The Promise of Earthsea

By DAPHNE LEE

From Tots to Teens, StarMag

MORE than 10 years ago I tried to read Ursula K. Le Guin's The Wizard of Earthsea and failed miserably. This happens sometimes. You find a book unremarkable, hard to read even, at 23 only to declare it the best thing since sliced bread when you re-read it at 50.

The Wizard of Earthsea and the other books in The Earthsea Quartet (The Tombs of Atuan, The Farthest Shore and Tehanu) kept me up way past my bedtime two weeks ago. Like the best fantasy novels they explore the great mysteries of the universe - life and death, good and evil, and time. Running through the books is also the theme of self-discovery, the search of identity and the meaning of self, mainly through the life and exploits of the quartet's central figure, Sparrowhawk.

The Wizard of Earthsea
The first book of the quartet introduces the reader to the island of Gont (one of the hundreds of islands that make up the Earthsea archipelago) where Sparrowhawk tends his aunt's goats. When he shows promise for spell-making, he is taken under the wing of Ogion, an old wizard. Sparrowhawk then chooses to go to Roke Island, where the "high arts" are taught. Before he leaves for the school for wizards, Sparrowhawk is given his true name, Ged. In the world of Earthsea, knowing another's true name is to have power over him. Thus, one's true name is kept a secret. True names prove significant throughout the series, and, in this first book, proves to be the key to Ged's ultimate quest as a man and a mage.

The Tombs of Atuan
Ged does not appear until nearly halfway through this book. The story starts by introducing us to the dark world of the Tombs of Atuan, in particular the life of the One Priestess of the Nameless Ones. The One Priestess is believed to die only in body. Her spirit is rekindled in the physical shape of a girl child born on the night of the One Pristess's death. In The Tombs of Atuan, the child is Tenar, raised, from the age of six, to a life of strict, cold ritual and obedience. As the One Priestess Tenar must become Arha, the Eaten One - whose idenity is consumed by duty and tradition. When she meets Ged, Arha is forced to question her existence and purpose, and search for the humanity that Ged insists still exists deep within her.

The Farthest Shore

Ged is now archmage of the school for wizards on Roke Island. Arren, an Earthsea prince and descendant of the great king Morred, comes to Roke to consult the master mages about the malaise that has come over the islands. It is decided that Arren should accompany Ged on a quest to find the cause of the "illness" suffered by the land and its people. The pair eventually discover that a dark mage has opened a door between the worlds of the dead and the living. Arren and Ged attempt to close the breach and their efforts constitute Arren's final coming of age and allow him to fulfil an ancient Earthsea prophecy.

Tehanu
The reader is reintroduced to Tenar, many years after the events that took place in The Tombs of Atuan, but almost immediately after the events in The Farthest Shore. Tenar, who was brought to Gont by Ged, is newly widowed and the mother of two adult children. She adopts a child, Therru, who has been sexually and physically abused. Tenar is present at the death of Ged's first teacher, Ogion. Ogion also taught Tenar and, on his deathbed, tells her to teach Therru "all". Meanwhile, Ged returns to Gont, no longer the archmage of Roke. Tehanu deals with Tenar and Ged's search for a new roles in life, and also explores Therru's awakening and the emotional strength that she acquires as a result of revelations of her true nature. The book also touches on the issue of misogyny; the power struggle between the sexes; and the use of sex as a tool of destruction or healing.

Perhaps it was because I have been though a lot more since I first tried reading the books, but they are now more moving, more meaningful, more painful yet also more rewarding reads.

I like Le Guin's simple language - the way her brevity makes her descriptive passages all the more intense and evocative - and the way she allows the reader deep into the psyche of her main characters by thoroughly, almost brutally, laying bare their thoughts, emotions and motivations. Certainly, we get to know the characters, warts and all, and there are moments when they are not very admirable. However, we always understand the reasons for and roots of their actions, no matter how despicable.

The stories, although they deal with difficult questions and acknowledge the darkness and sadness present in all people and all aspects of life and living, always end with a sense of hope. In fact, the balance of positive and negative is evident throughout the narrative, and so the books never seem too doom-laden or depressing. There is always kindness amidst of cruelty; friendship in the face of treachery; love as a healing balm after the physical, mental and emotional wounds caused by hatred.

I find the books oddly comforting despite their explicit and implicit violence. Perhaps this is because I know that no hurt, no disappointment, lasts forever. Time heals all. This is the promise contained in the Earthsea books.

The Earthsea Quartet became The Earthsea Cycle when Tales from Earthsea appeared 11 years after the publication of Tehanu. The Other Wind (2002) completes the series.

Comments

[Marisa (Marineko)]

I haven't tried the Hainish books but I have a suspicion that I'd like them more than Earthsea :)

I've read all the Catwings books - I love them!

[Daphne]

Hi Marisa. I'd dearly love to read Le Guin's non-fiction. I've started on her Hainish cycle but am not particularly liking it. Perhaps I need to wait 10 years ... :-P

I like Catwings - I've read the 1st two books and the first one ends on an absolutely perfect note.

[Marisa]

I love the Earthsea books, although perhaps not as much as I love Le Guin's non-fiction. I hear her sci-fi books are better too, but I haven't tried those.