“there is thunder in our hearts/is there so much hate for the ones we love?/tell me we both matter”

DNF of sadness: When I was around 8, I was gifted a box set of the original Earthsea trilogy, and read them over and over—Tombs of Atuan the most, but all three regularly. I didn’t reread anything nearly as much until I discovered the Harperhall books.* My first teenage attempt at writing fantasy was Tolkein with serial numbers barely filed off, but my second one, the deep influence was The Farthest Shore with a coating of The Police’s “Wrapped Around Your Finger.”

And yet, now, I find myself giving up on A Wizard of Earthsea barely a third of the way in. It turns out, middle-aged me just doesn’t like young Ged.

And I am teh sad. 😢


* One especially memorable day when I was 16, I reread Dragonsong + Dragonsinger three times over, which made for a very long day. I maaaay have had a wee bit of a crush on Menoly. And certain woobie tropes.

---L.

Subject quote from Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God), Kate Bush.