While I notoriously dislike reading short story collections (anyone following me on here will know that I whine about short stories whenever I get the chance - they either feel too short, too shallow, too pointless, or they just aren't written by Ted Chiang or perhaps Ray Bradbury) but I do have to say - I didn't mind Tales from Earthsea one bit. Sure: I was previously aqcuainted with the setting and some featured characters, as well as on a quest to read all stories in my big Earthsea collection. There are some themes that had not been touched upon in previous novels, but obviously gained importance in the Earthsea Le Guin describes post!Farthest Shore: wizards feel more human, have flaws, reject rules and conventions, and thus Earthsea's equilibrium begins to sway. Themes such as sex and lack of it (both in terms of celibacy and asexuality), patriarchal power dynamics, dreams and duty, missteps and forgiveness are touched upon and add more dimension to the world we have come to love.

I especially enjoyed the novella "The Finder", as well as the short story "The Bones of the Earth" (Re Albi, my love, how I've missed you) and Tehanu's epilogue "Dragonfly". "Darkrose and Diamond" felt rather flat, and only really added some facets to the difficulty of following one's dreams, whilst juggling a significant other's and your family's expectations, as well as a gift you may have but do not wish to use. "On the High Marsh" was nice, but I found myself not being able to engage with it very well - the atmosphere was meticulously crafted nonetheless, and I do loved reading about Earthsea's cows.