Agatha All Along★★★★★The best Marvel TV I’ve seen since the first seasons of Daredevil and Jessica Jones. Solid cast, with Sixth Sense-level twists that grow organically over the course of the show.
The Daughter of Odren★★★★☆
Ursula K. Le Guin A small, stand-alone tale set in Earthsea, reminiscent of the folk tales glimpsed throughout the series. Betrayal, revenge, kindness, and power - and just living.
Earthsea (TV)Every once in a while I’m reminded of SyFy’s notoriously bad TV adaptation of Earthsea, and think, maybe I should watch it just once, like the Star Wars Holiday Special. This is not a review. This is why I still haven’t seen it.
The Farthest Shore★★★★☆
Ursula K. Le Guin Magic is failing, and a young prince sails with the Archmage of Earthsea to seek out the cause and resolve the crisis. It’s my least favorite of the original trilogy, but that’s not a euphemism. It’s still quite good, and there’s so much in it worth reading.
The High and Faraway (Trilogy)★★★☆☆
Greg Keyes Not Keyes’ best work. Interesting concept and characters, but poorly edited and creepy (in a bad way).
Illuminations★★★★★
T. Kingfisher Madcap magical damage control in a family of eccentric artist-magicians. Fun like A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive baking, but with a tighter story and better-defined characters.
The Last Unicorn★★★★★
Peter S. Beagle Whimsical and melancholy tale of the last unicorn’s quest to find others of her kind. Well drawn characters and story, very much a classic.
Minor Mage★★★★☆
T. Kingfisher By turns melancholy and creepy, with a dash of sarcastic armadillo.
Summer in Orcus★★★★★
T. Kingfisher A portal fantasy that answers the questions: What kind of quest would Baba Yaga send an 11-year-old girl on, and how can she save a world anyway?
The Wind that Sweeps the Stars★★★★☆
Greg Keyes Betrayed by an empire, Yash has one night to assassinate as many magicians as possible, set in a fantasy world inspired by southwest indigenous American mythology.
A Wizard of Earthsea★★★★★
Ursula K. Le Guin The Earthsea series is one of my regular re-reads. It starts here, with the tale of how a goatherd grew into a wizard in a world where magic is woven through everything from the poorest village to the greatest palace. How he released a terrifying evil in his youth, and how he sailed the world seeking how to make up for his mistake.
A Wizard of Earthsea (Graphic Novel)★★★★★
Ursula K. Le Guin and Fred Fordham Fordham’s watercolor-style art is absolutely gorgeous. The adaptation plays to the medium’s strengths, allowing the visuals to tell the story when possible, keeping Le Guin’s prose when needed. Wide seascapes, rocky coasts, forested landscapes, people (not whitewashed!) and dragons…
A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking★★★★★
T. Kingfisher A fun and original take on the teenage wizard genre. With an immortal carnivorous sourdough starter named Bob.
The Word of Unbinding and The Rule of Names★★★★☆
Ursula K. Le Guin The original two stories set in Earthsea, before Le Guin wrote the novels. Each stand-alone, each interesting both in itself and in seeing what the series and its themes grew from.
