Earthsea

[altariel]

I went hunting for Earthsea fanfiction at the start of the year, after I reread the series (before reading the new ones). Found some today by daegaer here.



It's interesting that Tehanu is often seen as an attempt to re-engineer the earlier books, but I have a sneaking admiration for Le Guin in having the courage to revisit a set of books that made her name - and say where she got it wrong.

I also love the beauty that she finds in very small, intimate moments. There's a sentence in Tehanu that I just adore: "They made and ate their supper and cleared it away."

Comments

Re:

[daegaer.livejournal.com]

I have the two recent books, but so far have been too nervous to read them. What I'd like is for to somehow be able to write the Archipelagan society as it is in Wizard of Earthsea with enough of a narrator-viewpoint for the reader to see that it's not all wonderful and perfect. I should just read them, right?


And thanks again for your comments on my fic. I'm very glad you found it worthwhile.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

I think the two new books definitely give a much richer and more interesting account of Archipelagan society, and also historical perspective. Ah, I want to start giving reasons why now, but no spoilers, of course!

I'll just say that if you do decide to take the plunge with them, make sure you read the short stories in order - I did my usual trick with short story collections of shifting around the book, but they are meant to be read in sequence.