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4.04 AVERAGE
4.04 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
medium-paced
adventurous
challenging
tense
medium-paced
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
sad
slow-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
adventurous
dark
inspiring
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
'The Farthest Shore' is the best of the three books in the Earthsea Cycle.
The first novel, 'A Wizard of Earthsea' (reviewed here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...), introduced us to young Ged, a promising magic user who has been admitted to this universe's version of Hogwarts. It also invents the concept of a school of witchcraft and wizardry, so full point to Le Guin for that. The second, 'The Tombs of Atuan,'
The second novel, 'The Tombs of Atuan,' sends adult Ged on a fantasy adventure that, while entertaining, is a bit of a step down from its groundbreaking predecessor.
This, the third novel, brings us old Ged, Archmage of Earthsea. Earthsea, however, is a dying realm. The magic, the craft, the joy is spilling out of it. Ged takes an unlikely and unmagicked apprentice on a journey to find a fix the problem, and perhaps teach the apprentice (and future king) a thing or two about life.
What follows is a novel-length meditation on mortality, acceptance, and the price that comes with denying one's nature. It's a beautiful work, and one a reader would expect to have come from the pen of a much older writer than the then-43 year old Le Guin. This is a thoughtful, beautiful novel, though laced with enough adventure to satisfy the fantasy reader. 'The Farthest Shore' is worth reading.
The first novel, 'A Wizard of Earthsea' (reviewed here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...), introduced us to young Ged, a promising magic user who has been admitted to this universe's version of Hogwarts. It also invents the concept of a school of witchcraft and wizardry, so full point to Le Guin for that. The second, 'The Tombs of Atuan,'
The second novel, 'The Tombs of Atuan,' sends adult Ged on a fantasy adventure that, while entertaining, is a bit of a step down from its groundbreaking predecessor.
This, the third novel, brings us old Ged, Archmage of Earthsea. Earthsea, however, is a dying realm. The magic, the craft, the joy is spilling out of it. Ged takes an unlikely and unmagicked apprentice on a journey to find a fix the problem, and perhaps teach the apprentice (and future king) a thing or two about life.
What follows is a novel-length meditation on mortality, acceptance, and the price that comes with denying one's nature. It's a beautiful work, and one a reader would expect to have come from the pen of a much older writer than the then-43 year old Le Guin. This is a thoughtful, beautiful novel, though laced with enough adventure to satisfy the fantasy reader. 'The Farthest Shore' is worth reading.
adventurous
mysterious
reflective
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:
No
Le Guin is, as I’ve learned from each of her books, an expert at crafting a nuanced antagonist. They rarely engage in outright violence, but there’s more to violence than bodily injury. Taking someone’s skill, someone’s culture, and destroying it in the name of perfection or of eternity is a sort of violence. This story is another good example of Le Guin’s ability to write a character who changes. Just like Ged does in the first book and Tenar in the second. Arren’s journey is the one here. He learns patience and understanding. He’s almost a completely different character than the one who appears in the Wizard of Earthsea movie. (I know Ursula herself hated that movie, so I feel justified in finding it far removed from her original.)
There are times in this book where it feels quite meandering, which makes me like this third book less than the others. But Arren has to go on his journey to become a king. He’s a child, and he grows throughout his travels with Ged.
Some quotes:
“To deny the past is to deny the future. A man does not make his destiny: he accepts it or denies it. If the rowan’s roots are shallow, it bears no crown.”
There are times in this book where it feels quite meandering, which makes me like this third book less than the others. But Arren has to go on his journey to become a king. He’s a child, and he grows throughout his travels with Ged.
Some quotes:
“To deny the past is to deny the future. A man does not make his destiny: he accepts it or denies it. If the rowan’s roots are shallow, it bears no crown.”
“But when we crave power over life—endless wealth, unassailable safety, immortality—then desire becomes greed. And if knowledge allies itself to that greed, then comes evil.”
“Only one thing in the world can resist an evil-hearted man. And that is another man. In our shame is our glory. Only our spirit, which is capable of evil, is capable of overcoming it.”
adventurous
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
adventurous
reflective
relaxing
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
medium-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:
No