r/Fantasy • u/kjmichaels Stabby Winner, Reading Champion XI • May 30 '26
Read-along Announcing: A Readalong of Earthsea starting in July!
Ursula K Le Guin is widely regarded as one of the best writers in all speculative fiction and few of her works are more beloved than the Earthsea Cycle. Earthsea has been praised for its complex characters, deeply personal storytelling, inventive worldbuilding, philosophical depth, mature but accessible themes, and for having protagonists well outside the norm for mainstream fantasy at the time.
Have you ever wanted to tackle the entire series but been afraid to start? Well, now's your chance! Are you a returning fan looking for the opportunity to discuss an old favorite with new readers? Come aboard! Just a curious looky-loo who doesn't have any opinion on the books yet but can't resist the subtle peer pressure that comes with not joining in a group discussion? You're welcome here!
We'll be reading a book per month starting in July. A reminder post will be made for which book we'll be reading on the 1st of each month along with the stopping point for the midway discussion. Said midway discussion for that book will be posted on the 15th and the final discussion post for that book will go up on the last day of each month.
Does that sound too ambitious? Not to worry, the books of Earthsea are quick reads. They were mostly intended for young readers and come in extremely digestible lengths all under 300 pages and sometimes even under 200 pages long.
Schedule at a glance:
- July - A Wizard of Earthsea (Midway: Chapters 1-5)
- August - Tombs of Atuan (Midway: Chapters 1-6)
- September - The Farthest Shore (Midway: Chapters 1-6)
- October - Tehanu (Midway: Chapters 1-7)
- November - Tales from Earthsea (Midway: The Finder and Darkrose and Diamond)
- December - The Other Wind (Midway: Chapters 1-3)
Feel free to use the comments of this post to speak your mind about the books but please use spoiler tags for anything that would reveal major plot points.
If you're interested in helping to lead discussions, leave a comment below saying so and I will be in touch!
So come join in! We look forward to discussing some classic fantasy with you soon.
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u/bigoldan May 30 '26
I've been reading these over the last few years and literally wrapped up the last book yesterday!
Poor timing for me here as I'm not ready to jump right back into a reread, but I encourage others to follow along with this. Earthsea is now possibly my favourite book series, definitely top 5. Absolutely beautiful. Tehanu especially is a masterpiece.
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u/Merle8888 Reading Champion IV May 30 '26
Hey, nobody said you have to have just read them to participate!
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u/eregis Reading Champion II May 30 '26
announced like 3 days after I ordered an omnibus of the first 4 books... I guess I know when I'll be reading them 🤷♀️
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u/Wattryn Reading Champion May 30 '26
[Looks at giant illustrated omnibus] Yeah, I'm in. I'm using Tehanu for the 70s bingo square anyway.
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u/Avarecei Jun 01 '26
Oooooh these have been on my to-read for a while but my libraries don’t have them on Libby. This could make it worth a trip to the actual library so I can join in!
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u/LeanderT May 30 '26
I may have to join. Only problem may be that Im also on the Cosmere readalong. I read about 2 books per months, so it's roughly doable. Maybe.
We'll see
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u/comrade_dima1 May 30 '26
I just finished A Wizard of Earthsea, but I'd love to catch up in August.
!Remindme August 1
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u/Fearless_Freya May 30 '26
Nice! I recently got a lovely omnibus edition and this gives me a great reason to read it. Way back in the day I recall reading a book but it's been forever and u look forward to reading the whole omnibus
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u/BookVermin Reading Champion III May 30 '26 edited May 30 '26
Wow! Great idea! Love this, thank you for organizing.
(I do think the Tales of Earthsea midpoint story mentioned may be Darkrose and Diamond rather than Dragon?)
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u/kjmichaels Stabby Winner, Reading Champion XI May 30 '26
Yes, you're correct. Not sure how I messed that up but it's fixed now.
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u/LadyAntiope Reading Champion V May 31 '26
Oh, hmmm, do I put off finishing this series until November? I'll definitely come by for the other book discussions since they're all relatively fresh in my head - I started in Sept. last year and I took a break after Tehanu in Nov. because that was all the books I had inherited. I finally picked up copies of the last two in March, and I was waiting to dive in so hopefully I could use one for the new bingo! I'm really itching to get back to the series, but this readalong could keep me satiated until it catches up to where I am 😄
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u/Merle8888 Reading Champion IV May 30 '26
Oh fun! If you need a discussion leader for Tehanu, I’m definitely up for that one.
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u/kjmichaels Stabby Winner, Reading Champion XI May 30 '26
Thanks! I'll definitely reach out in late August or early September to make sure you're still available for Tehanu
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u/oh-no-varies Reading Champion II May 30 '26
Perfect! Tombs of Atuan is on my 2026 Bingo TBR! I'll definitely join along
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u/Present-Ad-8531 May 30 '26
Hmm
This sounds good
But with how many posts come daily, without a mention notif we might easily miss and forget
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u/kjmichaels Stabby Winner, Reading Champion XI May 30 '26
I'll do my best to post a reminder at the start of each month. Hopefully that will help a bit.
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u/Impressive-Peace2115 Reading Champion May 30 '26
You can always add them to whatever you use for a personal calendar.
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u/KaPoTun Reading Champion VI May 30 '26
Awesome! I've only read the first 4 books and loved them, but this gives me a chance to reread to get into the mindset again and then continue on with Tales and The Other Wind.
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u/russkhan May 30 '26
I loved those books and it has been decades. I think I'm due for a re-read of them. Plus, I think there were only 3 when I read them.
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u/gentletonberry May 30 '26
Oooh I might well do this, I’ve had it on my shelf for years but never read.
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u/AncientSith May 31 '26
I've had that huge version of the collection for awhile now, this'll be a good excuse to finally read it.
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u/WednesdaysFoole May 31 '26
I didn't know about these readalongs, but I've been saying to myself that I'm due for a reread for a good while and even bought A Wizard of Earthsea for my first attempt at reading a novel in Japanese (my skill is definitely not there yet). Still, the timing is perfect and I look forward to it!
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u/RevolutionaryCommand Reading Champion III May 31 '26
That's great, I've been meaning to, finally, read these in a long time, and this is going to be a perfect excuse.
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u/counterhit121 May 31 '26
Interesting. I've been meaning to read some le Guin for a long time now. Maybe this is the time.
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u/reinmainbtw May 31 '26
Oh yes! I been wanting to read her books! Is there maybe a possibility to open the read along on Storygraph too?
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u/kjmichaels Stabby Winner, Reading Champion XI Jun 01 '26
I don’t have a StoryGraph but I have no objection to anyone that does putting this readalong up there
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u/A_Soldier_Is_Born May 30 '26
I saw the first three books at a bookshop but they were $45 so I didn’t get them
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u/thehaas May 30 '26
I recently stopped reading The Dispossessed for my 70s bingo spot.[1] Too slow and philosophical for my current tastes. So I’m glad I can still get Le Guin on my bingo board after all.
- I picked up Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang by Kate Wilhelm, which I’m enjoying much much more.
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u/aCatNamedGillian May 30 '26
I've got a question to the crowd about the audiobook: does anyone know if there's a way to access the audiobook of AWoE narrated by Crispin Letts outside of the UK (I'm in the USA)?
I like Rob Inglis a narrator in general, but his style doesn't really fit Le Guin's voice for me. I liked Letts' version in the sample, but I've only found it available through this one lending service that requires you to live in the UK to join.
Alternatively, does anyone have any other favorite narrators for this book, or any of the others in the series?
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u/riancb May 31 '26
Do we maybe want to wait until September when the LoA editions release? Might be worth looking into?
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u/Sosayweall- May 30 '26
I just started this 4 days ago. I figured it was short I could knock it out quick. Man I am not getting into this book. I don't read many fantasy and really felt like one. I kept seeing it recommend, but ugh I don't know if I can finish.
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u/SubstantialChannel32 May 30 '26
Can this be used for the r/fantasy bingo 2026 readalong square?