The Earthsea Quartet:
A Wizard of Earthsea I.
The Tombs of Atuan II.
The Farthest Shore III.
Tehanu IV.
1968/1971/1972/1990
Ursula Le Guin is a writer, first of all; in this series, the fantasy feels like occupational hazard. There's magic but it is so integrantly part of the tale that you don't have to buy it; there are dragons but their effect is told rather than shown; there is a king but he's as straightforward as they come. Every aspect of fantasy lore is subdued, painted into the background image, the ambiance of the books. This allows Le Guin to tell her real story, that is, to bring the everyday out of fantasy and the fantasy into the everyday. Don't expect to get close to the characters; it's not so much about them and what happens to them, as it is about how what happens to them can tell us about what happens to us. You find instances of everyday situations that no one has a name for, yet that feel so familiar, looked into with an uncanny eye. You find philosophy, social theory, ethics, and honest wisdom all woven together as part of the tapestry of Earthsea.
With a shrewd perception of the human mind, Le Guin weaves a moral tale like the tales of old, but leaves you slightly fantasy-hungry.
Tags: magic, dragons, feminist thought, philo & wisdom, ship & sea, héros malmené, race
