The Fantasy Review: Tales from Earthsea Special Edition Reviewed – The Folio Society.
Cover Image: © David Lupton 2023
The Folio Society kindly gifted me their latest special edition for Ursula K. Le Guin’s Earthsea Cycle, Tales from Earthsea and it might just be the best yet!
I have also reviewed all of the Folio Society’s Earthsea special editions, so you can check those out here:
David Lupton once again excels in bringing Le Guin’s work to life through his artwork. The blood-red hardback is gorgeous, much like the incredible blue from their edition of The Farthest Shore.
The paper quality inside is fantastic, and the hardback is soft to touch, making for a pleasant reading experience. The pages are medium-thickness, so you don’t worry about ripping the pages and they are easy to turn.
The margins are narrow, so reading feels quite quick, moving you swiftly through the book. Additionally, the ample line and letter spacing is perfect for someone like me who sometimes struggles with books like A Game of Thrones with all the words and letters crammed in on the page.
Finally, the art and illustrations throughout this Tales from Earthsea special edition are really something special. The style is not something you will see in a lot of special editions for fantasy or science fiction books as instead of taking an epic approach, Lupton instead focuses on intimate, character-driven art.
This is reminiscent of Le Guin’s work too, as she might have created an epic world, but first and foremost these stories are about the characters who inhabit the pages, not just the exciting worldbuilding.
But for fans of said worldbuilding, all of these special editions have gorgeous maps inside the front and back covers. Tales from Earthsea’s version of the map is in red, and I don’t quite know what it is but I love this colour scheme!
PRODUCTION DETAILS
- Bound in cloth printed and blocked
- Set in Garamond with Dulcinea Serif as display
- 344 pages
- Frontispiece plus 6 full-colour illustrations
- Printed map endpapers
- Plain slipcase
- 9˝ x 5¾˝
The Folio Society edition of Tales From Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin, Illustrated by David Lupton, is exclusively available from foliosociety.com
