Earthsea - Review

[MaxKaladin]

Out of all the books I've read in my life I never touched these for on reason or another so I plan on enjoying the mini series on its own merits. Yay for me!!

Same here.

 

[Elrik_DarkFury]

Well, I don't have cable, so I won't be able to see it. However, I have to say a departure from the books might be a good thing. A Wizard of Earthsea might be considered a fantasy classic, but I found it horribly dull and a struggle to finish myself.

I believe that the books are very remarkable.

For the people who found the books hard to read, i have to say that
although the story is set in a fantacy world, it is not like reading Drizzt or something.(all i say is that the flavor is very different from what someone might be used to)

My favored one is the first book of the trilogy where Ged is the main hero and the story focuces more in magic-adventure and Ged's progress in Art(magic).
The other 2 books, kind of disappointed me,mostly because i was full of hunger for more of his adventures and i didn't found any in them.

___________________
The Wizard

 

[Elrik_DarkFury]

And too sad they abused the story that way,that much.
We have seen that many times before in many popular films but not in that extend..


_________________
The Wizard

 

[LrdApoc]

I went back to her site to reread those and well... it's more than that. \\
In the original Earthsea books, the first book is about Ged's rash actions, taking responsibility for the damage he has caused, and accepting himself.

Tomb of Atuan has nothing to do with that. It's the hardest of the first three for me to pin down on themes, but one thing it's shows is that the clergy, run by women, is still awful - gender has nothing to do with that. And it's about Tenar's coming of age perhaps, and choosing to leave the world she knows. It has nothing to do with the Gebbeth.

And the third book, obviously, is about death and coming to terms with death.

My thoughts exactly. The blending of the two characters stories is done only to allow equal screen time for a female character. I was upset that even if they had to change the books to make them a movie they chose not to be true to the second book at all. The majoirty of the first book is there in spirit.. at least the scenes are similar though the scope is missing.

I hated the fabricated evils created for the Tenar plot.. and face that she has no resemblance to the actual character either...

Oh well.. as it is the show is light fantasy fare for those who don't expect much from TV fantasy.

 

[Laurel]

Out of all the books I've read in my life I never touched these for on reason or another so I plan on enjoying the mini series on its own merits. Yay for me!!

This was one I was thinking of picking up the books prior to seeing the miniseries.... but it actually looks like it could be good. So maybe I'll watch it, if I like it wait a few weeks then read the books. If I hate it, pick up the books right away This way I may be able to enjoy both.

SciFi channel isn't known for great miniseries, but cool and entertaining they do seem to get with most of the big miniseries.

And the girl from smallville is in it... So I have to see it, and then ponder where her career will be going after this.

 

[Krieg]

I went back to her site to reread those and well... it's more than that. \\
In the original Earthsea books, the first book is about Ged's rash actions, taking responsibility for the damage he has caused, and accepting himself.

Tomb of Atuan has nothing to do with that. It's the hardest of the first three for me to pin down on themes, but one thing it's shows is that the clergy, run by women, is still awful - gender has nothing to do with that. And it's about Tenar's coming of age perhaps, and choosing to leave the world she knows. It has nothing to do with the Gebbeth.

And the third book, obviously, is about death and coming to terms with death.

Actually The Tombs of Atuan IS about growing up and learning to accept responsbility for one's actions. It is just that Arha/Tenar is the vehicle for the message this time. In her roll as the high priestess she never had to accept responsibility. Only through taking charge of her own life does she learn that while she was had great power as priestess she was also a slave.

Much as with WoE, the message is that one is only whole when they accept responsibility for their actions.

Tehanu rubs me raw in many ways, as it seems that somewhere in the intervening 20 years LeGuin lost the capacity for subtlety. Everytime Tenar & Tehanu's show strength it felt like a hammer blow from the pages & the arbitrary unfairness of most of the men was equally over the top.

I can't help but think that some seed of bitterness within LeGuin has grown deep roots over the past decades...

 

[Starman]

Tehanu rubs me raw in many ways, as it seems that somewhere in the intervening 20 years LeGuin lost the capacity for subtlety. Everytime Tenar & Tehanu's show strength it felt like a hammer blow from the pages & the arbitrary unfairness of most of the men was equally over the top.

I can't help but think that some seed of bitterness within LeGuin has grown deep roots over the past decades...

This is exactly what I'm talking about. I think a lot of her early stuff is brilliant. Her later books, though, seem sadly lacking.

Starman

 

[Krieg]

This is exactly what I'm talking about. I think a lot of her early stuff is brilliant. Her later books, though, seem sadly lacking.

Starman

I misunderstood your original post. I thought you meant that after reading the original three books you didn't like what she was saying. I assumed you were implying that it was something within the trilogy that turned you off (which confused me a bit).

Now that you've helped clarify my misunderstanding I can't help but agree.

 

[Starman]

I misunderstood your original post. I thought you meant that after reading the original three books you didn't like what she was saying. I assumed you were implying that it was something within the trilogy that turned you off (which confused me a bit).

Now that you've helped clarify my misunderstanding I can't help but agree.

And I was confused, too, because I thought I was agreeing with you. Chalk it up to the vagaries of internet communication.

Starman

 

[Faraer]

If this series indeed replaces much of what's great about the novels with formula pap, the apparent swapping of the hero's usename and truename would be a symbol of it.