Earthsea Series

I began another classic children's fantasy series and again was not disappointed! The Earthsea series by Ursula LeGuin begins with A Wizard of Earthsea and continues with The Tombs of Atuan, The Farthest Shore, Tehanu, The Other Wind, and Tales of Earthsea. I've now finished the entire series.

LeGuin's writing style is very different from Lloyd Alexander's. I'd say his tone is almost like that of an oral storyteller while LeGuin's is a little more literary. The main character for much of the series is Sparrowhawk, a young wizard whose destiny takes him all over his world. The main theme is light vs. darkness in the depths of the human soul, but it's treatment isn't preachy. Now that I've finished the series, my early conclusions about not wanting to see any dramatizations thereof are confirmed. There's just no way they could have nearly the value - the kind of dark & personal intimacy as reading the books has. That being said, I hope the movie will draw more people to these books. Another interesting aspect is that though the books are sequential, the later books don't start right where the last one left off - or tell you much about what's happened in between the books. Very interesting.

Highly, highly recommended. Absolutely a must read for fantasy fans! I cannot praise this series enough.