The Earthsea books were originally written as a (loose) trilogy, with more books written later.
The first three are all of a consistent style and tone and are all incredibly good IMO. I recently re-read all three and they were flat out excellent. I think of the three, The Tombs of Atuan is the major standout, but I recommend reading all three.
I consider them essential for fantasy fans, showing a somewhat different foundation for modern fantasy than Tolkien. In many ways, the Earthsea books are in a bit of a conversation with Tolkien in that Le Guin let the story speak for itself and did not detail the background with appendices etc. And yet the world is quite deep.
There are readers who also consider the later Earthsea books essential. I feel like they are well worth reading but not immediately after the first Earthsea trilogy. They were written much later, by a much more more mature Le Guin and have a different style and tone. They are quite good though.
But honestly, for fantasy fans, if you have not read the original Earthsea trilogy, I highly highly recommend it.
There are 6 Earthsea books in total, with the first three forming the “Earthsea Trilogy” all written in the later 60s/early 70s and often labeled as “juvenile” or “young adult”. There’s Tehanu, written about 25 years later and more or a less a stand alone sequel, then two more written more recently which sort of combine with Tehanu into a “second trilogy”. The second three are quite distinct from the first three.
I consider the first three classic and highly recommended. Then, after a suitable period to digest the first three, I also recommend the second three but they are quite different, reflecting a much older writer. They are all good in different ways.
However, the original Earthsea Trilogy really deserves more readers and more attention. I consider it one of the foundations of modern fantasy, along with Tolkien.
Just this past weekend, a friend who teaches creative writing ask me for a recommendation of good “spare” fantasy she could give to a student apparently addicted to “purple prose” ala GRR Martin.
I immediately suggested the original Earthsea trilogy.
The other option of lean fantasy that still packs a punch is the original Amber series by Roger Zelazny. I don’t find it quite as classic as Earthsea but that original 5 book series is really quite excellent, and also very influential. I might have to re-read those soon. I have a memory that books 1 and 5 in particular are very very strong.
Edit: there’s also the original Black Company trilogy which we’ve discussed here recently.
Found it after finishing The Cradle series on r/progressionfantasy and it’s hilarious! I’m listening to the (first) audiobook and the performance is sublime, really elevating the plot. Worth a shot if you are interested in something fantasy aligned, bith otherwise right up QT3’s RPG alley.
I think @geewhiz mentioned it in the 2021 thread, but I am here to plug it again.
The apocalypse will be televised!
A man. His ex-girlfriend’s cat. A sadistic game show unlike anything in the universe: a dungeon crawl where survival depends on killing your prey in the most entertaining way possible.
In a flash, every human-erected construction on Earth—from Buckingham Palace to the tiniest of sheds—collapses in a heap, sinking into the ground.
The buildings and all the people inside have all been atomized and transformed into the dungeon: an 18-level labyrinth filled with traps, monsters, and loot. A dungeon so enormous, it circles the entire globe.
Only a few dare venture inside. But once you’re in, you can’t get out. And what’s worse, each level has a time limit. You have but days to find a staircase to the next level down, or it’s game over. In this game, it’s not about your strength or your dexterity. It’s about your followers, your views. Your clout. It’s about building an audience and killing those goblins with style.
You can’t just survive here. You gotta survive big.
You gotta fight with vigor, with excitement. You gotta make them stand up and cheer. And if you do have that “it” factor, you may just find yourself with a following. That’s the only way to truly survive in this game—with the help of the loot boxes dropped upon you by the generous benefactors watching from across the galaxy.
They call it Dungeon Crawler World. But for Carl, it’s anything but a game.
Thanks for the recommendation. I had heard of Le Guin a lot on the Science Fiction side (and always meant to read Dispossessed and Left Hand of Darkness), but didn’t know about the Earthsea books.
The author of the book states in the introduction (the book was written in 1996) that he had a “desire to do at least one “Star Trek done right” book”, and this is it. The book is about a Commonwealth of Planets research vessel called Starplex. It’s mission is basically that of the USS Enterprise, except that this ship has no military presence on board. It is full of technical explanations (that may or may not make sense, but I am willing to accept them all) and science explanations for everything that happens. The vessel is crewed by members of three different space races, and two from earth.
This is a fast paced space adventure and I liked it.
Well, that sounds right up my alley. I’ve read some Sawyer over the years and recall enjoying both the WWW series and the one-off Illegal Alien. Starplex is on Kindle for $5 so… boughtened.
He’s won both a Hugo and a Nebula but I haven’t actually read either of the novels which won those awards. The WWW series has some flaws but I also thought it had some brilliant ideas, and Illegal Alien, well it’s a sci-fi/legal thriller and right up my alley. Also, fairly humorous in a dry way.
I just looked in up. The one I read was his Nebula award winner, The Terminal Experiment, which I really enjoyed. It was good, but It also felt like someone’s early work, which it was. Looks like he’s had many novels since then.
The Dark Side of Christian History by Helen Ellerbe presents an overview of the worst excesses of Christian organization in the last 2000 years, from Crusades against other religions to the Inquisition against heretics to witch trials. Underlying it all is a theme of religious organizations used to create and maintain power structures - men over women, masters over slaves, priests over laity, the church over temporal concerns. The belief in a judgemental God who demands unquestioning obedience lends itself to either zealotry or subversion by the unscrupulous, in either case resulting in domination and control, often through violent means. When the actual teachings of the Bible conflicted with maintaining that power and control, the church would find excuses to ignore the teaching and maintain the power. As science advanced and education has become more accessible, the blind faith of the masses has waned, resulting in opportunity to disrupt that stranglehold on power. Change comes slowly, though, and even in modern times there are many examples of abuse of religious power.
I’m a Christian myself, and this is not the first time I’ve confronted the darkness in church history. It’s easy to think of these as past problems, solved in modern times by exposing corruption and more enlightened views on equality, education, and personal freedoms. But that underlying theme of trying to exert control over others is very much still alive in modern times, though usually it has moved from direct physical violence to using political or economic power. There are plenty of recent examples of Christian people and organizations trying to force people (Christian or not) to behave in certain ways. Jesus calls us to love our neighbors and witness to them, and trust that he will work in their hearts, not to force them to live as we believe they should. Difficult as it may be to revisit the church’s sordid past, it’s a worthwhile exercise if it helps us examine our own actions and motives, and adjust to follow more closely what God has called us to do.
Thats awesome to hear, BBB - I went through the series some years back, and REALLY liked it. Its a hard sell to others though .“You have to read the first two-three books, and THEN you’ll begin to understand whats going on”, is quite a tall order to accept for most people.
I recently started hearing them while commuting , and is close to finished with the first book. I do find it amazing how much feeling Steven Erikson can pack into these kind of stories and much emotionel response they awaken in me at times - both sorrowful, but its also quite humorous at times. He has, and this may be a silly thing to say about a write, a way with words that is really evocative to me.
Anyways - the audiobooks from Audible are really well done and I can only recommend them!
