Historias de Terramar I Historias de Terramar, #1
Rústica con solapas, 263 pages
Español language
Published Jan. 18, 2022 by Minotauro.
Primera entrega del emblemático ciclo de Terramar.
En el mundo de Terramar la magia es un elemento indispensable. Un principio fundamental rige ese mundo: el equilibrio entre la vida y la muerte, que pocos pueden alterar. Pasados diez años, Ged capaz ya de actuar en beneficio de otros, decide recobrar la mitad de un anillo perdido en las tumbas de Atuan; sin embargo la sacerdotisa le involucrará en las profundidades de Terramar. ". ¡Déjate llevar por la magia de Terramar!
Ursula K. Le Guin destaca por ser una de las autoras cumbre en el catálogo de Minotauro y una eminencia de la literatura de género. Esta obra ha inspirado populares sagas de fantasía posteriores como Harry Potter.
I really liked the book. There are a lot of cool ideas about how the magic works in this universe, and a ton of amazing world building. Earthsea feels like a real place, with its own rules, customs, and quirks.
There is something about the writing style that felt a bit off to me though. I honestly don't know how to explain it.
I think I would've liked this more when I was 14.
I don't know what I was expecting with this, but I guess it wasn't a pretty bog standard fantasy wizard novel with all the trimmings, and more than a few tired tropes.
I suppose you could point out that this novel was written at a time when modern fantasy novel basically meant Lord of the Rings, when a lot of these tropes were new, and with this book Le Guin literally invented the young wizard coming of age subgenre.
You might even excuse the patriarchal society of Earthsea — including the shockingly unchallenged assertion that "women's magic" is weaker than "men's magic" — as a reflection of the patriarchal 1960's US society Le Guin wrote it in. Certainly, in the afterword of the edition I read, Le Guin talks about how she felt writing about a young brown-skinned teen …
I think I would've liked this more when I was 14.
I don't know what I was expecting with this, but I guess it wasn't a pretty bog standard fantasy wizard novel with all the trimmings, and more than a few tired tropes.
I suppose you could point out that this novel was written at a time when modern fantasy novel basically meant Lord of the Rings, when a lot of these tropes were new, and with this book Le Guin literally invented the young wizard coming of age subgenre.
You might even excuse the patriarchal society of Earthsea — including the shockingly unchallenged assertion that "women's magic" is weaker than "men's magic" — as a reflection of the patriarchal 1960's US society Le Guin wrote it in. Certainly, in the afterword of the edition I read, Le Guin talks about how she felt writing about a young brown-skinned teen wizard who doesn't even rescue any damseled girls, she was already pushing tropes as far as she felt she could if she wanted to get published.
And that seems all fair and reasonable given the historical context. But unfortunately, I'm not sure historical context makes for a good read.
Like I said, I think I would've liked this better in middle school, when I was a much less critical reader and much more prone to getting swept up in adventure.
I did enjoy the ending. It was satisfying in a way that I wasn't expecting. It might've been that I was too distracted by the things that annoyed me to notice the foreshadowing (no pun intended) but I feel like Le Guin held her cards very close to her chest on this one. And it pays off instantly the moment you get there, so I'm glad that I didn't give up on it. I just wish some of the journey to get there had be a bit less tedious.
A must-read in the collection of fantasy classics
