rated it
2 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
varauksella Maameri-faneille
Shelves:
fantasy-and-sci-fi
Äh, mikä lässähdys. Eipä kyl ollut ollenkaan niin must-read kuin olin ajatellut. Vaikka Tehanusta jatkuvaa tarinaa viedään eteenpäin yhdessä kokoelman kertomuksessa ja Gedin arkkimaagiaikoihinkin yhden tarinan verran palataan (jossa se tosin on sivuhenkilönä vain, höh...) oli tämä silti minusta ekstralukemistoksikin vähän pettymys.
Novelleja on yhteensä viisi ja kuudes osio on kuvaus Maameren tavoista, kielistä ja historiasta. Tuossa kuvaus-osassa muun muassa Morredin ja Erreth-Akben myytit liti...more
Novelleja on yhteensä viisi ja kuudes osio on kuvaus Maameren tavoista, kielistä ja historiasta. Tuossa kuvaus-osassa muun muassa Morredin ja Erreth-Akben myytit liti...more
On the whole, a pretty interesting collection of stories. I'm still uneasy about the fact that LeGuin felt the need to go back and change Earthsea, make it more "politically correct"- but, if you can get over that, her writing is still quite good. "The Bones of the Earth" was probably my favorite story of five, brief and heart-wrenching. "The Finder" dragged on for a bit too long, I felt; "Darkrose and Diamond" had a bitter ending, not what I was expecting at all. All along, I cherished a foolis...more
This collection of stories from earthsea fill in the history of the world and provide a bridge to the next book. Part of this was Ursula going back and editing the very male dominated world of earthsea. Now of course we all knew that the men's distrust of women was unfounded, but here we have it explicitly. Normally that would bother me because it is so overt. But I still really liked the stories, I thought they were really well done. It was more like a collection of novellas then short stories....more
Excellent collection of short stories that further explore the world of Earthsea and bridge the gap between the early books and the last two in the series.
"The Finder": Le Guin returns to high adventure form to tell about the founding of Roke. Easily as good as Wizard of Earthsea or The Tombs of Atuan. (Five stars)
"Darkrose and Diamond": Filler. Doesn't add much to the Earthsea canon; isn't a particularly strong story. (Two stars)
"The Bones of the Earth": We learn how Ogion the Silent accomplish...more
"The Finder": Le Guin returns to high adventure form to tell about the founding of Roke. Easily as good as Wizard of Earthsea or The Tombs of Atuan. (Five stars)
"Darkrose and Diamond": Filler. Doesn't add much to the Earthsea canon; isn't a particularly strong story. (Two stars)
"The Bones of the Earth": We learn how Ogion the Silent accomplish...more
A collection of tales that helps to fill in some gaps from the main novels. One of the appeals of this universe (for me, at least) has always been at the hundreds of years of history that is hinted at, but never fully explained (I have an issue when a fantasy novel explains lots of history in long, expository paragraphs). For me, this always meant that the world felt more "alive;" the characters are all people who grew up steeped in the lore of the place, and they never have to explain it to one...more
This is a collection of four long-ish short stories and one novella set in Le Guin's Earthsea universe. The stories span the history of her world, and there are some notes about the history of Earthsea at the end of the book. I enjoyed all the stories in the collection, seeing more of Earthsea, particularly The Finder, the tale of the founding of the great School for wizards on Roke and On the High Marsh, a story set when Sparrowhawk was Archmage. The former is interesting for me because it fill...more
Those who enjoy Ursula K.LeGuin's spare, folk-tale style will be in for another treat with this book. The book fills in a lot of gaps left in her previous Earthsea novels (including an appendix of historical, sociological, and magical notes) as well as laying the basis for the next novel in the series. (Note that this collection of stories and her next novel The Other Wind are sequels to Tehanu which she short-sightedly subtitled "the last book of Earthsea.)
A collection of short stories from Earthsea? Sure! I'd only read the original trilogy and enjoyed them.
What always seems to shine in Le Guin's world is the world itself. It's set in an archipelago that seems to be based on a mix of pre-feudal Japan, Polynesia, and a tiny dash of medieval Europe. I love the feel that it has: ancient, wild, powerful, vast. Have you ever played The Wind Waker? It's kind of like that, except much more serious. Very different from most Tolkien-hacks these days (poor...more
What always seems to shine in Le Guin's world is the world itself. It's set in an archipelago that seems to be based on a mix of pre-feudal Japan, Polynesia, and a tiny dash of medieval Europe. I love the feel that it has: ancient, wild, powerful, vast. Have you ever played The Wind Waker? It's kind of like that, except much more serious. Very different from most Tolkien-hacks these days (poor...more
Hm. In the past week or so, I have read both The Dispossessed (thanks again [info]strangedave and Tales From Earthsea. They aren't exactly similar books...
Tales from Earthsea on the other hand was kinda dull, much like the three Earthsea novels I've read. It has been pointed out to me that most people have loved this series read it much younger, like 12-14. They have a point, I would have loved this when I went through my reading out my high schools small SF collection. But yeah. Too old now, an...more
Tales from Earthsea on the other hand was kinda dull, much like the three Earthsea novels I've read. It has been pointed out to me that most people have loved this series read it much younger, like 12-14. They have a point, I would have loved this when I went through my reading out my high schools small SF collection. But yeah. Too old now, an...more
Look, I'm just gonna say it: Ursula K. Le Guin does old-school feminist fantasy better than Marion Zimmer Bradley and Anne McCaffrey (RIP). She's just the master.
Tales from Earthsea has beautiful, elegant prose that challenges much of the fantasy genre, feminist or not, to rise to the challenge. I loved all the stories in this volume, but especially the last, which provides a bridge between the last full novel and the next one. The Masters of Roke must decide on a new Archmage, and dragons are r...more
Tales from Earthsea has beautiful, elegant prose that challenges much of the fantasy genre, feminist or not, to rise to the challenge. I loved all the stories in this volume, but especially the last, which provides a bridge between the last full novel and the next one. The Masters of Roke must decide on a new Archmage, and dragons are r...more
A collection of short stories that helps to fill out some of the history of Earthsea. I'm a big fan of the Earthsea saga, so I enjoyed this book. None of the stories by themselves are especially compelling, but taken as a whole they work pretty well. Le Guin states in the introduction that she wrote these after doing some research for another Earthsea novel, 'The Other Wind'. That's what they feel like: private research notes that were written to help her crystallize the history and mythology of...more
I am absolutely loving the Earthsea Cycle, but books of short stories usually aren't my thing, so when the local library didn't have Tales from Earthsea, I considered skipping it. Then I heard that it does have bearing on the following book, so I ordered it. Glad I did. It was better than I expected; ended up enjoying immensely. The appendix (A Description of Earthsea) is fairly boring, as appendices often are, but it does have some interesting bits. I recommend future readers to give the append...more
Great addition to the Earthsea universe. Le Guin manages to tell short stories advancing the larger narrative that really give you the feeling this is a rich and full world that you're peeking into here and there, and beyond the edges of the books it is complete and living. I also enjoyed her foreword, maybe more than the stories themselves, because of her articulate thoughts on the relationship between fiction and history and fictional histories and mythologies. The Earthsea books are successfu...more
These five tales are a refreshing break from previous novels. In these Ursula Leguin is able to maintain her balance of a heroic ballad style of narrative with a more intimate storytelling; a choice that keeps her readers engaged while maintaining a sense of antiquity. A common theme among these stories is the the search for purpose in life, most especially in terms of finding the answer to, "What am I to do with the gifts and talents I have?"
Each story carries it's own tone, providing much of t...more
Each story carries it's own tone, providing much of t...more
One of the best fantasy short story collections I've ever read. Originally, when I realized this wasn't the next book in the series but a short story collection, I was disappointed. But the short stories gave such a great backdrop to what has gone on before and what is going to go on, that I feel like it simultaneously improved the previous books and made me anticipate the next in the series even more. I particularly liked On the High Marsh. The story really had a sense of place was the kind of...more
"In one of T.S. Eliot's poems a bird sings, 'Mankind cannot bear very much reality.' I've always thought that bird was mistaken, or was talking only about some people. I find it amazing how much of the real world most of us can endure. Not only endure, but need, desire, crave. Reality is life. Where we suffocate is in the half-life of unreality, untruth, imitation, fakery, the almost-true that is not true. To be human is to live both within and beyond the narrow band of what-happens-now, in the...more
I enjoyed all the short stories, though my favorite was probably the one about Otter and how Roke came to be. It bothers me how women get the short end of the stick in all things magic, though. I know this is not unrealistic, really, since short ends of the stick is where we're at, but sometimes it gets really annoying to see so little of come uppance? And I don't know, but the story about Irian, I understand that some time has passed from it to The Other Wind, but Irian doesn't quite seem the s...more
I'm about half way through this book and I'm a little disappointed. I was well warned by other reviews that this book might not be up to LeGuin's usual standard, and so I wasn't terribly shocked and deeply disappointed. I might well have been, otherwise.
These stories are grim for her, as if she's just watched Schindler's List before she wrote it. The stories feel as if they don't quite fit, as if she went back and tried to force an issue- womens' issues, apparently- into the original fabric of...more
These stories are grim for her, as if she's just watched Schindler's List before she wrote it. The stories feel as if they don't quite fit, as if she went back and tried to force an issue- womens' issues, apparently- into the original fabric of...more
"Abitiamo sia i regni reali che quelli immaginari da parecchio tempo. Ma viviamo in entrambi i luoghi in modo diverso rispetto ai nostri genitori o ai nostri antenati. L'incantesimo cambia con l'età, e a seconda dell'epoca."
- Ursula K. Le Guin
Non c'è niente da fare: adoro Ursula K. Le Guin.
E' stato bello leggere dei personaggi incontrati nella saga de "Le leggende di Earthsea", di scoprire come è nata la scuola di Roke.
Ritrovare Sparviero in una storia in cui era Arcimago a Roke, o del suo mae...more
- Ursula K. Le Guin
Non c'è niente da fare: adoro Ursula K. Le Guin.
E' stato bello leggere dei personaggi incontrati nella saga de "Le leggende di Earthsea", di scoprire come è nata la scuola di Roke.
Ritrovare Sparviero in una storia in cui era Arcimago a Roke, o del suo mae...more
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As of 2011, Ursula K. Le Guin has published twenty-one novels, eleven volumes of short stories, four collections of essays, twelve books for children, six volumes of poetry and four of translation, and has received many awards: Hugo, Nebula, National Book Award, PEN-Malamud, etc. Her recent publications include the novel Lavinia, an essay collection, Cheek by Jowl, and The Wild Girls. Forthcoming...more
More about Ursula K. Le Guin...
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“It's a rare gift, to know where you need to be, before you've been to all the places you don't need to be.”
—
14 people liked it
“We have inhabited both the actual and the imaginary realms for a long time. But we don't live in either place the way our parents or ancestors did. Enchantment alters with age, and with the age.
We know a dozen Arthurs now, all of them true. The Shire changed irrevocably even in Bilbo's lifetime. Don Quixote went riding out to Argentina and met Jorge Luis Borges there. Plus c'est la même chose, plus ça change.”
—
12 people liked it
More quotes…
We know a dozen Arthurs now, all of them true. The Shire changed irrevocably even in Bilbo's lifetime. Don Quixote went riding out to Argentina and met Jorge Luis Borges there. Plus c'est la même chose, plus ça change.”
Jun 07, 2011 05:19pm