Kevin's Watch

Posted: **Tue Jan 03, 2006 2:15 pm**

We've often discussed various works of Le Guin. Particularly the Earthsea books. But we don't have any specific place for this fantastic writer. Of course, there's always the Immanent Grove at the Hangar:
p210.ezboard.com/fahirashangarfrm37
But if anyone doesn't want to go there (you know, if you're insane beyond all hope of recovery), we now have a thread.

Posted: **Tue Jan 03, 2006 3:59 pm**

I've read the first three Earthsea books and loved them, for some reason i havent read the last one.

Posted: **Tue Jan 03, 2006 4:48 pm**

Ah, Warmark, you're falling waaaaay behind!!

Copying & pasting, here's the Earthsea cycle, in the order they need to be read:

A Wizard of Earthsea
The Tombs of Atuan
The Farthest Shore
Tehanu
Dragonfly**
The Other Wind

**Dragonfly is a novella that can be found in a collection called Tales from Earthsea. Tales has some other stories set in the archipelago that are not part of the story arc of the six listed above. However, at least a couple of them are FANTASTIC, and all are at least very good.

IMO, the best are Tales from Earthsea and The Other Wind. Le Guin just keeps getting better!! But they're freshest in my mind, so I can't really say that for sure. The original trilogy blew me away, too, but it's been several years since I read them.

Posted: **Tue Jan 03, 2006 6:45 pm**

Tehanu is my favorite of the Earthsea books...Tenar is just a wonderful female protagonist, beautifully written. LeGuin writes some of the most poetic prose in literature as far as i'm concerned.

other LeGuin favorites include

The Left Hand of Darkness
The Lathe of Heaven
The Telling
The Disposessed

this woman has won more literary awards than you can shake a stick at!!
and deservedly so!

Posted: **Tue Jan 03, 2006 7:12 pm**

Yup, she's as good as it gets!!

Posted: **Tue Jan 03, 2006 8:19 pm**

*adds yet more to the 'to read' pile*

Posted: **Tue Jan 03, 2006 9:23 pm**

Heh. As I always tell everyone, they're fast reads. None are even 400 pages (maybe Tales, but that's short stories), and, imo, it's difficult to put them down. I'm a slow reader, and even I read them fast.

Posted: **Fri Jan 06, 2006 2:29 pm**

Le Guin will be my next fantasy stop, after I finish re-reading the Second Chrons and Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire.

Posted: **Fri Jan 27, 2006 8:31 am**

I have read all of the Earthsea cycle. They have become old favorites for me, and it hasn't even been that long since I first read them.

I will say that I found the first book, A Wizard of Earthsea, hard to get into until I was about 2/3 through the book. It was worth the perseverance, however.

Posted: **Fri Jan 27, 2006 6:23 pm**

Wizard of Earthsea is sitting on my shelf, as well as the Tombs of Atuan. I just have to finish reading A Feast for Crows!

Posted: **Fri Jan 27, 2006 9:46 pm**

Lord Foul wrote:I just have to finish reading A Feast for Crows!

Yes, and I have to get started on that series.

The books are sitting on my coffee table.

Posted: **Sat Jul 15, 2006 11:17 pm**

*bump* for Trapper

Trapper439 wrote:Le Guin was ahead of her time. I only recently read on Wikipedia that she has added to the Earthsea Trilogy that I read many years ago. I also read that there is an Earthsea movie or mini-series THAT IS TO BE AVOIDED AT ALL COSTS!

Apparently she's livid about what they did to her story...

What they did to her story is an abomination. And I'm not just being overly sensitive. If you threw a dozen names at someone, said there was magic involved, and told them to make a movie based on nothing but that, whatever they came up with would have been as faithful to Le Guin's books as what aired on TV. In truth, I only watched the first 17 minutes of it, because I was so appalled by the changes they had made in that short time. I heard many things from others about what followed.

However, the GOOD news is that, yes indeed, she added to the Earthsea series!!!!

The third post of this thread lists them all.

Posted: **Sun Jul 16, 2006 1:45 pm**

However bad the TV miniseries was, there are a lot of good things being said about the forthcoming anime adaptation.

Posted: **Sun Jul 16, 2006 2:10 pm**

I'm told it's being done by someone who's done good things in the past, so there's hope.

Posted: **Thu Aug 17, 2006 10:11 am**

Well, I've already posted in the Grove at the Hangar, but I've just read the first 4 and thoroughly enjoyed them. Now I'm going to have to hunt for Tales and The Other Wind.

I think Tehanu might have been my favourite...they all got better (and darker) as they went along.

Anybody want to know what else I have to say, find one of danlo's posts and follow the link in his profile to the Hangar.

--A

Posted: **Thu Aug 17, 2006 10:49 am**

www.ursulakleguin.com/GedoSenkiResponse.html

Posted: **Thu Aug 17, 2006 11:09 am**

Very interesting Murrin, thanks. I think I'm going to quote part of that in the thread about racism in sci-fi.

--A

Posted: **Thu Aug 17, 2006 3:32 pm**

thanks for posting that Murrin.

Posted: **Thu Aug 31, 2006 11:54 pm**

Wow! Indeed, thanks, Murrin. I'll certainly not be seeing that version! Le Guin's reaction is plenty to keep me away. But then this from the correspondent in Japan?!?!????!!!?!?!?!!!!?!?!??!?!?!????

Simply put, the Ghibli movie is a story of a boy who kills his father without cause, and of what happens to him after he then runs away.

Was there ever a more appropriate time to say
WTF!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Posted: **Fri Sep 01, 2006 10:23 am**

Fist and Faith wrote:Wow! Indeed, thanks, Murrin. I'll certainly not be seeing that version! Le Guin's reaction is plenty to keep me away.

I'm sorry, but.... what? Just because it isn't a faithful adaptation, you won't see it? Even le Guin said that it was a good movie, and a good movie based not-so-loosely on a work you like should be worth seeing, right?