What Ever Happened to Earthsea?

There has never been another series like Earthsea, its take on fantasy is one that is wholly unique and at times confrontational. Today we dive into the incredible world of Earthsea, a series that captivated readers with its rich mythology, complex characters, and profound and boundary pushing themes. We'll explore what made Ursula K. Le Guin's creation so special, examine the various adaptations in film, and speculate on the future of the Earthsea series.

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00:00 - Intro
01:32 - Setting
04:58 - Novels
21:45 - Writing and Influence
24:13 - Sponsor
24:53 - Movies
31:00 - Future

Music:
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

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[zenebean]

Ged was the greatest painter in the world who lost his hands. Of course he despairs for a while, grieves. We are all eventually shadows of who we were. But Ged remains kind, respectful, loving, and still f*cking protects who he cares about.
I think his story is great for anyone who feels powerless

[clown]

so glad to hear the praise for Tombs. You can’t help but hear Le Guin’s voice when reading it. Truly amazing and overlooked story, deserves to be in the fantasy canon.

[ricavillegas]

You know it's an amazing and magical book when Studio Ghibli made an anime adaptation of it. Tales from the Earthsea will always have a special spot here in my heart

[marganaapsinthia]

My favourite book. My favourite author. She stands out because her books are so much more than the genre they're labeled as. Rather than being witty or sprinkled with lines that resemble wisdom, what she writes is wise from beginning to end. And you can see her wisdom grow from book to book over the decades. I can also see my understanding grow with each read-through; when I was a kid, I mourned Ged's loss of magic; as I grew up, I understood he'd lost nothing; magic was just one of the things that helped him become a wise, whole person that he was - which is something he could never lose. Out of all modern interpretations of mythic themes, Ged's hero's journey is the only one I'd wish for myself.

[pencilpauli]

Will be 65 this year as I read my way through Earthsea for the first time in my life.
Why I never read the books before I'll never know.

Highly recommended. The writing is simple, clear and wonderful.

[vingedheart]

For those who don't know, Ursula K. Le Guin also wrote The Word for World is Forest, which really is what the movie Avatar is based on - even if her characters weren't as 'flashy' as those in the movie. It's a beautiful story.

[joeyzamora]

The part where Ged sacrificed his magic just to seal the crack between the realm of the dead and the living is just indescribable for me.

[ForLiteSvenska]

I’ve read the Earthsea Cycle is its entirety twice in my life. First as a teen in high school, second in my mid twenties, and now again for the third time at the start of my thirties.
Being able to revisit and re-experience these novels at each interval has lead to a lot of personal introspection and so much enjoyment.
Ursula is my absolute favorite author and here I am currently reading Tehanu and finding so much more understanding and sympathy for the women of these books in ways that my teen boy and younger adult male self couldn’t really quite catch on to.
Such brilliant writing from a brilliant author. Much love for her and for seeing this review, cheers!!

[---mhdk]

There is not enough about Earthsea on YouTube. First the DinoTopia video NOW THIS!? You’ve got a sub.

[leefranklin]

LeGuin was an award winning author for reasons. Eight Hugos (Awarded by fans), Six Nebulas (Awarded by peers), and six Locus awards for her novels... which is sort of a combination of the two, but more like a Nebula (It's the magazine for pro genre writers). While Earthsea had a huge impact they are more scratching the surface, novels like The Left Hand of Darkness and the Dispossessed run far deeper.

[rpdt]

I have so, so much to say about Earthsea. What a brilliant set of books, what an imaginative take on fantasy and story, Ursula Le Guin has opened my mind to many different ways a story can be; I've since gobbled up any book of hers I can find (most recently, Lathe of Heaven). On the Ghibli side of things, word on the street is Hayao Miyazaki was a HUGE fan c. 1980's and the series has been a huge influence for him; if you ask me, Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind feels like it gets Earthsea more than the actual Ghibli Earthsea did.

[summerkagan]

Earthsea had my favorite depiction of dragons in fantasy novels. "Dragons don't use magic, they are magic, it is very substance of their being."
Could you maybe do Dying Earth by Jack Vance?

[nicholasbarton]

The Tombs of Atuan was one of the most beautiful books I've ever read. Amazing job on the video, didn't even know about the Ghibli film!

[bmattwright]

The Tombs of Atuan is my favorite book of all time. I have never felt the way I did when I finished that book again.

[orion]

I'm so happy to see Earthsea getting some love. Thank you for this video!

[arecestravi]

What is rare - its a book series with a pretty big bunch of healthy relationships. I was mesmerised by it in the childhood, because there were not so many examples of healthy dynamics in my circumstances.

[yaarghmaargh]

The scene where Tenar's son comes back, and simply takes over her home, and casually, with no malice, reduces her to a guest, is chilling.

[JoshuaRastia]

I have a major soft spot for the ghibli adaptation, even if the plot is clunky, I just loose myself in its visuals and music and love putting it on as background noise while I work on projects :)

[katharinewiley]

For many years LeGuin had an Earthsea screenplay she and the great British director Michael Powell had co-written, but they could never get a studio interested. Imagine an adaptation of Earthsea by her and Powell, directed by Powell, and edited by Schoonmaker (Powell's wife, and main editor for Martin Scorsese)! Though they would have had to fight quite hard to get any studio at that time to accept POC actors for all the lead roles.

[hagensteiner]

The Earthsea-Ghibli connection runs older--Nausicaa is inspired in part by Earthsea. Miyazaki being a fan is probably why his son tried to adapt it.