TALES FROM EARTHSEA

The stories in the fifth book of the Earthsea cycle take us on a tour of the world we were introduced to in the previous four volumes.

The first story takes us back a few hundred years before the Wizard of Earthsea, when the School for Wizards was founded on Roke. Then we learn the story of an aspiring young magician who falls in love. Will he follow the solitary, loveless life that the life of a wizard demands, or will he follow his heart? We even learn about the wizards who taught Ogion, Ged’s master, showing how humility and modesty can take on an earthquake.

And then, a mysterious healer is called upon to deal with an epidemic in an isolated village, and the journey ends with a story that is actually the final chapter in the fourth volume Tehanu .

The five-story volume concludes with an account of the history of the Earthsea, referring to its peoples, languages, literature and magic. Anyone who has loved the world created by leading author Ursula K. Le Guin will want to read this literally magical collection of stories.