Rating:  -
This book continues right from the end of The Furthest Shore. The story is slower then the other three, yet it is also much deeper. The primary themes again are being: who are we? Especially who are we after loss? For Tenar/Ghoa it is the loss of husband; for Ged the loss of power, ceasing to be a mage. Also it is man's struggle to conquer death.
We also learn in this book that in earthsea, man and dragons were once one race. Men are the children of dragons that horded and built fortresses and forgot how to fly. Therru is an adopted child of Tenar and we find out that she is really the daughter of Kalessin the oldest of dragons. Yet we also find out that Kalessin is really Segoy the creator of earthsea.
Segoy leaves his daughter with Ged and Tenar saying he will one day be given a child by them.
Key Notes on Names:
Tenar / Gohn - Arha
Ged / Sparrowhawk - Hawk - Duny
Therru / Tehanu
Kalessin / Segoy - Oldest
Origon / Aihak
Rating: -
I had the pleasure of reading the entire cycle from A Wizard of Earthsea through to The Other Wind in a two month period. Apparently for some people, having to wait several years between the end of The Farthest Shore and Tehanu gave them time to build up rather unrealistic expectations of what Ursula K Le Guin should have written. The first three books were not exclusively about Ged. Indeed, he was the central character but the books were really about Earthsea itself, and why not continue the cycle with someone else as the main focus?
For some, I believe Ged is seen to be the Archmage and nothing else, he can't be free to change and evolve. And the same holds true for Earthsea-Earthsea cannot evolve and grow in a different direction for a good many people. But that is what happens in life. Change is inevitable, change is good. Change is what keeps life from being one-sided and boring. Earthsea and her characters change and develope and keep one guessing what is going to happen. Ged is not just a wizard, he is also a man, a man with feelings like other men, with problems like other men. Tenar is not just a vessel for an unseen power, she is a woman with power of her own; and Tehanu is a survivor and possesses a magic all her own.
Change is magic. Change is hard for some to accept, harder than it can be to accept the concept of magic. I am for an Earthsea that explores different levels of being in the world. This book, and the subsequent books, forge ahead instead of looking behind.
Rating:  -
It took me three tries to get passed page 27 of "A Wizard of Earthsea," but once I did, I was hooked. Especially by the second book in the series. The third book sucked me in just as easily as the second.
Unfortunately, I read the fourth book.
Kirkus Reviews called it ".. A grand conclusion to a revered cycle." Obviously, whoever wrote the review has no idea what plot, climax, consistency, etc mean. This book was a complete disappointment. I have to admit, I was sucked in by it, but only because I was waiting for something to happen. Nothing was concluded, there was no major Climax point, and it was filled with tripe. I was thoroughly disappointed by the time I realized that nothing had happened, yet I only had a few more pages left. I won't get into the details, because I wouldn't want to spoil the little plot there is in case someone does want to read it.
Seeing as this was evidently meant to be the final book, I wonder how many fans Mrs. Le Guin lost after they read this book.
Rating: -
Who said that the Earthsea Trilogy is for children??? It's full of universal truths, like learning to be silent in order to hear (just try it, if it sounds trivial), or like the importance of cognition (it's not important, if the herb is useful, it's much more important to know it's essence, explains Ogion). And so on, and so on. I truly do not believe that any 9-year old would be capable to see beyond dragons and understand one tenth of it. Or understand anything of "The Tombs of Atuan", including the most beautiful love story I've ever read, though the word is never mentioned. "It's something between us, a very big thing. It has many names, trust one of them." (Sorry not an exact quotation, just from memory.) Or maybe I'm wrong about the kids, as my youngest is already 14?..... And then, Ursula K. Le Guin was not THAT young at the time, I'd say she was mature THEN. Some people say, that she "matured" to write "Tehanu". I'd use some other word, but it's better to omit it here.
Anyway, this is not about the trilogy.
I really do not know, what "Tehanu" would look like as a standalone book. I really doubt, if I would have ever read it. Unfortunately, it's an Earthsea book, and I did read it. And I'd give it as many minus stars, as possible and even more. And, sure enough, it's the very last Earthsea book I'll ever read.
Now, why? In fact I do not care so much, that it is different, or that magic is lost, or whatever, though all that is bad enough by itself. Just it was like a personal insult. Like somebody telling you, that your hero in fact is a serial killer or something like that. And that is because the third book, "The Farthest Shore", ended so perfectly.
SPOILER??? CONCERNING THE THIRD BOOK
The end of the third book left some space for interpretation. I felt pretty sure, that Ged died, but not some usual death even for a mage, without going forever into the country of the dead. He just went away. Somewhere. Like dissolved into silence. Like retreated from the world as someone, who succeeded accomplishing a task, too great even for him, the greatest of the mages. Having lost his powers, his very essence, he lost his very existence, but (that was my hope) was rewarded with exceptional death, so beautiful, that not even sad.
END OF DOUBTFUL SPOILER
And - LO! Some 20 odd years later we just find Ged, a wreck, crying and crouching somewhere in the fields in the midst of some stupid womanish blabbering. And please do not accuse me of sexism, as I'm a woman just a bit short of Tenar's age myself. It's a slap to the face with a dirty rag, and only THEN it's just an average and boring book, one of those, that you forget the beginning, till you reach the end.
So what's the idea? Magic is not for fun, a mage does only what he must do. This is something we learn in the first book. The forth book tells us this: do not save the world, for you'll end up a wreck yourself, and besides this world teeming with unhappy women and abused children perhaps is not worth saving.
Please, DO NOT read this book, if you liked the wonderful Earthsea Trilogy. And if you did not, this review perhaps is not for you anyway.
Rating: -
Before reading the fourth book in the Earthsea "cycle", I was aware of the opinions of many who had already read this book. Quite frankly, I was hoping that I would disagree with those who were disappointed in "Tehanu". But try as I might, I failed to see the beauty in this "continuation" of what HAD been one of the greatest trilogies written.
Quite simply, "Tehanu" lacks the conciseness and mystery of the previous books. While I could - perhaps - forgive Le Guin for her decision to tear apart the world she had so beautifully constructed with this rather mundane and heavy-handed tale, I cannot excuse the absence of poetry here; poetry which abounds in each page of the previous three books.
Shame on you, Ursula!
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