Rebecca P-H’s Reviews > Tales From Earthsea > Status Update

the stuff about how there's no such power as to name yourself because a name is what someone else calls you and "if there was no other, only me, what would I want a name for?" that's got to be Le Guin thinking of her father's work with the Yahi man known as Ishi

I so admire Le Guin's balance between detailed, thought-out worldbuilding (mining is traditionally women's work and superstition holds that it's bad luck for the male supervisor to pick up a tool!) and a commitment to never explaining some things (IS magic gendered??? does the wizard celibacy 'bargain' actually do anything?)

ooh yeah we're doing historiography