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Comment by codeduck | Hacker News Reader

Le Guin's characterisation of magic and the power of Names remains one of my favourite treatments of the themes in modern fantasy. Earthsea remains one of my pleasures.

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I could never really get into LeGuin. It's been a long while since I tried reading Earthsea but it seems like a very mediocre fantasy novel with a plot that struggles to actually go anywhere. Apparently it's trying to preach some kind of political message about racism, and doing it poorly -- I didn't get that message at all when I read it, and only later learned about the racial aspect of it.

If you want to write good fantasy, it helps a lot to include: Huge exploding fireballs. Cool-looking protagonists mastering the battlefield with confidence and style. World-altering stakes.

LeGuin has none of the above, and overall just seems kinda...mid. I'm confused why so many people seem to gush over Earthsea.

(Notwithstanding the above, it's okay with me if you happen to like LeGuin -- I'm not trying to be the taste police. I'm posting because I'm trying to figure out what all the fuss is about, and wondering if I'm missing something -- so dissenting opinions are welcome!)

please do not feed the troll everybody

I can’t tell because of my age whether everyone forgot this lesson or that the younger crowd is now online and never learned it.

> f you want to write good fantasy, it helps a lot to include: Huge exploding fireballs. Cool-looking protagonists mastering the battlefield with confidence and style. World-altering stakes.

Maybe for people that don't subscribe to this, something a bit less... Action-y makes it more interesting.

Something about how you phrased this makes me think you might appreciate Master of Five Magics by Lyndon Hardy. There are five kinds of magic, each with their own unique source, style, and pretty rigorous rule set, and the protagonist sets out to learn them all (unheard of, if not outright forbidden).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Master_of_the_Five_Magics

The author has a background in Taoism. That book didn’t really make sense to me until I started practicing Zen.

Like most things in that tradition, it’s less about a “message”, and more about learning something about yourself. Cf meditation.

Le Guin is one of the most intentional authors out there. Her works, Earthsea included, smack you in the face with deliberate messages.

Yes, because you don't understand them. That's basically the difference between Western and Eastern style religions. Here it's not a theory, it's a path. It's about you. When she writes “To light a candle is to cast a shadow”, what does that mean to you? How does that affect the way you live your life? Your relationship with others? To take it as a simple "message" is like going to the gym to stare at the weights.

If you ever move out of your moms basement, and maybe have a real relationship with another human, try reading these things again and see how you feel.

[edit] spelling

Quick someone invent a time travel machine to explain to Tolkien he has been doing fantasy wrong !

One of my favourite conversations I ever had with another human being, was with someone who was telling me about a book he was reading, which he evidently loved very much. He spoke almost no English, and I spoke absolutely no Cantonese, so the entire fifteen minute conversation was conducted with gesture, intonation and the phrases: 'one man' 'many mans' 'some kung fu' 'many _(* n)_ kungfus!'

I love the left hand of darkness, the dispossessed, all the hainish books, but I have never loved any book as much as my conversation partner loved his book about many many Kung Fus.

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