Earthsea (book series)
Cover of The Earthsea Trilogy, a boxed paperback set of the first three Earthsea novels (1975, artist Pauline Ellison)
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| Author | Ursula K. Le Guin |
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| Country | United States |
| Genre | Fantasy, young adult fiction |
| Publisher | Parnassus Press, Atheneum Books, Harcourt Brace & Company (US) |
| Published | 1964–2014 (novels, 1968–2001) |
| Media type | Print (hardcover and paperback), audiobook |
Earthsea is a series by Ursula K. Le Guin, starting with her short story "The Word of Unbinding," published in 1964. Earthsea became the setting for six books, beginning with A Wizard of Earthsea, first published in 1968, and continuing with The Tombs of Atuan, The Farthest Shore, Tehanu, Tales from Earthsea, and The Other Wind. All are set in the world of Earthsea, as are eight short stories by Le Guin.
The world of Earthsea is one of sea and islands: a vast archipelago of hundreds of islands surrounded by mostly uncharted ocean. Earthsea contains no large continents, with the archipelago resembling Indonesia or the Philippines. The largest island, Havnor, at approximately 380 miles across, is about the size of Great Britain. The cultures of Earthsea are not direct analogues of those of our world, but are literate non-industrial civilizations. Technologically, Earthsea is an early Iron Age society, with bronze used in places where iron is scarce. Ged's father is a bronze-smith. Weapons also include the use of wood and other hard but easily crafted metals. The overall climate of Earthsea is temperate, comparable to the mid-latitudes (over a distance of about 1800 miles) of the Northern hemisphere. There is a yearly transition from warm summers to cold and snowy winters, especially in northern islands like Gont and Osskil. In the southern regions of Earthsea it can be much warmer.
The racial characteristics of the people of Earthsea are for the most part "red-brown" in coloring, like Native Americans; in the South and East Reach and on Way, they are much darker brown, but with straight black hair, like Indians, particularly Dravidians; in Osskil, they have a more European look, although still with dark skin, rather like the peoples of the Middle East and Mediterranean, and the Kargs resemble predominantly blond northern Europeans. Le Guin has criticized what she describes as the general assumption in fantasy that characters should be white and the society should resemble the Middle Ages.
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