Ah.Women and dragons, dragons women. And sorcerers given their place. All explained, or explained away - I'm not sure if Tehanu becomes a better book, or worse, in retrospect. Somehow less ambitious. ( )

As a novel alone, I doubt The Other Wind would work very well. It's too bound up in what came before, the past stories, both told, and told within those that were told. But reading it as the last of the Earthsea novels is a little strange, also. The last one I read was Tehanu, which is itself different from the three that came before: it is well-known as Le Guin's feminist critique of her own world of Earthsea, and the influences of the patriarchy evident in the previous three novels. Which is a good and laudable aim, but unfortunately, it doesn't quite work: a critique is all very well, but Tehanu doesn't work as a novel, only as a polemic, and more, while it shows us how women have been oppressed, it doesn't show us how they can work to end their oppression.

So I was looking forward to this novel: I wanted it to put right both failings in the previous novel, and while it tells a good story, it doesn't, I feel, address the threads that were left hanging. It's an excellent story. Its protagonist, a village sorceror named Alder, is a quiet and gentle hero, worthy of Sparrowhawk, and his love story forms a lovely basis to the rest of the plot. (Which reminds me, mostly, of The Amber Spyglass - the same themes, the same swipes at the Christian fetishisation of the afterlife, are there, and it's interesting to note that this very specific plot point should have been replicated over two novels published at a very similar time.)

Tenar, as always, is a good character. But Tehanu, who ought to be the heroine of this book, shrinks into the background for the vast majority of it, and Orm Irian, the woman-as-dragon who also ought to be a heroine, serves no clearly-defined purpose.And without the mythic, resonant style of the previous novels, there is very little of the epic feel to the stories that they do have.

In conclusion - Le Guin is always worth reading, and so is a novel of Earthsea. But I was disappointed. ( )

I enjoy her style of writing and this was a very easy book to read. I'm a little conscious, while reading that this was in some ways an answer to feminist criticism as well as a story about the consequences of trying to outwit death. I can't help but see that as a massive metaphor for male arrogance as well.

I love Ursula le Guin's writing so freaking much. So spare and so lovely. All her characters are so beautifully rounded and human.

It's not the most spectacular novel of hers, but I really enjoyed reading this. ( )

Do not read if you have not read the Earthsea Trilogy. Actually, do not read at all.

Do not read if you have not read the Earthsea Trilogy. Actually, do not read at all.

The link to my review.

The most recent Earthsea novel, it is good reading but follows the recent trend of Le Guin novels feeling a bit too gentle, and without a storytelling spine. ( )

While still enjoyable, this and Tehanu weren't as good as the first three books that were written much earlier. I sort of wish she had left the story alone. ( )

LeGuin returns one last time to Earthsea, following up Tehanu with another novel that depicts Tenar and Ged as mature adults, and adds Lebannen and Tehanu as maturing young adults. The primary new characters, Alder and Seserakh, are well drawn, although they take a while to emerge. Overall the novel develops slowly, as the great and less-great of Earthsea join their growing insights into what's wrong with the world and fit different pieces of the puzzle together. The novel is initially puzzling, because we don't have a clearly defined problem for its characters to overcome, but that's the nature of the problem LeGuin is describing, and the pace of the narrative matches its content. LeGuin retains the earnestness of Tehanu but manages to reduce the stridency that marred the previous volume. The Other Wind requires some patience as we figure out what's going on; the last third of the book flies along and is full of rich rewards for the reader who has persevered that long.

In some ways, LeGuin's resolution is just as radical as Philip Pullman's His dark Materials, which has received much more attention. I won't go into the details here, in order to avoid spoilers, but I will add my comments to the current Earthsea thread in the Green Dragon. ( )

Certainly not a bad novel, and it's nice to see familiar characters once more. However, I feel the story lacks any real hook; it feels a lot like a continuation of "The Farthest Shore". It's just not as if there is a bad guy or even any obvious ultimate aim to focus on. The story just meanders along and is almost more political than adventurous.

Not bad at all, but I would rank it as the least inspiring of the Earthsea novels. ( )

http://www.amazon.com/review/R1AVEQ1C... ( )

http://martlet-blog.blogspot.com/2007... ( )

My favorite of LeGuin's Earthsea books. It explores many of the issues that made the first three so dissatisfying, but with a less heavy hand than Tehanu, or The Left Hand of Darkness, or even The Dispossessed (another favorite).

Started off okay but then got progressively worse. The end exploded in chaos and I have no idea what happened. This sucks, it would have been nice to have some closure for the series but I guess I can just cling to the couple satisfying parts of this one. ( )

I have read reviews where others have said that, from Tehanu onwards, the magic of Earthsea was betrayed and broken. Now I have read The Other Wind I don't think they could possibly have been more wrong. My heart soars at this ending; this is a more than fitting conclusion to the Earthsea cycle. Come to it with an open mind; it is not one of the old heroic tales in the mould of the first book was, but it is real and potent myth. Here are skies thick with Dragons, love stronger than death, a triumph over a great wrong, possibly the greatest in the history of this world, and the glory of one who was treated as nothing rising to ride the other wind.

The only minor niggle is the early stages of Lebannen and Sesserak's relationship – his initial antipathy feels a little more forced than I would have expected from the character, but by the time they take ship for Roke things have improved.

Please, if you are a fan of Earthsea, however you felt about Tehanu, take the time to read the last two books, I do not think you will be disappointed.

Rating: four and a half stars, a transcendent ending. ( )

The fifth part of Le Guin's Earthsea world. Continuing the story of Tehanu, now that Geds powers are spent, he still doesn't have any trouble telling right from wrong, though other people do. this book rounds ou the story of Tehanu that was unfullfilled in book 4. ( )

Not bad. ( )

A painful restlessness is over Earthsea - the dead are disturbing the minds and dreams of the living, and the dragons are back harrying the world of men. What have caused this new imbalance, how to meet it?
The power of Sparrowhawk is spent; the burden now lies on others - among them Tehanu, daughter of Kalessin, the Eldest, but also daughter of humans, fostered by Tenar and Sparrowhawk.

This is maybe not the most magic of the Earthsea books, but it's good enough - well told, good characterisations, and a good story. At least those of you who've read the other books in this suite should read this one. ( )