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Originally Posted by llreader
As for the remaining stories, Tehanu was a bit of a shock, because it was dramatically different from the rest of the stories, and much more personal, from what I understand.
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As I recall (and it's been a while since I read it,) Tehanu is essentially about death. No surprise it should be perceived as different and less comfortable than the othrr Earthsea books.
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I am re-reading the Chronicles of Amber (as I mentioned in the other thread), and I have to say it is one of the best *stories* I think I have read - suspense, intrigue, swashbuckling, sex, magic, mystery, betrayal, supernatural monsters and creepiness. Well done, and I like Zelazny's style (from tough-guy film noir to purple prose on the same page, or even same paragraph). That said, my memory of the second half the series (after Courts of Chaos) was that it was confused, had lots of people rushing around, and lots of characters appearing and disappearing all over the place. I didn't read more than two books, though, and it had been a while since I had read the original series, so I was a little fuzzy on all the different characters. Right now, my impression is that the second series should not have been written, and the first series should stand on its own (it was five books, but they were pretty slim). I am going to give it another go when I finish the first series, and see if reading through the whole thing helps.
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The second series are fun if you really liked the first, but are no great loss if you don't read them. They are essentially Roger revisiting Amber because a publisher wanted more Amber books and offered a decent amount of money. Roger commented at one point that he never expected the Amber series to be considered his magnum opus, and felt he still had major work in him. Unfortunately, he died a few years later of cancer.
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Dennis