So these are reports of my explorations and discoveries: tales from Earthsea for those who have liked or think they might like the place, and who are willing to accept these hypotheses:
things change:
authors and wizards are not always to be trusted:
nobody can explain a dragon.
- Ursula LeGuin, from the introduction.
I have never read Ursula LeGuin's Earthsea novels. I meant to, my mother has them and has long suggested them to me, but I just never managed to get around to it. I will now.
Tales From Earthsea is a set of five short stories and an appendix called "A Description of Earthsea." The stories range from the romantic to the adventurous. "The Finder" tells the story of Otter, who escapes slavery to help start the school of wizardry on Roke island. I found it clever, if sometimes sad, and it does a good job of introducing the readers to the rules of this new world. Hugo nominated "The Bones of the Earth" is a tale of the relationship between apprentice and teacher, and of ultimate sacrifice. I thought this story was wonderful because of the interaction between the talkative Wizard Dulse, who lives a quiet life on the farm, and his graduated apprentice Silence.
The title characters in "Darkrose and Diamond" must decide if their love is strong enough to defy convention. Like all romances, this one has its slightly frustrating moments, balanced by magical ones. "On the High Marsh" is about a mysterious stranger who comes to cure the cattle during a time of plague, and about his quiet, subtle romance with the widow who lets him stay at her house. I enjoyed this one because most romantic stories happen between the young, but the couple here are older, and their relationship is more comfortable, sweeter.
The final story, "Dragonfly" is very well done, but it is almost a prologue for the next book, The Other Wind (which came out in hardcover in September 2001) and therefore I couldn't enjoy it as much. I like my short stories to finish, and it really doesn't. She made me care enough for the characters in the story, especially Dragonfly, a woman who dares to enter the school of wizards at a time where women are not taught wizardry, hoping to find out who she really is. Finding the answer is the end of the short story, and the beginning of another. I will pick up the next book, just to find out what happens to her. The appendix does a wonderful job of explaining the rules of Earthsea, why names are so important, the languages, the kings, and in its own was is just as fulfilling a story.
If you have read the series before, then this book will be a pleasure for you to read, not only for the little back-story fill ins, but because each little adventure is like a trip into different times in Earthsea history. If you are new, like I was, then this book will be a wonderful introduction. You'll get all the color, the magic, the dragons...enough, and more to get a taste of LeGuin's wonderful world and decide if you would like to pursue the other books in the series.
The other books in the series are A Wizard of Earthsea, The Farthest Shore, The Tombs of Atuan and Tehanu. Ursula LeGuin herself says in the introduction that she thought she was done with Earthsea with Tehanu, in fact, the paperback version bears the legend "The last book of Earthsea." on the cover. When friends suggested she do a short story or two set in the old world, she thought about it, and realized that Earthsea had changed since she last wrote about it, stories that she thought she knew the end of took a totally different turn. Suddenly, she had more things to say about the world she started writing about so many years ago. If The Other Wind is anything like her Tales from Earthsea, then I hope that she continues to find stories that need telling for many years to come.
