A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin.This is my treat for the holidays. Last December I discovered, thanks to
fordmadoxfraud picking it for Eleven-Books Club, The Dispossessed&The Hainish Cycle; I decided to save Earthsea for the next year & well, here we are now, next year! UKLG! So these are her YA books. You can certainly tell-- they are far less dense-- but it is hard to me to pinpoint how, in any detail. Le Guin is too good of a writer. So these are great, I've been bad at keeping track of my reading & blogging in general, so here is a quick series of comments.
The Tombs of Atuan by Ursula K. Le Guin.Having struggled with irrational anxiety after my surgery-- I know, will I ever shut up about that-- I can't help but see that in all of Le Guin's stuggles. Climbing through the irrational dark oppressive world, made suddenly dark & oppressive by magic & your mind, despite being normal just a second ago. This one reminded me of M.A.R. Barker's Tekumel; the Kargad islands would slot into there without confusion, though the cause & effect is probably vice-versa.
The Farthest Shore by Ursula K. Le Guin.This was a weird one. What is this, Ged fights death & we exalt the monarchy? Or more like, Ged plays Gandalf while fighting Jesus, that's the actual story. Seriously, I can't be the first to make that comparison; the bad guy is totally Jesus, right? He's all gathering disciples, promising them rewards in the afterlife, a bridge to eternal life? & the people's responses an implicit condemnation of religion? Maybe that's just me. It's weird for him to play Gandalf & Aragorn, too; kingship is a surprising direction to go in for Le Guin. I think this is the last "Ged" Earthsea book, right?