The Books of Earthsea: The Complete Illustrated Edition (Earthsea Cycle) Hardcover – Illustrated, October 30, 2018

I only bought this book because it was on sale and was cheaper than getting the first three books in the series by themselves, but I'm glad I did. It is a beautiful book. The illustrations are worth it. However, it is very, very, very heavy. It's not a book that I would (or could) take anywhere. It does make me feel very important though, owning such a large book. I'm excited to take it to a coffee shop one day and make everyone else jealous.As far as the stories themselves, I'm only halfway through the first book, so I can't tell you much. I like her writing style though. The narrative has a historical bent to it (the narrator is outside the story, looking back long after the events have happened - as far as I can tell now) that I'm not used to, coming from listening to Brandon Sanderson, but I'm enjoying it. The magic system is also really interesting and I'm looking forward to getting more and more immersed in it.

First on the content: Earthsea is a splendid series, on par with Tolkien or perhaps better. Le Guin is a story teller like few others. She looks deep into the human psyche, exploring the good, the bad, and everything between with a delicacy that leaves hope that light is greater than darkness, and perhaps there's good in darkness too. The books of the Earthsea series focus mainly on the inner struggles of the protagonists. Similar to Tolkien, there are individuals who fall to the influence of evil, but still evil is less personified. There are not ecosystems of monsters as there are in Tolkien, and even the worst villain is within reach of redemption.While these tales are heavy, they are appropriate for any age group, from five years to 95. Le Guin's language is plain and easy to read. The writing is accessible to beginner readers and has a depth that is also satisfying to adults.About this particular addition: It is a high quality printing but some aspects could be better.1. The entirety of Le Guin's Earthsea writings is in this single volume, including her short stories.2. The paper has good quality and weight.3. The text size is smaller than I would like, but not exceedingly small. The page margins are larger than necessary. Narrowing the margins would have allowed for larger text.4. The illustrations are well done. Some in color and some in black and white. But there are too few. In the entire first book, A Wizard of Earthsea, there are 5 illustrations.5. The book is too thick for its length and heigh. It's unwieldy to hold in your hand. Perhaps it was overly ambitious to fit all of Earthsea into one volume. Or perhaps it should have been done on a larger footprint in order to accommodate larger font size, more illustrations, and better ergonomics.I love this series too much to give it anything other than 5 stars to it. But this edition does have limitations due to being cramped into too small a footprint with wide margins wasting precious space. I don't regret having purchased it, and there is no good alternative for those wanting the comprehensive set of Earthsea, but I hope that a future edition will be sized better.

A beautifully illustrated collection of all of Le Guin's Earthsea books and stories. Le Guin devotees will want this. The illustrator worked with the author on the illustrations and she approved them. Scrap the collection of paperbacks. This is the Earthsea book you want. This is a book to pass down to your children.

Loving this book, very engaging with relatable characters and gorgeous illustrations. I’m only wondering what took me so long to read this series?

I'm a bibliophile. I love books, actual books, hardback books, the look of them, the feel of them in the hand, the solidity and weight of them, even their smell, of ink and paper, cloth, thread and glue.I recently purchased Ursula K. Le Guin's The Books of Earthsea, Complete Illustrated Edition, an omnibus that contains all the novels of Earthsea (six in all), all the short stories, including one never before published, her Oxford Lecture on Earthsea from 1992, a new foreword and afterwords in her own voice, all beautifully illustrated by Charles Vess.My heart is happy.It's a big, thick, heavy book, beautifully bound in red cloth with gold lettering, encased in a dust jacket showing dragons of several colors circling a little boat navigating a rough, rock-strewn sea. People used to handling paperbacks and Kindles and similar devices will no doubt find it unwieldy, heavy and cumbersome. For fellow bibliophiles, however, these are all plusses.The story is one that has captivated me since I was a small child, and it has held up well over the years. I find it just as enchanting now as I did way back then, when I first read A Wizard of Earthsea in the first grade.For Ms. Le Guin, who died in 2018, this edition, collected, annotated and illustrated to her specifications, was her swan song, a worthy product of a worthy Maker whom the world will not see the likes of again.Thank you, Ms. Le Guin, for this and all the stories you've told to a lonely, peculiar child for all these years.

I'm about halfway through the first book. I have been binge reading it the past couple of days because it sucks you in from the first page. If you are into stories about magic, and those who practice it, Earthsea is for you. Following Ged, the main character, in his epic adventure and seeing him learn from his mistakes along the way is like reading about a real person. Earthsea and its lore are described in just enough detail to create it in your mind without being tedious. LeGuin was a revered writer for a reason. Charles Vess' illustrations are mesmerizing as usual. My only complaint is that I would have liked more of them. The price of the book (which is actually several books) is more than worth it. Others have complained about the size of this book, but it's not meant to be held up. It's meant to sit on your lap, a couch armrest, or a table, and that suits me just fine. I also really appreciate the attached ribbon bookmark.