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4.17 AVERAGE
4.17 AVERAGE
slow-paced
I loved this book. Loved it. By far my favourite one out of the Earthsea books so far! I wish it would've been longer though. There was a lot more I would've liked to read. The ending felt a bit rushed. And though I appreciate the message, it felt a bit less thought provoking and more "I'll spell it out for you" than the other books. But I enjoyed reading it a lot so it's still 4 stars
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Started off slow but after about 120 pages I couldn't put it down....bc HELLO? That was wild. I love the fantasy slice-of-life that this book went with. I didn't feel the same sense of amazement as I did with book 1 of earthsesa, but this one feels more mature and complex in a way that was so soulful and necessary.
I already feel like I need to reread this book to understand the symbolism and the layers entirely. The ending happened too fast imo, I want to know more about Therru! I loved it though, my favorite of the series so far next to book 1.
I already feel like I need to reread this book to understand the symbolism and the layers entirely. The ending happened too fast imo, I want to know more about Therru! I loved it though, my favorite of the series so far next to book 1.
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
dark
emotional
reflective
Fourth book of the Earthsea Cycle.
I continue to fall more and more in love with the Earthsea Cycle. Tehanu took my breath away. The over-arching story is beautiful in its own right but, my god, it's the background “noise” that literally tore me apart.
Tehanu picks up immediately where The Farthest Shore left off. With Ged's power drained and Arren now the new reigning king of Havnor, who does indeed bring peace as promised. While, technically, the main arc is Therru's origin story, Tehanu and Ged's mid-life tale is far more intriguing.
Tehanu is now left with an empty nest as her daughter has married, her son off onto his adventures, and her husband dead. The story is first driven by Ogion's death, charging Tehanu to travel with Therru to Ogion's hut, but the real story is how Tehanu experiences the world as a widowed women and perceived "ordinary woman". The fear that plagues her as a woman without the guardianship of a man, simply strolling down a country road and encountering a party of men is enough to send shivers down her body. That her merit lies not in her sheer existence, but because she is Lady Tenar of the Ring gives her a refreshing lens to the world: she knows what it means to be treated as an "ordinary woman" and what it means to be treated as a peer by men. They are not the same.
In her youth, she had also carried the hubris of men, empowered by her closeness to power but not because, according to the society of men, she had any herself. Other women as well kept her as a distance, not sure where she falls. She could never truly become a wizard or a woman as Ogion's ward; it was mutually exclusive and if she belonged to neither, she would belong nowhere. So she brought herself down, stooping to the levels required of her to become a woman and she cared for her household dutifully. I wonder how she felt all those years. I wonder how I will feel all those years.
I loved the relationship that transpired between Moss and Tehanu. I love the effort Tehanu later made to repair her relationship with Ivy. The women of an older generation that we, when young, look down on and scoff at, thinking they never knew any better and that we are better, that we will be different. In our youth and in our innocence, perhaps we are also set by the patriarchy against our own sex. But they fought in their own ways and resisted. They are wise and have learned to see the difference but also reconcile it - "Ours is only a little power, seems like, next to theirs...but it goes down deep." If we are not too busy fighting the older generation of women, perhaps we could learn more.
The last part with Spark haunted me. I too fear that I will fail my son and my sex in that way. To have raised him with all the flaws of his father, who bears the flaws of his father before him. But I don't even know how to fight it. It is an invisible war waged by not just the people in our lives also those we don't know, those who are long dead. It is an invisible war waged by books, TV, languages, industries, products, services...everything. How do you fight that war and emerge victorious? How do you not fail the women that are to come after you? The thought alone plunges me into a deep dark fear. Could I still love my son then? Would motherhood and womanhood be difficult to reconcile then?
Ged's story is an entirely different one. For his entire life, he's been marked but his gift of magic, his powers. Now it has been poured out from him like water from a cup to fend off Cob's evil. Now he grapples with being common, ordinary, average. That is the struggle we all go through at a certain point in life though, isn't it? The awakening to our plainness. We are a generation tricked into believing that we are extraordinary because of our talents and our powers, but that was never true. We are extraordinary simply because we are. But we have believed that lie and believe we must pursue extraordinary lives with our extraordinary talents. Imagine the trauma that ensues when you realize that average constitutes broadly 90% of the population and that you are not going to be the one in ten.
Of course, Ged's story isn't quite that simple because he had true powers. His story is more of a middle aged man who has peaked in his career and now dismissed with a mild reverence, if not indifference. He has given himself to his institution and pursued great things, but at the end of the day, he must face himself still. And so he did...of course he did that as Tehanu and Therru struggled with just merely feeling and being safe in the world but, what can I say, men and women experience the world very differently. I like Ged, but still, the reality is that men are afforded luxuries that women evidently are not. That Le Guin can wrap that story into another exquisitely beautiful epic fantasy is a testimony to her brilliance as a writer and her keen observations of the workings of the world.
I will always have a bias for stories with female protagonists who are written by women. They resonate with me in ways that other stories simply cannot. I cried for Circe and I cried for Tehanu and I think I will likely cry for Therru later too.
I continue to fall more and more in love with the Earthsea Cycle. Tehanu took my breath away. The over-arching story is beautiful in its own right but, my god, it's the background “noise” that literally tore me apart.
Tehanu is now left with an empty nest as her daughter has married, her son off onto his adventures, and her husband dead. The story is first driven by Ogion's death, charging Tehanu to travel with Therru to Ogion's hut,
In her youth, she had also carried the hubris of men, empowered by her closeness to power but not because, according to the society of men, she had any herself. Other women as well kept her as a distance, not sure where she falls. She could never truly become a wizard or a woman as Ogion's ward; it was mutually exclusive and if she belonged to neither, she would belong nowhere. So she brought herself down, stooping to the levels required of her to become a woman and she cared for her household dutifully. I wonder how she felt all those years. I wonder how I will feel all those years.
I loved the relationship that transpired between Moss and Tehanu. I love the effort Tehanu later made to repair her relationship with Ivy. The women of an older generation that we, when young, look down on and scoff at, thinking they never knew any better and that we are better, that we will be different. In our youth and in our innocence, perhaps we are also set by the patriarchy against our own sex. But they fought in their own ways and resisted. They are wise and have learned to see the difference but also reconcile it - "Ours is only a little power, seems like, next to theirs...but it goes down deep." If we are not too busy fighting the older generation of women, perhaps we could learn more.
The last part with Spark haunted me. I too fear that I will fail my son and my sex in that way. To have raised him with all the flaws of his father, who bears the flaws of his father before him. But I don't even know how to fight it. It is an invisible war waged by not just the people in our lives also those we don't know, those who are long dead. It is an invisible war waged by books, TV, languages, industries, products, services...everything. How do you fight that war and emerge victorious? How do you not fail the women that are to come after you? The thought alone plunges me into a deep dark fear. Could I still love my son then? Would motherhood and womanhood be difficult to reconcile then?
Of course, Ged's story isn't quite that simple because he had true powers. His story is more of a middle aged man who has peaked in his career and now dismissed with a mild reverence, if not indifference. He has given himself to his institution and pursued great things, but at the end of the day, he must face himself still. And so he did...of course he did that as Tehanu and Therru struggled with just merely feeling and being safe in the world but, what can I say, men and women experience the world very differently. I like Ged, but still, the reality is that men are afforded luxuries that women evidently are not. That Le Guin can wrap that story into another exquisitely beautiful epic fantasy is a testimony to her brilliance as a writer and her keen observations of the workings of the world.
I will always have a bias for stories with female protagonists who are written by women. They resonate with me in ways that other stories simply cannot. I cried for Circe and I cried for Tehanu and I think I will likely cry for Therru later too.
While I loved this book, and it gave me the same fesling of wonder as the previous Earthsea books, I didn't feel as drawn in by the plot as the others. It was great to read LeGuin write a female lead, though! We love to see a middle aged woman in a domestic setting who's still full of power and grace.
Just finished this one for the first time and the afterword specifically knocked me on my ass. “What cannot be mended must be transcended.” Like?? God this is so good.
“Cycle” is definitely the best word to describe this series, as Tehanu the book wraps up the first three and introduces a brighter, more fierce kind of power.
I truly cannot wait to see what happens next, no matter who the protag is or what the story’s about. Le Guin’s writing slips under the skin and stays. What a master.
If you enjoy my reviews or would like book/anime recommendations, please consider leaving me a tip on my ko-fi. https://ko-fi.com/hannahhbic
“Cycle” is definitely the best word to describe this series, as Tehanu the book wraps up the first three and introduces a brighter, more fierce kind of power.
I truly cannot wait to see what happens next, no matter who the protag is or what the story’s about. Le Guin’s writing slips under the skin and stays. What a master.
If you enjoy my reviews or would like book/anime recommendations, please consider leaving me a tip on my ko-fi. https://ko-fi.com/hannahhbic
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
A wrong that cannot be repaired must be transcended.