Ursula LeGuin`s Earthsea novels

A Comparative Analysis of Cooper and LeGuin Cooper 's and LeGuin 's Approaches to Fantasy : A Comparative Analysis During the past several decades there has been a major resurgence of interest in children 's fantasy literature . The Harry Potter phenomenon and The Lord of the Rings movies , in particular , have contributed greatly to this renewed popularity

However , years before these works ever reached the big screen , two women were crafting fantasy sequences . Still widely read , Susan Cooper 's and Ursula Le Guin 's creations continue to delight children with their gripping

coming of age stories

A native of Great Britain who emigrated to the United States Cooper created Over Sea , Under Stone , the first book in The Dark is Rising sequence , after reading of a competition for a family adventure story . She did not have the sense of writing a fantasy , but of simply telling a story . Not until the character Merriman turned into Merlin did the book become a fantasy (Interview , 2

The Dark is Rising sequence , which consists of five books : Over Sea Under Stone , The Dark is Rising , The Greenwitch , The Grey King , and Silver on the Tree , involves a continuing battle between the Light and the Dark . This is a British world of Celtic underpinnings , in which guardians become aware of the rising of the Dark

As they did previously , in Arthurian times , the Old Ones must resist the forces of Dark . They are led by the last of the Old Ones , a boy named Will , the seventh son of a seventh son . He will play a major role in the battle between good and evil which is about to be fought . As the last of the One Ones , Will is one of those immortal beings , responsible for the ordinary world who is largely clueless about such beings (Krips , 85

He must endure great difficulties in defeating these forces of evil traveling to remote places and performing numerous tasks before finally defeating the Dark with the help of King Arthur 's son Bran

Cooper 's counterpart , the American Ursula LeGuin , wrote the Earthsea novels . This series also consists of five books : A Wizard of Earthsea , The Tombs of Atuan , The Farthest Shore , Tehanu , and The Other Wind . They were conceived after LeGuin 's editor challenged her to write fantasy for children

Earthsea is a place of numerous islands and archipelagos surrounded by seas and created entirely by LeGuin . It exists in preindustrial time and is a place of balance . The adolescent Ged , who is the mage , has to defeat the evil shadow which he has unknowingly released . He goes on several journeys , such as to the underworld to release a young girl whose soul has been eaten and must close the door between death and life . He becomes a dragon master because he has learned the name of the dragon . As the series continues , he becomes older and less powerful Other figures appear who also make quests

Cooper 's and Leguin 's works contain many similar...