To say that I'm on an Ursula K. Le Guin kick right now is laughable. I am spellbound, entranced, enchanted, enthralled.
Let me back up...
I was between writing Ancient Science and Berand Brave and thought I would pick out something to read from my personal library.
I am a sucker for book sales, library sell offs, you name it. At yard sales I immediately go for the book boxes. Thrift stores are all about the shelves of books in the back for me. So you could say I got a few books at home...
About a year ago I picked up a reissue of the first paperback publishing of A Wizard of Earthsea with the subsequent books in the trilogy. The cover art, by Yvonne Gilbert (whose art absolutely delights me) that interlocks between the three books is what attracted me to the series initially. And so I got the chance to buy the editions I loved as a teen.
I first read the trilogy back in High School in the 1970's. I thought it was great, but all that resided in my memory banks from thirty years back was the cheesy, awful television series based on the books. So, with trepidation I picked up the first one.
I devoured it.
I had forgotten how nuanced and deep the book was. With pleasure I dove into the remaining two of the trilogy. I had just started writing Berand Brave, but wanted to continue to read at night. I had put reading for pleasure aside in favor of reading for research for Ancient Science. (You'll understand when you read it. I tried to make the ancient world come authentically alive, but with entertainment and color.)
So after I had licked my chops, finishing the Earthsea trilogy I looked at The Left Hand of Darkness by Ms. Le Guin sitting up on my shelf. The copy I owned had been up there for over a decade. I just couldn't bring myself to read it. Something about the cover and all the awards just turned me off.
Now here's something about me: I'm a contrarian. If everybody loves it, I probably won't. If something is a limping, orphaned mutant, I will probably adore it.
The Left Hand of Darkness swept the Hugos and Nebulas when it was published. People raved. People recommended. I hesitated.
But I had just gone face first like a feeding hog into the Earthsea books, finding things I had missed before, style and form that meant so much more to me. A mature, studied, yet easy structure that resonated like a Beethoven symphony. Just beauty, sheer beauty.
So... I opened up the book.
...oh my gosh...
To say I was blown away would be an understatement. The book is darn near perfect. The author creates a full, truly alien world set against a Terran sensibility. The plot points and twists were so refreshing and gripping. The characters textured and heartbreaking. I came away from The Left Hand of Darkness changed.
But more than that...
Now. Please forgive me, this is going to sound egotistical, but I saw a similarity between my writing and Ms. Le Guin's. I have never compared my style and work with anybody else before, so this is something. Of course I don't assert that I am at her level, but the desire to write a certain way is shared between us. And, something opened up in my mind.
I tell you, Ancient Science is good, if not great, and I'm trying to be utterly objective. But, after diving into Ursula's work and the effect it has had, I am now hyper-aware of the shape and flow of my writing as never before. Her work has opened doors for me that I never knew were always there. You know, I will take the flak and criticism, but I think Berand Brave, because of this epiphany, is shaping up to be something really, really special.
And I owe it all, and really mean it, to Ursula K. Le Guin.
I have since gone on to read The Word For World is Forest in Harlen Ellison's excellent anthology Again Dangerous Visions vol. 1. And then, Rocannon's World. All of these books by Ms. Le Guin in less than a month...
I am hooked in the worst way.
If you had asked me who was the best living SciFi/Fantasy writer two months ago, I would have said without hesitation: William Gibson, whom I still love and eagerly await his pending book The Peripheral (due Nov. 2014).
But today I will shout from the rooftops that the title of The Best belongs to Ms. Le Guin.
Go get some and see for yourself.
cheers.
Kurt
http://www.yvonnegilbert.com/
.
Let me back up...
I was between writing Ancient Science and Berand Brave and thought I would pick out something to read from my personal library.
I am a sucker for book sales, library sell offs, you name it. At yard sales I immediately go for the book boxes. Thrift stores are all about the shelves of books in the back for me. So you could say I got a few books at home...
About a year ago I picked up a reissue of the first paperback publishing of A Wizard of Earthsea with the subsequent books in the trilogy. The cover art, by Yvonne Gilbert (whose art absolutely delights me) that interlocks between the three books is what attracted me to the series initially. And so I got the chance to buy the editions I loved as a teen.
I first read the trilogy back in High School in the 1970's. I thought it was great, but all that resided in my memory banks from thirty years back was the cheesy, awful television series based on the books. So, with trepidation I picked up the first one.
I devoured it.
I had forgotten how nuanced and deep the book was. With pleasure I dove into the remaining two of the trilogy. I had just started writing Berand Brave, but wanted to continue to read at night. I had put reading for pleasure aside in favor of reading for research for Ancient Science. (You'll understand when you read it. I tried to make the ancient world come authentically alive, but with entertainment and color.)
So after I had licked my chops, finishing the Earthsea trilogy I looked at The Left Hand of Darkness by Ms. Le Guin sitting up on my shelf. The copy I owned had been up there for over a decade. I just couldn't bring myself to read it. Something about the cover and all the awards just turned me off.
Now here's something about me: I'm a contrarian. If everybody loves it, I probably won't. If something is a limping, orphaned mutant, I will probably adore it.
The Left Hand of Darkness swept the Hugos and Nebulas when it was published. People raved. People recommended. I hesitated.
But I had just gone face first like a feeding hog into the Earthsea books, finding things I had missed before, style and form that meant so much more to me. A mature, studied, yet easy structure that resonated like a Beethoven symphony. Just beauty, sheer beauty.
So... I opened up the book.
...oh my gosh...
To say I was blown away would be an understatement. The book is darn near perfect. The author creates a full, truly alien world set against a Terran sensibility. The plot points and twists were so refreshing and gripping. The characters textured and heartbreaking. I came away from The Left Hand of Darkness changed.
But more than that...
Now. Please forgive me, this is going to sound egotistical, but I saw a similarity between my writing and Ms. Le Guin's. I have never compared my style and work with anybody else before, so this is something. Of course I don't assert that I am at her level, but the desire to write a certain way is shared between us. And, something opened up in my mind.
I tell you, Ancient Science is good, if not great, and I'm trying to be utterly objective. But, after diving into Ursula's work and the effect it has had, I am now hyper-aware of the shape and flow of my writing as never before. Her work has opened doors for me that I never knew were always there. You know, I will take the flak and criticism, but I think Berand Brave, because of this epiphany, is shaping up to be something really, really special.
And I owe it all, and really mean it, to Ursula K. Le Guin.
I have since gone on to read The Word For World is Forest in Harlen Ellison's excellent anthology Again Dangerous Visions vol. 1. And then, Rocannon's World. All of these books by Ms. Le Guin in less than a month...
I am hooked in the worst way.
If you had asked me who was the best living SciFi/Fantasy writer two months ago, I would have said without hesitation: William Gibson, whom I still love and eagerly await his pending book The Peripheral (due Nov. 2014).
But today I will shout from the rooftops that the title of The Best belongs to Ms. Le Guin.
Go get some and see for yourself.
cheers.
Kurt
http://www.yvonnegilbert.com/
.
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