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Originally Posted by pwalker8
The Earthsea books were one of my favorite series. She was definitely one of the leading lights on the literary side of SF&F.
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I discovered the Earthsea books at the same time as I found the Lord of the Rings. I loved both of them, but they had quite different takes on the nature of right vs wrong. I think Le Guin's was more nuanced.
Quote:
Originally Posted by frahse
The Earth Sea Cycle (6 books) was marvelous. A favorite of mine.
The Left hand of Darkness was perplexing when I read it, but these days it gets a lot of attention. I always wondered about "pepper pills" (I believe that was what they were called,) but the military later gave me the answer: amphetamine, speed, and now days meth.
I love the sea as much as the land, and have often thought the Wind Mage was out to thwart me as he did Ged.
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When I discovered the Earthsea books, I was working in a small coastal village where the normal way to get in and out was by boat. It was very interesting to me to in some ways live in the same environment as Ged. The villagers would often talk about going down the reach. They would take their boat across the harbour, rather than walking. They were as much at home on the sea as on land.
Le Guin created a marvelous world. I used to love looking at the islands in the maps of my old paperbacks. That's one of the few downsides to me about having gone totally digital - the maps just aren't as easy to read on a device.