Rating is for the Earthsea series as a whole and for the additional stories and essays included in this edition; individual books in the series are rated and reviewed separately.

3,25/5 He tardado veinte meses en leer este volumen, pero hay truco: contiene más de seis libros y he ido mezclando muchas otras lecturas. En cualquier caso, debo confesar que, en general, no lo he disfrutado. La Le Guin fantasiosa se pierde demasiado en la fauna y la flora, cuando a mí eso me da igual y no me ayuda a generar una ambientación ni a creerme un mundo. De hecho, tiene un estilo muy poco cinematográfico: la camera obscura de mi mente rara vez podía mantener una imagen en marcha. Prefiero su yang cienciaficcionero y ensayista porque las reflexiones son deliciosas.
En general, no es la fantasía que me gusta… en absoluto. Normal: la fantasía que gozo cual gorrino en cochiquera suele ser grimdark (aquí sí se cuentan cosas muy chungas, especialmente en el cuarto, [b:Tehanu|13661|Tehanu (Earthsea Cycle, #4)|Ursula K. Le Guin|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1386924581l/13661._SY75_.jpg|2902890], pero el grimdark consiste en rebozarse en la miseria, en hacerse uno con ella y exigir más y más sufrimiento, y no es el caso aquí). Por otra parte, sí me han llenado y he disfrutado con todos los relatos del quinto libro ([b:Tales from Earthsea|13659|Tales from Earthsea (Earthsea Cycle, #5)|Ursula K. Le Guin|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1309202073l/13659._SY75_.jpg|65982]) y los que hacen de epílogo de las dos trilogías: ahí lo bueno estaba todo concentrado y no se me ha activado el monete con platillos de mi cerebro.

I dream of a world where instead of Harry Potter, the 6 books of Earthsea became the staple fantasy series for children and adolescents. I think it would be a better world.

What a joy it was to re-read this as an adult, and to finally finish the story in its entirety. An absolute must have for any fan of LeGuin. I think Earthsea will remain my favorite fantasy world and I am so thankful for all that it taught me over all these years.

My fave quotes from Earthsea revisioned: "Art was to transcend gender. This idea of genderlessness or androgyny is what Virginia Woolf said was the condition of the greatest artists' minds."
"I saw myself as luring white readers to identity with the hero, to get inside his skin and only then find it was a dark skin.I meant this as a strike against racial bigotry." I LOVE THAR SO MUCH.
"Tenar, a heroine, is not a free agent. She is trapped in her situation. And when the hero comes, she becomes complementary to hin. She cannot get free of the Tombs without him. But a fact some critics ignote neither can Ged get free without her. They are inter-dependent. I redefined my hero by making him dependent, not autonomous"
"It ia difficult for a woman to speak or write with authority unless she remains within a traditional role, since authority is still granted and withheld by the institutions and traditions of men" This, is an amazing point because yes, one can gain power as a woman, but things like censorship, hate, opression (patriarchy) limit her, so she can be powerful, within what is "allowed"
"A world in which men are seen independently real and women are seen onky as non-men is not a fantasy kingdom. It is every army. It's Washington DC, and the Tokyo Stock Exchanhe. It's the corporate boardeoom andnthe executive suit and the board of regents. It's the canon of English Literature. It's our politics. It's the world I lived in when I wrote the first three books of Earthsea." WOA. this woman is just. Her takes. How she writes them?? I aspire to flesh our my thoughts as well as this sometime in my lifetime??
"He has been gendered into violence, just as.much as they have. And she has been gendered into mere response. Neither acts with genuine freedom, though they do act" it feels rather fitting for the current lives of people
"The deepest foundation of the order of opression is gendering, which nakes the male normal, dominant, active, and the female Other subject, passive. To begin to imagine freedom, the myths of gender, like the myths of race, have to be explodrd and discarded." Okay fine now she's my favourite author!!!! UGH I LOVE THIS SO MUCH

The art here is not my personal preference, but it's a remarkable thing to have all of Ursula K. LeGuin's Earthea novels, stories, essays, and lectures collected in one place. The beauty, strength, and clarity of her writing and her vision are a gift to us all.