Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

A king, a princess, the masters of wizardry, and a dragon walk into a grove

The Other Wind by Ursula K. Le Guin

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CBR 17 BINGO: “O” (for “Other”) BINGO:  Rec’d, Culture, O, Green, White I started reading Ursula K. Le Guin’s Books of Earthsea last year, and I just recently completed the final (sixth) novel in the collection: The Other Wind. As I mentioned in my earlier review of the initial trilogy, there’s something unique about reading a long-established classic and genre-defining series for the first time. The Books of Earthsea are epics in the vein of Lord of the Rings, and something every fantasy enthusiast should […]

Giving a voice to the voiceless

Lavinia by Ursula K. Le Guin

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“Of arms and the man I sing,” begins Virgil’s Aeneid, though women are pivotal in his story of war and love. Upon one character, Lavinia, hinges the relationships between the Latins and the Trojans, and yet she has no lines at all in the poem and is tellingly described by Virgil as “ripe for marriage.” Ursula K. Le Guin attempts to correct this injustice by retelling the poem through Lavinia’s eyes. Lavinia is an interesting novel in that, not only does Le Guin give voice […]

“There is no safety. There is no end…the dance is always danced above the hollow place, above the terrible abyss.”

The Farthest Shore by Ursula K. Le Guin

Tehanu by Ursula K. Le Guin

Tales from Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin

The Other Wind by Ursula K. Le Guin

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Typically when I read a book series, I try to break things up by alternating with books from outside of the series. I’ve found that if I read too many books from one author in a row, I get burned out and have to take a break from that author for a while. However, in Ursula K. LeGuin’s Earthsea Cycle, I may have found the exception to that rule. I read the first two books, A Wizard of Earthsea and The Tombs of Atuan a few years […]

The making of a wizard

A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin

The Tombs of Atuan by Ursula K. Le Guin

The Farthest Shore by Ursula K. Le Guin

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The thrill that comes from reading a classic of any particular genre is you get to see the early formation of that particular class of fiction. That can also be a problem, as the object of inspiration often leads to greater literary feats that can sometimes make the early attempts feel underwhelming. That’s sort of how I felt about the first three books in the Earthsea series, though I definitely got more engaged as I made my way through the trio. A Wizard of Earthsea […]

yes, yes, I should have read this already

The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas by Ursula K. Le Guin

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My first thought while reading this: there are authors and there are Authors, whose reach is seen everywhere. I think there’s been a large number of books I’ve read this year or in recent time that owe a large debt of gratitude towards Le Guin’s short (some 30 odd pages) story on the society of the Omelas. If you’ve never read it, then steer clear if you really want to avoid spoilers but Le Guin does give away the punchline in her author’s note (the […]

Fine, but not for me

The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le Guin

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This was a library sci-fi book club pick, and I’m not sure it’s one I would’ve finished otherwise. I know Le Guin is the Grandma of Science Fiction, and I’ve read and enjoyed her before, but this one felt like a Philosophy 101 class and I don’t think I was quite in the mood for it. Urras is the main planet, crowded with haves and have nots and doing the normal things society does, except for an added focus on science and physics. Anarres is […]



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