The first book in the Earthsea cycle, A Wizard of Earthsea, offered a nuanced take on the fantasy trope of the wizard who comes of age into his power and learns that universal axiom “with great power comes great responsibility.” This second entry into the cycle shifts momentarily away from Ged’s story toward Tenar, who at birth is selected as the First Priestess of the Tombs of Atuan. Her story neatly deconstructs the equally common-in-fantasy Chosen One trope and also serves as a lesson about […]
I really missed out, not reading this as a youth.
A wise person knows to expect thoughtful, imaginative, lyrical fantasy from Ursula K. Le Guin, and in A Wizard of Earthsea, she does not disappoint. Goodreads summary: “Ged, the greatest sorcerer in all Earthsea, was called Sparrowhawk in his reckless youth. Hungry for power and knowledge, Sparrowhawk tampered with long-held secrets and loosed a terrible shadow upon the world. This is the tale of his testing, how he mastered the mighty words of power, tamed an ancient dragon, and crossed death’s threshold to restore the […]
Another day, another Trade Me review
I’m not going to break new ground in reviewing here. Trade Me is every bit as great as one should come to expect from a Courtney Milan romance, with her trademark mixture of iconoclastic female characters, wit, progressive agenda, and wonderful chemistry between her main players. Brevity is the soul of this plot summary: Tina Chen, a student of low financial means, “trades places” for a semester with Blake Reynolds, young billionaire, after the former challenges the latter that he wouldn’t last two weeks in […]
It fills my heart up and gets louder
Drums of Autumn had the feeling of getting back on its feet after the last two books in the series. Not that Dragonfly in Amber and Voyager weren’t enjoyable — quite the contrary — but this book finally has Claire and Jamie back together throughout the entire duration, free from any timey-wimey separations. It’s not free of the sort of laughably ridiculous moments that I’ve quasi-complained about becoming more commonplace as the series advances, something about the ‘rootedness’ of this volume had more emotional resonance with me than the second and third […]