The first four books of the Earthsea cycle are available as what is called "The Earthsea Quartet". This review looks at those four books as both a collection and as individual stories.
The first book in the quartet, "The Wizard of Earthsea" is the first of Ursula K. Le Guin's books telling the adventures of the characters in the fictitious land of Earthsea. The book tells the tale of Sparrowhawk's journey from an impetuous and proud youth to becoming one of the most powerful mages Earthsea has ever known.
It starts by explaining the background of Sparrowhawk and how he comes to learn about magic from the local witch after he witnesses her using magic and tries it himself. It isn't long before it falls to him to defend his village and to come under the tuition of another mage who gives him his "true" name: Ged. A true name of something gives the wielder power over the thing and is in the language of the dragons.
His eagerness to learn as much magic and his thirst for power soon leads him to be persuaded to read magic he is not yet ready to use or understand though is quickly stopped by his teacher and is sent away to learn on the magical island of Roke where he spends a couple of years until an accident changes him forever - his once proud attitude has a reason to falter and learns to understand the consequences of upsetting the "balance". The rest of the book then deals with him solving the problem he has caused.
The second of the books, "The Tombs of Atuan" is mentioned in passing in the first book as being one of the great events that took place in the life of Ged and is the tale of how he came to "free" Tenar from her role as the High Priestess of the Nameless Ones. To start with this book focusses solely on Tenar and her time growing up in the service of the Nameless ones - a role she was born to. As time passes she learns more about her role in the temple and she starts to grow as a person, but things start to change when a mysterious person arrives (Ged) and changes her point of view of the people she serves. There is very little of this book with Sparrowhawk in, and when he does finally appear he is more mature, and wiser than when we saw him last but he is still a very young mage. In some ways I enjoyed this one more than the first - the first one felt a bit like I was reading Harry Potter in places, but this one stood out as being different.
Reading "The Furthest Shore" it is quite evident that it is a darker and slightly more brooding story. It feels like the time of magic might be coming to an end as it is growing weaker and there is a great sickness sweeping the lands. This story is told from the point of view of Arren and jumps further forwards in time than "The Tombs of Atuan" - by this point Sparrowhawk is the Archmage as was predicted. It is this book which forms the basis for the Studio Ghibli animated movie in which Lord Cob trying to cheat death opens a "hole" between the land of the living and the land of the dead.
Again more time has passed in "Tehanu" and is once more about Tenar. By the time this book is set she has married and had two children, but is now widowed. She begins to take care of a scarred young girl names Therru (who also features in the Studio Ghibli film) who later turns out to be not quite what she seems (as people who have seen the film will know already). The life of Sparrowhawk has changed considerably too - he no longer has his powers as his magic is spent from the previous book, though in the first book it is mentioned that when mages lose their power that they die which seems a little inconsistent here. Another major difference with this last book in the quartet is that it is darker and does not focus on magic as much but more the relationships between different characters.
One thing I noticed quite quickly about the majority of these books is how the writing style relies heavily upon the narrative rather than the interaction between characters and it is quite common for large chunks of time to pass between just a few paragraphs. Another observation is how short they are - they are quite literally novellas yet this does not distract from the depth of the story being told. Ursula K. Le Guin's writing style and stories are captivating, pulling you in to the world she has created on those pages. I think they're the sort of books which you either love to read and want to read them again and again, or totally boring and rushed - fortunately I fall into the former category and thoroughly enjoyed reading them.
Having watched both the live action version on Sci-Fi (which was absolutely dreadful) and the animated film from Studio Ghibli I had a rough idea what to expect from the books in terms of stories and the mythology surrounding them and I believe the animated film actually helped to make the books that little bit more enjoyable by being able to relate what I'd seen on television with events which were actually covered in the books. I think if you've watched the Studio Ghibli film and enjoyed it you'll also enjoy the books, however if you've read these books first you may find the movie lacking substance and will be more likely to notice the plot differences.
After reading these four books in the quartet collection I'm eager to continue reading the Earthsea cycle books - "The Other Wind" and "Tales from Earthsea".
