Conquering a fear often means looking it full in the face but Le Guin's message, that you don't have to face that kind of thing alone, is so comforting.

That's a frightening prospect in an of itself. Jane's voice has been stolen by trauma and fear that she has to confront if she wants to find it again. There's a real thread of darkness in these stories, darkness that is ultimately conquered by light and love, but darkness nonetheless. Then she writes something like this series that's all gentle and cozy but still has a fierce fire to it. Like you've gotten your hands on some ancient manuscript written by the survivors of great and glorious adventures. There's something ancient and permanent about her writing. I've returned to her Earthsea books again and again and again throughout my life, reading certain passages over and over till I have them almost memorized. Though he find a very happy life with his new friends he still needs to find a way to become truly wonderful.

Through frightening misadventure he's introduced to the catwings and becomes best friends with the youngest catwing sibling, the still mute (save for the words 'me' and 'hate') Jane. In the third tale in the catwings series we are introduced to wonderful Alexander, a fat, fluffy, house kitten who decides that since he is regarded as 'wonderful' by his parents and sisters that he must DO something wonderful with his life. The Hainish Cycle reflects the anthropologist's experience of immersing themselves in new strange cultures since most of their main characters and narrators (Le Guin favoured the first-person narration) are envoys from a humanitarian organization, the Ekumen, sent to investigate or ally themselves with the people of a different world and learn their ways. Her interest in non-Western philosophies was reflected in works such as 'Solitude' and The Telling but even more interesting are her imagined societies, often mixing traits extracted from her profound knowledge of anthropology acquired from growing up with her father, the famous anthropologist, Alfred Kroeber. She was known for her treatment of gender ( The Left Hand of Darkness, The Matter of Seggri), political systems ( The Telling, The Dispossessed) and difference/otherness in any other form. Her recent publications include the novel Lavinia, an essay collection, Cheek by Jowl, and The Wild Girls. Le Guin published twenty-two novels, eleven volumes of short stories, four collections of essays, twelve books for children, six volumes of poetry and four of translation, and has received many awards: Hugo, Nebula, National Book Award, PEN-Malamud, etc.

Wonderful alexander and the catwings