ZOMG XOVER!!!!!!
Jan. 13th, 2010 09:58 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shadydaveIn case you haven't heard, there was a terrible earthquake in Haiti. Donate to the Red Cross by text message.
My parents flew out this morning to Hawaii (incidentally hiding my car keys before they went). Bitter? A tad.
Anyways, I started rereading the Earthsea books!
I've only read them once, but my impression from last time was that I liked the first three, but not the last two. Those were written, like, 20 years later, and address some of the feminist issues from the series. Normally I'd be all for that, and still like the idea of it, but the tone of those books is just so bitter, and the plot so drastically different (character study-type stuff instead of adventuring), that I just didn't care for them.
However, reading through A Wizard of Earthsea, MAN did some of those issues have to be addressed. The only women that have any significant presence in the book are: Ged's aunt, a witch whose knowledge is largely superstitious, who doesn't particularly care for him, and who tries to manipulate his power; the daughter of a dodgy foreign sorceress lady, who ALSO grows up into a dodgy foreign sorceress lady and tries to seduce Ged into using an ancient evil; (ETA: can't forget the airheaded noblewoman! much as I would like to); a shipwrecked barbarian lady who doesn't speak his language and is mainly afraid of him; and finally, clocking in at the very end of the book (literally: it's page 170 out of 200), his best friend's younger sister, who makes hima sandwich food and... asks some questions. This is in addition to the unchallenged assertion that women can't be wizards, and that their magic is thus sketchy (in both senses of the word) and far less effective.
So yeah, if I'd written something like that, I'd be pretty bitter too. I've just started the second book, The Tombs of Atuan, which at least has a female protagonist (though she starts out as one of the baddies), so hopefully it'll be slightly less gender!faily. But seriously, when Tolkien's got more awesome chicks with agency than you, there is a problem.
Gender!FAIL aside, I definitely still like the first book. It reminded me a lot of Patricia McKillip's Riddlemaster Trilogy (well, technically it would be the other way around), which I definitely recommend for reasons of less gender!FAIL, and also, AWESOME.
I'll leave you with this quote. Lulz were had. :D
"Sparkweed," said Jasper. "They grow where the wind dropped the ashes of burning Ilien, when Erreth-Akbe defended the Inward Isles from the Firelord" (43).
My parents flew out this morning to Hawaii (incidentally hiding my car keys before they went). Bitter? A tad.
Anyways, I started rereading the Earthsea books!
I've only read them once, but my impression from last time was that I liked the first three, but not the last two. Those were written, like, 20 years later, and address some of the feminist issues from the series. Normally I'd be all for that, and still like the idea of it, but the tone of those books is just so bitter, and the plot so drastically different (character study-type stuff instead of adventuring), that I just didn't care for them.
However, reading through A Wizard of Earthsea, MAN did some of those issues have to be addressed. The only women that have any significant presence in the book are: Ged's aunt, a witch whose knowledge is largely superstitious, who doesn't particularly care for him, and who tries to manipulate his power; the daughter of a dodgy foreign sorceress lady, who ALSO grows up into a dodgy foreign sorceress lady and tries to seduce Ged into using an ancient evil; (ETA: can't forget the airheaded noblewoman! much as I would like to); a shipwrecked barbarian lady who doesn't speak his language and is mainly afraid of him; and finally, clocking in at the very end of the book (literally: it's page 170 out of 200), his best friend's younger sister, who makes him
So yeah, if I'd written something like that, I'd be pretty bitter too. I've just started the second book, The Tombs of Atuan, which at least has a female protagonist (though she starts out as one of the baddies), so hopefully it'll be slightly less gender!faily. But seriously, when Tolkien's got more awesome chicks with agency than you, there is a problem.
Gender!FAIL aside, I definitely still like the first book. It reminded me a lot of Patricia McKillip's Riddlemaster Trilogy (well, technically it would be the other way around), which I definitely recommend for reasons of less gender!FAIL, and also, AWESOME.
I'll leave you with this quote. Lulz were had. :D
"Sparkweed," said Jasper. "They grow where the wind dropped the ashes of burning Ilien, when Erreth-Akbe defended the Inward Isles from the Firelord" (43).
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no subject
Date: 2010-01-14 03:16 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-01-14 02:06 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-01-14 12:01 pm (UTC)The gender!fail is most definitely there even as far as I am. Which is weird, because I thought LeGuin was supposed to be queen of the fantasy feminists. Not that that's an overwhelmingly big category in old school fantasy, but still.
Also - Man, that Firelord wants to invade everyone, doesn't he?
no subject
Date: 2010-01-14 02:05 pm (UTC)I'm pretty sure I read them because of the awful Skiffy miniseries. Actually, I saw the awful Skiffy miniseries and my sister went "AUGH OMG READ THE BOOKS REEEEEEAD THEM" and bought them for me for Christmas.
Which is weird, because I thought LeGuin was supposed to be queen of the fantasy feminists. Not that that's an overwhelmingly big category in old school fantasy, but still.
Yeah, I was a little taken aback at how much FAIL there was; I remember thinking the last time that there weren't very many cool ladies, but I had no idea there were so few and that most of them were actively NOT cool.
She does address a lot of the issues in Tehanu and The Other Wind, which deserves a lot of credit; personally I don't like them, but I know lots of people do.
Also - Man, that Firelord wants to invade everyone, doesn't he?
Clearly he's not content with the A:TLAs, and is now targeting other fantasy franchises!
no subject
Date: 2010-01-15 01:04 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-01-15 01:21 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-01-15 03:11 pm (UTC)