Tales from Earthsea was a remarkable book. I went into it not expecting to like it a whole lot. The last time I had tried to read Sparrowhawk's original trilogy, I only got about half way through The Tombs of Atuan before getting side tracked. Which I always consider a bad sign. I mean, I had a respect for Ursula's work, but not a great personal appriciation.
That has changed. My respect for her as a writer only increased when I read the forward. I loved where she was coming from and her ideas about writing. I was a little deterred from her writing style with the first page of he Book of the Dark which opens the story "The Finder". It was just so dry and boring and over-detailed to keep me going. I almost got side-tracked before I got started. I'm glad that I didn't, however. That opening excerpt from some old history of Earthsea was written the way it was for a reason: it's old and dusty history. Ursula has a command of many writing styles, she can use them skillfully, and she simply wrote that way because that was what was demanded from that section. Elsewhere in the story, her writing was different.
And in the next story, it was very different. By the time I completed all 5 stories, I had read five very different styles, each matched the story being told. By the time I completed all 5 stories, I had met very different characters from very different eras. They weren't defined by their roles, though that was an aspect of them. They were pretty Three-Dimensional. The collection is "like a good album", each story is autonomous, but work collectively with each other as well.
I very much want to read the five books in the central series now.
"The Finder":
"The Finder" is the first story in this collection is about the distant past. It is probably the longest and introduces many ideas in one form which you will see mutate in the culture of Earthsea as you read all five stories. It is a brilliant "introduction" to the land if you've never read a previous Earthsea novel, it establishes some senses of the land, but there's not much more to say about it. The style is the least daring and different and there are all the normal elements of fantasy such as adventure and magic and romance and stuff. It matches most closely, as far as my memory serves, the previous books about Earthsea.
"Darkrose and Diamond":
This story is the best illustration of how much Le Guin likes music. I don't know her, but I assume, from this story and from her descriptions of Magic being like Music (and from her sonic writing style) that she's pretty into that art form. This is the story where she explains that link if your not into reading A Description of Earthsea in the back of the book. The style here is a little more loose, it's more about the dialog than the narration, and it is far less serious than any of the other stories.
"The Bones of the Earth":
Though "Darkrose and Diamond" may be the least serious, the style of "The Bones of the Earth" is probably the brightest. The reader learns a little more about how magic functions in this world and a lot of background if you have read the Earthsea novels. At about this point in this collection, it would really behoove the reader to start in on the novels if they don't know them. "The Bones of the Earth" could go either way.
"On the High Marsh":
On the other hand, "On the High Marsh" may be better for readers who are not familiar with the saga of Ged. I do not know exactly how much would be known to readers of Tehanu, but I really enjoyed the surprises at the ending having not read it. In fact, "On the High Marsh" was my very favorite individual story in the entire collection. It was the most unique in terms of writing style, but it fit the character of the central wizard so well that this is the story where my opinion changed from "Good" to "Damn Good".
"Dragonfly":
If "On the High March" is the best individual story in this 'album', then "Dragonfly" is the finale which marks the work as a whole "Brilliant". The style is back to being a little like "The Finder", but with some influence by the other stories. Many themes make their way back into this story and it is where sexuality and gender differences really seem like they'll resolve in some way. Perhaps in the next book.
Which I am looking forward to reading.
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