Legend of Earthsea == Atrocity

[deccan]

Will said:
I've read The Left Hand of Darkness by Le Guin, thought it was pretty interesting. Any thoughts on how the Earthsea series compares? I might pick it up now that I have some time over break

I've read both. I've probably read most of Le Guin's stuff include "The Word for World is Forest", "The Dispossessed", etc. "A Wizard of Earthsea" is very good, but not at all like "The Left Hand of Darkness".

"A Wiard of Earthsea" is about a world in which there is real magic. This is not the Tolkienesque, Gandalf tosses fireballs type of magic. In the Earthsea books, there is magic because every thing has a true name, from the birds in the sky, to a raging volcano to every drop of water in the ocean. If you know the true name of a thing, you can make friends with it, negotiate with it, and perhaps bend it to your will.

Note that the books are not about epic adventuring and fighting. They are about facing personal demons, learning about responsbility, about self-sacrifice, about soft power, if you will, rather than hard power.