Earthsea Cycle Books In Order

Publication Order of Earthsea Cycle Books

Publication Order of Earthsea Collections

Publication Order of Earthsea Non-Fiction Books

Earthsea Cycle is a fantasy series that were penned down by American writer, Ursula K. Le Guin. The worlds in Earthsea Cycle have been surrounded by an unchartered ocean. The first story in the Earthsea Cycle is The World of Unbinding, a short story, which was published in the year 1964. Six other books including A Wizard of Earthsea, which was published in the year 1968, followed the short story. There have been some audio books reading by numerous publishers and narrators. In the year 1996, a two-hour radio dramatization of the novel A Wizard of Earthsea was aired on BBC Radio 4. Michael Maloney and Judi Dench narrated the adaptation. Several other actors with different social and regional accents were used to emphasize the origins of the characters.

In the year 2004, SCI FI, a United States channel aired a three-hour adaptation of the novels, The Tombs of Atuan, A Wizard of the Earthsea, which was titled Legend of the Earthsea. The movie was later broadcasted in 2 parts in the United Kingdom. In the year 2006, Studio Ghibli released an animation film, Tales from Earthsea, which was based on the Earthsea mythology. One Giro Miyazaki who happens to be the son of Hayao Miyazaki directed the film.

Earthsea Cycle Series

A Wizard of the Earthsea is the first book in the Earthsea Cycle book series. It is an exceedingly magical and simple coming of age tale of Ged, a young wizard, which initially begins as a cocky and brash boy. In his arrogance, Ged releases an exceedingly terrible shadow on the world. Ged eventually grows up and is successful in embracing his darker side. With that said, this is not a traditional fantasy book, but instead, it is an introspective book. There are numerous coming to age fantasy elements in this book such as true friendship, wizarding, true rivalry, finding love and taking a dragon head on as well. Nonetheless, there is something, which makes this book stand out from the numerous variations with similar themes featuring Harry Porter, Kvothe, and many others.

The story is narrated in the fairy tale tradition; with the strangely fascinating, melodic, lyrical tale rhythm. In the authors amazing brilliance, Ursula converts what may have been a straightforward story about good fighting evil into a lesson of self-discovery and also the acceptance of the darkness that one lives with. This is a narrative about, the temptation, which comes with power, and the fascination of knowledge. Furthermore, this is the story about the dangers of upsetting the natural balance and that of presuming too much. This is also a story about getting to know and understand your own self-including the darkest corners of one’s soul. Ursula takes all these elements, which may have been a setup for failure in the hands of another writer and turns them unexpectedly into the book’s strengths.

A majority of the characters exist as sketches, with their only purpose being to offer support for the ideas and ideologies presented in this book. The author brushes over Ged’s training years using few words. She also avoids detailing the tedium as most writers do. Ursula’s world build is exceptionally executed, thereby manages to capture the essence of the world that she has created. The book begins as a boy is born on Gont an island that is located within the Earthsea. The world that the author has created is infused with magic. However, it is apparently clear that not everyone has the ability to control magic except those who understand the right words, or those individuals who have a wizard soul. Duny is the name of the boy.

The Tombs of Atuan is the second book in the Earthsea Cycle book series. Just like the first book, the Wizard of the Earthsea, the plot is great while the writing is much better. The book begins as Tenar is taken from her family at a tender age of five, and handed over to the dark ones at age 6. The dark ones believe that they if they managed to eat her soul, Tenar was going to belong to them forever. Tenar eventually becomes Arha, which means the eaten one. She is made the first priestess of the Nameless People. As it is the case with any religion, Arha is programmed into believing that the gods should be placated and feared as well, without any proof of their existence. When she eventually comes across the idea of the unfaith, it becomes a surprise and a wonder to her as well.

Arha had spent several years of her childhood in solitude and underground, in the Labyrinth and the under tomb. In the Undertomb, no light is allowed, and no males should enter the under tomb except the eunuchs. One day, Arha eventually spots light in the under tomb and notices a man taking a walk down there. As Arha is the first priestess, it is her duty to ensure that the man is killed for entering in the tomb. However, Arha begins to wonder what could be the main reason why the gods that she served have not unleashed a wrath of the man with the light. Arha was made to believe that disaster will always follow when the light is brought into the tomb. Arha decides to imprison the man, while she decides what she is going to do with the man.

The Farthest Shore is the third book in the Earthsea Cycle book series. This book began several years after the end of book two when Ged was a middle-aged ma. In this book, Ged has been made the Archmage of Roke, which happens to be the center of wizardry in the world, as it houses a school for individuals who are undergoing wizardry training. Apart from being isolated, Roke is protected from hostile invasion. This, in turn, gives very little comfort to the protagonist, who has just learned that there are wizards who have lost their powers together with the words that they use to invoke the wizardry. This sad news reachers Ged through, Arren, a young prince and a messenger who is 17 years of age. Upon looking at Arren, Ged sees something in the young man.