Product Description

These five superlative, evocative and enchanting stories range from a few hundred years before A Wizard of Earthsea to just before The Other Wind, and feature some of Le Guin's most popular characters, including the Wizard Ged himself. The stories are rounded off with an essay about Earthsea's history and people.No Earthsea fan will want to be without this magical collection.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #29093 in Books
• Published on: 2003-11-03
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 320 pages

The Times
"takes the reader back into the history of Earthsea, LeGuin's remarkable archipelago where dragons and humans are equally believable."

Review
"Le Guin is like Tolkien in the depth and breadth of her imagination...and here for all those who have admired her epic storytelling, comes five new tales, where, Le Guin writes in the forward, a mere glimpse at the place told me that things had been happening while I wasn't looking...Throughout the book there is a continued sense of the substantiality of her imagination." (Nicci Gerrard The Observer, 27 Oct 02 )

"Ursula LeGuin's Earthsea tales are always a delight and her latest collection - an essay and five stories - is no exception. These thought-provoking tales...take some telling swipes at the 'commodified fantasy' that dominates the market these days...Unlike some of the genre's former 'greats', Le Guin continues to improve with age." (Starburst )

"...as immersive and well written as anything LeGuin has done" (SFX )

"...the five stories here provide a varied and enjoyable introduction to the newcomer, s much as the seasoned traveller...And in the end it's [LeGuin's] more gentle and thoughtful approach which sets the series apart from much of the fantasy mush that followed in Tolkien's wake." (Edge )

"...vivid and finely crafted additions to the saga, all written in Le Guin's familiar beautiful prose and bound to enthrall Earthsea fans of all ages." (Good Book Guide, 1 Dec 02 )

"...a collection of stories that takes the reader back into the history of Earthsea, LeGuin's remarkable archipelago where dragons and humans are equally believeable." Erica Wagner (The Times, 7 Dec 02 )

"Earthsea fans will not be disappointed with these five enchanted tales which have been yet again magically woven by the mistress of fantasy." (School Librarian, Summer 03 )

SFX
'…as immersive and well written as anything LeGuin has done'

Customer Reviews

Growth and Illumination
Many authors are tempted to return to their early works in their later years. For most authors, this is a mistake. Not so with this set of five stories placed in the world of Le Guin's marvelous Earthsea. Each story provides a new illumination into what Earthsea is, its history, and the people that lived and loved within it.

The first story, "The Finder", is the longest, actually a novella, and for my money the best of the set. Here we find ourselves far back in the history of Earthsea, when wizard fought wizard as a matter of course, when magical knowledge was jealously guarded, when the average non-magical person lived in fear of what magic would visit them next. Otter, a half-trained wizard with a powerful skill for 'finding' whatever he looks for, falls on the receiving end of the worst of this mis-use of magic, forced to try and find mercury, the King of all materials, for a half-crazed older wizard. How he escapes from this imprisonment, and his search for a place where magic is taught freely, forms the bulk of this story, ending with his founding of the School of Wizards on Roke. In this story we find the same evocation of the magical, of balance between man and nature, of ambition tempered by internal morality, that so graced the original trilogy.

The second story, "Darkness and Diamond", has appeared elsewhere previously, but it deserves a second reading, being a beautifully told love story of a boy with conflicted desires between his wizardly talent and its concomitant requirement of chastity, and his love of music and a girl who shares his passions. A fine portrait of what is important in the business of living.

The third and fourth stories, "The Bones of the Earth" and "On the High Marsh", are comparatively minor stories, that never the less do a good job of filling in some of the history of Ged, showing his first teacher in his greatest wizardly act, and a mature Ged who can forgive and help heal a former Arch-mage.

The last story, "Dragonfly", has also appeared elsewhere, but it is a must read before tackling the latest Earthsea novel, The Other Wind. This is story that I think many fans of the series object to, as it details the heretical idea that women both can and should wield magical powers, that their power, based on the Old Powers, is just as valid as the complex hierarchy of talents embodied by the School of Wizards. Is this a change from the world of the first three novels? Certainly, but I think it is a change for the better, more fitting with the overall theme of balance that pervades the entire Earthsea universe. As Le Guin herself states in the forward, it has been a long time since the first books were written, and history and people move on, grow and develop, and this story exemplifies this very well.

For fans of the originals, this is a must book. For those who have never been charmed and captivated by Earthsea, now is the time to read the series in its glorious whole.

A wonderful collection of stories!
I fell in love with Earthsea many years ago, reading the original trilogy as a teenager. Since then I have reread these books quite a few times and found that they bear the test of time tremendously well. When Tehanu came out, like many other readers, I found it hard to accept the change of tone and the ardent feminism, but that book too has grown on me. So I considered myself quite a hard-core fan of this world at the time Tales of Earthsea was published, although I was a bit uneasy as well - I was a little afraid ULG was going to do away with Roke and 'male magic' entirely, after the turn things had taken in Tehanu.

My fears proved unfounded, and reading Tales of Eathsea was one long delight. Although the feminist tones are unmistakable, the female focus is never at the expense of the story. The world of Earthsea is as vivid as ever, or perhaps even more so, the language is beautiful, and the stories hold many surprises yet remain faithful to the world of the original trilogy. Magic is alive and well, the great house at Roke still stands, and learning of how it was founded makes me confident that it will take more than a few female students or broken celibacies to bring it down. I think short stories are perhaps the ideal medium for ULG: Her beautiful, economic prose crafts a unique gem out of each tale, and leaves the reader wishing for more.

On the High Marsh
Frankly I was a little surpsised at the reaction the book seems to be getting. The main thing that drew me to the earthsea stories was the impalpable sense of magic that appeared in the first books. Something special was there. They were quite childish in thier basic concepts, bad boy does bad things fixes them becomes good, lonely girl saves the world, etc. but there was an almost mystic undercurrent there that really let the reader know that there was something inherently different about this world..
I think she managed to recapture that feeling for me almost perfectly with "On the High Marsh". The author claims to have a fixation on trees but in my view her talent for real beauty comes to the fore when she writes about winter. The cold almost seeps off the pages and into your bones... This "effect" also appeared in the hainish novel "Planet of Exile" They just feel cold.. But the people are not cold, quiet, thinking, judging, caring, watching, above all watching. Special people in a harsh climate, beauty inscribed on a brief few pages.. Don't be harsh because there appears to be a gender bias, This is not about amazons taking over the world, just a sort of quiet suffragetism......