A true great of the fantasy genre, Ursula K. Le Guin’s A Wizard of Earthsea brims over with danger and wild magic. Illustrated by David Lupton and introduced by David Mitchell.
Tales from Earthsea
Book 5 of the Books of Earthsea
Illustrated by David Lupton
Foreword by the author
For Tales from Earthsea, Ursula K. Le Guin returns to her beloved fantasy world to reveal its very foundations. This Folio Society edition features illustrations by David Lupton.
£55.00
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‘[Le Guin] is unparalleled in creating fantasy peopled by finely drawn and complex characters.’
- Guardian
Put up a sail and summon a witch-wind as we travel back to fantasy’s most beloved archipelago. With these five exquisite stories of Earthsea, Ursula K. Le Guin weaves her unique magic once again, bringing new depth to one of the genre’s great masterpieces. This beautiful collector’s edition features seven atmospheric illustrations by artist David Lupton, who worked with Le Guin and her family from the very beginning of this Folio series to bring her vision of Earthsea to life, as well a stirring binding design. In a testament to the richness of her created world, Le Guin wrote a fascinating series of notes on the people, languages, literature and history of the region in ‘A Description of Earthsea’, also included in this edition. In the foreword, the author talks movingly about her desire to return to the world she created in A Wizard of Earthsea, and the methods by which a writer goes about excavating the history of a fictional landscape.
Bound in cloth printed and blocked
Set in Garamond with Dulcinea Serif as display
344 pages
Frontispiece plus 6 full-colour illustrations
Printed map endpapers
Plain slipcase
9˝ x 5¾˝
Le Guin believed that ‘all times are changing times’, and in this remarkable collection she re-examines the world she created, uncovering the stories that were previously hidden or forgotten – tales of both men and women discovering, sharing, and teaching magic. It is a powerful, empowering rebalancing of Earthsea, one that reveals new facets to a much-loved world. In the novella that begins the collection we discover the surprising history of who exactly created the great school of magic on the island of Roke, and in the final story, set a few years after the events of Tehanu, we glimpse the potential future of all magic in the shape of a fierce young woman called Dragonfly. Past and future and tempestuous present: each story is an essential, thrilling read.
Le Guin’s great passion for anthropology shines through in ‘A Description of Earthsea’, the final part of the collection. In these details, which take in both the mythology of the archipelago and its culture, Ged’s world is able to grow deep roots, leaving the reader with the distinct impression that Earthsea truly has a life of its own – one that continues when the author’s attention is elsewhere. Appropriately for this timeless collection, David Lupton’s beautiful illustrations depict a world that looks ‘lived in’; beyond the margins of each illustration we sense not only magic, but earth and water, stone and sky. The Folio Society edition of Tales from Earthsea brings a magical touch to an essential series.
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