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4.17 AVERAGE
4.17 AVERAGE
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Tehanu is the 4th book in the Earthsea Cycle by Ursula K. Le Guin and the 2nd book by Le Guin I've enjoyed this year. This story is a continuation of #2, The Tombs of Atuan and follows Tenar, who Ged had rescued from Atuan. Tenar (she does have other names in this story; as names are very important) now lives in Gont. Ged had dropped her off with his mentor, Ogion, but after living and training with him, Tenar (now Goha) moved to another part of the island, married a farmer and raised children.
Her husband passed away and her children both grew up and moved away. Tenar adopts a young girl, Therru, who had been abused and had her face burned by her 'parents'. Tenar and her friends try to save Therru and help her adjust to what had befallen her. Quite early, Tenar hears that Ogion is dying and wants Tenar to come and see him before he passes away.
This is kind of where the story begins. Tenar goes to Ogion, helps bury him (some conflict with local Wizards, especially one who really seems to resent her and another local witch, Moss. So begins a new life for Tenar as she and Therru stay at Ogion's house and build a new life there.
One more complication arrives in the form of Ged. He is brought to the island by the dragon Kalessin. In the 3rd story, The Farthest Shore, Ged goes to the dark lands, saves the King of Earthsea and in doing so, loses his powers. He arrives a broken, almost dying man and Tenar takes him in to restore him.
It's a slow build, as all of these events take place, and it's a very thoughtful story. But slowly, the story builds in tension as the Wizard in the castle of Re Albi takes action against Tenar (spells involved) and the man who abused Therru also makes an appearance. For a relatively short fantasy novel, there is so much going on, on and below the surface. Have I mentioned Therru yet? What role will she play in the final pages? Well, now you have to read it.
I've enjoyed this series so very much. I've rated each highly. This could easily have been rated 5.. I'm not sure if I have a reason why not? Maybe it was resolved too quickly, even if it was also satisfying. Quite a different story as the others have focused on Ged, while he is very peripheral to this story. Read the series. It's excellent. (4.5 stars)
Her husband passed away and her children both grew up and moved away. Tenar adopts a young girl, Therru, who had been abused and had her face burned by her 'parents'. Tenar and her friends try to save Therru and help her adjust to what had befallen her. Quite early, Tenar hears that Ogion is dying and wants Tenar to come and see him before he passes away.
This is kind of where the story begins. Tenar goes to Ogion, helps bury him (some conflict with local Wizards, especially one who really seems to resent her and another local witch, Moss. So begins a new life for Tenar as she and Therru stay at Ogion's house and build a new life there.
One more complication arrives in the form of Ged. He is brought to the island by the dragon Kalessin. In the 3rd story, The Farthest Shore, Ged goes to the dark lands, saves the King of Earthsea and in doing so, loses his powers. He arrives a broken, almost dying man and Tenar takes him in to restore him.
It's a slow build, as all of these events take place, and it's a very thoughtful story. But slowly, the story builds in tension as the Wizard in the castle of Re Albi takes action against Tenar (spells involved) and the man who abused Therru also makes an appearance. For a relatively short fantasy novel, there is so much going on, on and below the surface. Have I mentioned Therru yet? What role will she play in the final pages? Well, now you have to read it.
I've enjoyed this series so very much. I've rated each highly. This could easily have been rated 5.. I'm not sure if I have a reason why not? Maybe it was resolved too quickly, even if it was also satisfying. Quite a different story as the others have focused on Ged, while he is very peripheral to this story. Read the series. It's excellent. (4.5 stars)
Bu kitaba başlayıp bu kadar uzun süre okumadığım için çok üzgünüm. O kadar güzeldi ki gerçekten bu serideki fav kitabımdır .
adventurous
reflective
an book that takes a new perspective on this fantasy world, and at the same time old one (the main character being the same as the second book, the tombs of atuan). we world now grows depth where it once had breadth. no trip across the whole face of the map this time, just a dive into the life and times of a women and her family, chosen and not. whilst i do like this book, i think the storytelling was a little bit subpar. the first part of the story is rushed, whilst the more intriguing latter half feels rushed and forced. the sinister and disgusting villain that takes shape in this novel is gone in the wink of a dragons eye, and im left with the story telling equivalent of whiplash. where did all that plot go? nevertheless i still think it is a prime novel from one of the worlds best genre writers. rest in peace, ursula k le guin, as if you could do anything but.
De los cuatro libros de Historias de Terramar que he leido hasta el momento, este es el que más me ha gustado. La historia de la niña y su evolución me encandilaron, y estoy deseando ver su desarrollo.
This is definitely my favorite of the series. Fantastic story, loved Tenar, loved Therru, I even loved Ged in this one. Feel very strongly about this installment.
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
"I chose to mold myself like clay to the use of a farm and a farmer and our children. I made myself a vessel. I know its shape. But not the clay. Life danced me. I know the dances. But I don’t know who the dancer is."
I want you to imagine that Ursula Le Guin is personally bashing you on the head with a comically large hammer like one would use in a game of whack-a-mole. That's how it felt to read this book. Tehanu takes all the conventions that we know from the previous 3 books in the Earthsea Cycle and turns them inside out, choosing to look at the story from a different perspective: a middle-aged Tenar, mother and widow, a woman who shunned offers of power in favor of a pastoral life that she never experienced in childhood. With her, a child who was abused and abandoned by her family.
"And so we must live on into the new age with the spoils of our victory over evil. You with your burned child, and I with nothing at all."
Tenar spends much of this book musing on the power that is deemed appropriate for men and women to hold, and the fear and shame that she often finds herself living in for no reason other than her womanhood. Meanwhile, Ged is in his washed-up loser era (see the above quote), and he's being a little baby about it. It's okay though I still love him.
This book was criticized by some for being too low-magic to be part of a fantasy series. I think those people missed the point of the book. Since the beginning, it has been clear that the power and privileges of wizardry are available to few people. This book is about the people who will never get to taste that power and privilege and sometimes bear the brunt of its misuse by the people who have it.
I'm gonna stop before I get too long-winded, but just know that while the previous three books of the Earthsea Cycle were fantastic, it's books like Tehanu that make Le Guin my favorite author. She uses vehicles of fantasy and sci-fi to explore the nooks and crannies of the human condition with a nuance that makes it fit seamlessly with the world she's created.
But even so she did not feel she understood his shame, his agony of humiliation. Perhaps only a man could feel so. A woman got used to shame.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse
Minor: Rape
By some distance the most engaging, deep and thoughtful of the initial (?) Earthsea quartet. This is what fantasy can be, if it's prepared to link surface flash to deeper thoughtfulness. This says so much about gender, about life and death, about power. And it says it in an incredibly unpreachy way, and it does it all through its believable, lovable characters. And it perfectly rounds off the quartet, bringing the characters to a place it seems they were always destined for, without you ever knowing it.