See you in Earthsea, Ms. LeGuin

She was 88.

The sky rained today, and the earth shook and raged in its sadness. We can only weep.

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You know, in all these years, I've never read The Left Hand of Darkness. I just never got to it. I read Earthsea a year or two ago, and thought it was a neat series, but got distracted by something shiny and didn't track down her other stuff.

I shall have to remedy that.

She led a good life.

She will be missed.

Cross posting from Book Recommendations, I named my first ever D&D character Ged. It was nothing like a human wizard, but I was fresh off of reading Earthsea for the first time. Very sad.

I always wanted to reach out to LeGuin and express to her how much the Earthsea trilogy meant to me, as a kid and now. When I was 10 or so our family took a cross country road trip, from Tennessee to Vancouver, camping at KOA campgrounds and generally living on the cheap however we could. As preparation Mom let my brother and me pick out a few books to keep us occupied, and I chose that trilogy. I'm a slow reader -maybe deliberate reader is more apt- so it took me a few states to get through all the books, but I still have vivid memories of the locations and events of that series, all those years ago. Books like that should never go out of style, they're perfect for snowy or rainy days, or just when you have to stay put for a while.

I think Earthsea is the reason I prefer low over high fantasy, it felt very realistic. To this day I can't bring myself to watch the video series, there's no need to cheapen the experience.

Sad. Hard to overstate her influence.

To my shame, I've never read one of her books. I'll have to change that...I think I still have an unread copy of one of the Earthsea books around here somewhere.

If you haven't yet read any of her Earthsea books, I envy your soon-to-be amazing reading experience. She has other works, but IMO, Earthsea is one of the best crafted and sublime.

At some point, I had the urge to read fantasy novels burnt out of me by the endlessly dull Wheel of Time series, but it's probably about time I gave some of the better books a chance!

My wife was very sad to hear this. I was sad but at 88 I think she let a pretty great life.

Deaths are always tragic things. The past year or so all these rock stars who died and all the people who mourned them, I sat outside that because they never really influenced me. Ursala was my rock star. Her books (primarily Earthsea series) were a significant source of enjoyment as a youth.

pyxistyx wrote:

At some point, I had the urge to read fantasy novels burnt out of me by the endlessly dull Wheel of Time series, but it's probably about time I gave some of the better books a chance!

you are in for a treat.

Also check out The Dispossessed if you're up for some headier science fiction.

pyxistyx wrote:

At some point, I had the urge to read fantasy novels burnt out of me by the endlessly dull Wheel of Time series, but it's probably about time I gave some of the better books a chance!

Wisest thing I ever did was nope out after 3 volumes of nothing happening in that series.

Earthsea is everything Wheel of Time isn't. Charming, imaginative and snappy.

Ashamedly, I have not read every one of her works, but I have read all the major ones, and even her less regarded shorts and novels like Rocannon's World. What she lacks in quantity, she more than makes up in imagination and style. She's truly one of the greats. Robert Jordan is really no match. Asimov is a better one. Asimov's works are much less stylish and provocative, but there's a LOT of it.

Earthsea is one of the mainstays of high magic fantasy that made me crave its flavor in all my fantasy. While its magic isn't overt, it makes sense and it is everywhere. Mages tether the wind to power merchant vessels. Hearth wizards tend flocks by using magic on animals. It is magnificent.

In my Very Favorite Books list, Always Coming Home is def in the top five. Le Guin was a warrior poet and a beautiful example of empathy in action. She had the ability to imagine worlds that genuinely challenged and awakened her readers and that is a gift that is pretty rare.

One of the very first sci-fi books I read was a collection of short stories by Le Guin. It really opened my mind to the places storytelling could take you.

'Left Hand of Darkness' was one of the best books I've read. I've read a good many, she was truly a 'wizard' of prose. RIP.

I just started in on LeGuin's work a couple of years ago, after realizing how much of a sausage fest my bookshelf was. Read both The Lathe of Heaven and The Left Hand of Darkness, and they both left me with the distinct impression that I wasn't smart enough to have fully appreciated what I just read.

I mean that as a complement - I struggle with literary works, they don't suit the speed at which I read (fast), and I often feel like I miss the beauty of the prose or the allegories.

The Dispossessed is one of those books that was so much greater than just story and plotline. The wonder of the main character, Shevek, as he has such thought-provoking reactions to his new experiences.

Spoiler:

My favorite is the "containers to store containers"

Am I allowed to feel a little bit wiser when I finish a le Guin book? Because I do. Every time.