Lucas Blogs About Books

So, what's this book's deal? It's the third book in Ursula K. Le Guin's Earthsea series. Oh, so does it pick up where The Tombs of Atuan  left off? More so than Tombs   picks up where A Wizard of Earthsea left off. See, at the end of Tombs  ( SPOILERS ) Ged and Tenar bring a lost treasure back to Havnor and restore the Rune of Peace. That said, a couple of decades have passed since then, and nothing's really changed in the archipelago. Oh, a couple of decades? Have Ged and Tenar been going on globe-trotting adventures and stuff? Well, Ged's certainly been getting around. He's become a Dragon Lord and even been elected the Archmage of Roke. What about Tenar? The last review made it clear that you think she's a great character. I do. But we won't really hear much more about her until book four. Pretty much all we learn about her is that she's known as the White Lady of Gont. Anyway, like I said, things are still relatively stable i...

I don't usually make the review pictures this big, but these title illustrations are the bomb, yo! So, what's this book's deal? Well, it's a sequel (kinda) to A Wizard of Earthsea . Oh, so it picks up where the last book left off? Nope! In fact, I'd say you could read this book without having read the first one and still enjoy it quite a bit. A sequel that works as a standalone? That' s a neat trick. It is. Ursula K. Le Guin is a neat writer. So then, the deal . . . Oh, right. The main character, Tenar, is a little girl growing up in the Kargad Empire (They're out to the East of Gont. In fact, Kargad raiders attacking Ged's village is sort of the catalyst for the whole series really.). When she turns five, she's taken away from her parents to the Place of the Tombs of Atuan where she is sacrificed to the Nameless Ones. Hold the phone! How can she be the main character if she's sacrificed at the beginning of the story. Not l...

BOOM! It's May and that means this is the third month of my year-long re-read of Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events. Now we all know that May sourness leads to June dourness, but— That's definitely not an expression. Then is May the month that shrieks in like a marmot , but squeezes out like an octopus ? No, it's March and the animals are a lion and a lamb. What does any of this have to do with this feature? Nothing. I just thought it might be nice to say something appropriate to the month. Also, you're writing this part in April. Oh, TS Eliot said that was the coolest month! Close enough.  Let's just jump into it. Book the Third - The Wide Window What did you remember about this book before re-reading it? Okay, so this one's a little foggy. But this time the Baudelaire children get sent to live with their distant Aunt Josephine out near Lake Lachrymose. You may know Lake Lachrymose as the fictional lake that is home to the...

Oh, there's a SCI-FI Channel miniseries adaptation, you say? So, what's this book's deal? Wait, you haven't heard of the Earthsea books? Whatsea? Well now I know you're just pulling my leg. Yes, I have heard of the Earthsea cycle. You're the worst, Hypothetical Reader. I try. Anyhow, A Wizard of Earthsea  is the first book in Ursula K. Le Guin's Earthsea series of fantasy novels for young adults. This book follows the adventures of Ged (AKA, Duny or Sparrowhawk), the titular wizard, who first starts learning magic from his aunt as a child and is later apprenticed to Ogion, the wizard on Ged's home island of Gont. After Ged is manipulated into seeking out a powerful spell in Ogion's books, Ogion sends him to the island of Roke to study at the magic school there. In the course of his studies, Ged accidently sets loose an unnamed horror from beyond reality, leaving him with physical and emotional scars. And that's just the first fo...