I have never read LeGuin, probably since I don't read much fantasy. In fact, Lord of the Rings is probably about it. I prefer historical fiction. But LeGuin keeps popping up, so I'm thinking I should give her a chance.
Also, I had never heard of Guy Gavriel Kay! Where would you recommend beginning with his work?
I so appreciate your reminder that Christians do not have a monopoly on truth!
Kay is one of my favorite fantasy writers, though to be honest I have not loved his most recent couple of books. I think his very best is probably Tigana, a novel set in a world that has a very Italian Renaissance feel. It's about a peninsula that's been invaded and the foreign tyrant-sorcerer in his wrath has cursed one of the kingdoms so that no one but people who were born there can remember or even hear its name or the name of its cities and towns. There are some lovely echoes of the story of Biblical Esther (Kay is of Jewish heritage).
I also love the Sarantine Mosaic, a duo of books about a mosaicist in a Byzantine-inspired world (that also owes a huge debt to Yeats' poem Sailing to Byzantium).
Last Light of the Sun and The Lions of Al-Rassan are also particular favorites. And he has a pair of books inspired by Chinese myths and history: Under Heaven and River of Stars.
Kay's first published novels are a trilogy-- The Fionavar Tapestry: 1. The Summer Tree 2. The Wandering Fire 3. The Darkest Road. It'is highly derivative of Lord of the Rings and is a little rough as first books often are and yet which has some very fine moments. Kay helped Christopher Tolkien when he was editing the Silmarillion so I think he really needed to write the Tolkien out of his system before he could find his own kind of world-building and story-telling. The story is about five college kids from Toronto who end up in a fantasy world where there are elves and dwarves and a dark lord who must be overthrown. But I will say that of all the Tolkien-derivative fantasies I've ever read these are my favorites and have some of the most interesting and original takes. They also combine elements from the Arthurian legends and from Norse mythology and each of the five protagonists has a distinct and different story arc.
I have tried A Wizard of Earthsea and couldn't get into it, but I *want* to love this series! Maybe I'll try again. Le Guin's The Left Hand of Darkness turned me upside down in the best ways.
I totally get that wanting to love it but not. My first encounter with the first book left me rather underwhelmed and unwilling to try to read any more for a couple years. It's very much a coming of age novel and Ged isn't really a very sympathetic character. As an entry point it's necessary, but not very captivating. But by the end of Tombs of Atuan I realized there was something I was interested in watching develop. I was glad to be able to move from wanting to like it to actually loving it. I think LeGuin really grew with the series. Or rather she kept returning to it as she grew and had more questions because she needed to work out the answers. It really feels like she grows into the insights of the later books through a long process of maturation and partly by working on other unrelated books in the intervals. I think I need to read Left Hand of Darkness next.
And … it is difficult not to read “Ged” without thinking (in a mind spellchecking kind of way) “God.”
ooh I hadn't actually thought of that. I was too busy wondering if it's supposed to be a hard or a soft G. (I ultimately decided on a hard G.)
I have never read LeGuin, probably since I don't read much fantasy. In fact, Lord of the Rings is probably about it. I prefer historical fiction. But LeGuin keeps popping up, so I'm thinking I should give her a chance.
Also, I had never heard of Guy Gavriel Kay! Where would you recommend beginning with his work?
I so appreciate your reminder that Christians do not have a monopoly on truth!
Kay is one of my favorite fantasy writers, though to be honest I have not loved his most recent couple of books. I think his very best is probably Tigana, a novel set in a world that has a very Italian Renaissance feel. It's about a peninsula that's been invaded and the foreign tyrant-sorcerer in his wrath has cursed one of the kingdoms so that no one but people who were born there can remember or even hear its name or the name of its cities and towns. There are some lovely echoes of the story of Biblical Esther (Kay is of Jewish heritage).
I also love the Sarantine Mosaic, a duo of books about a mosaicist in a Byzantine-inspired world (that also owes a huge debt to Yeats' poem Sailing to Byzantium).
Last Light of the Sun and The Lions of Al-Rassan are also particular favorites. And he has a pair of books inspired by Chinese myths and history: Under Heaven and River of Stars.
Kay's first published novels are a trilogy-- The Fionavar Tapestry: 1. The Summer Tree 2. The Wandering Fire 3. The Darkest Road. It'is highly derivative of Lord of the Rings and is a little rough as first books often are and yet which has some very fine moments. Kay helped Christopher Tolkien when he was editing the Silmarillion so I think he really needed to write the Tolkien out of his system before he could find his own kind of world-building and story-telling. The story is about five college kids from Toronto who end up in a fantasy world where there are elves and dwarves and a dark lord who must be overthrown. But I will say that of all the Tolkien-derivative fantasies I've ever read these are my favorites and have some of the most interesting and original takes. They also combine elements from the Arthurian legends and from Norse mythology and each of the five protagonists has a distinct and different story arc.
I will follow up on this soon. Thank you!
I’ve never read Ursula LeGuin’s Earthsea books. But Melanie Bettinelli your notes make me want to. Thanks!
Thank you David. I hope you let me know if you do. And thanks for the restock.
I have tried A Wizard of Earthsea and couldn't get into it, but I *want* to love this series! Maybe I'll try again. Le Guin's The Left Hand of Darkness turned me upside down in the best ways.
I totally get that wanting to love it but not. My first encounter with the first book left me rather underwhelmed and unwilling to try to read any more for a couple years. It's very much a coming of age novel and Ged isn't really a very sympathetic character. As an entry point it's necessary, but not very captivating. But by the end of Tombs of Atuan I realized there was something I was interested in watching develop. I was glad to be able to move from wanting to like it to actually loving it. I think LeGuin really grew with the series. Or rather she kept returning to it as she grew and had more questions because she needed to work out the answers. It really feels like she grows into the insights of the later books through a long process of maturation and partly by working on other unrelated books in the intervals. I think I need to read Left Hand of Darkness next.
I enjoy being able to see an author's growth like that.