Earthsea is a fictional world originally created by Ursula K. Le Guin for her short story "The Word of Unbinding", published in 1964. Earthsea became the setting for a further six books, beginning with A Wizard of Earthsea, first published in 1968, and continuing with The Tombs of Atuan, The Farthest Shore, Tehanu, Tales from Earthsea and The Other Wind. Nine short stories by Le Guin are also set in Earthsea; the earliest two (The Word of Unbinding and The Rule of Names) in her 1975 collection of short stories The Wind's Twelve Quarters, five in Tales from Earthsea, and the final two (2014's The Daughter of Odren and 2018's Firelight) in an illustrated collection (along with the 1993 essay Earthsea Revisioned) in The Books of Earthsea (released to celebrate the 50th anniversary of A Wizard of Earthsea). Collectively, the series is simply known as Earthsea. Geography The world of Earthsea is one of sea and islands: a vast archipelago of hundreds of islands surrounded by mostly uncharted ocean. Earthsea contains no large continents, with the archipelago resembling Indonesia or the Philippines. The largest island, Havnor, at approximately across is about the size of Great Britain. The cultures of Earthsea are not direct analogues of those of our world, but are literate non-industrial civilizations. Technologically, Earthsea is an early Iron Age society, with bronze used in places where iron is scarce. Ged's father is a bronze-smith. Weapons also include the use of wood and other hard but easily crafted metals. The overall climate of Earthsea is temperate, comparable to the mid-latitudes of the northern hemisphere. There is a yearly transition from warm summers to cold and snowy winters, especially in northern islands like Gont and Osskil. In the southern regions of Earthsea it can be much warmer. People and cultures Ethnic groups The racial characteristics of the people of Earthsea are for the most part "red-brown" in coloring, like Native Americans; in the South and East Reach and on Way, they are much darker brown, but with straight black hair; in Osskil, they have a more European look, presumably with skin that is lighter in comparison to lands to the south of Osskil such as Gont or Havnor, and the Kargs of the northeastern islands, seen by the Hardic peoples as barbarians, resemble predominantly blond northern Europeans. Le Guin has criticized what she describes as the general assumption in fantasy