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4.04 AVERAGE
4.04 AVERAGE
adventurous
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Another shift from its predecessor, The Farthest Shore is in some ways a return to form, and brings the first Earthsea trilogy to a close.
Le Guin is back at it again with a barrage of cultures and islands, another great adventure across the many tiny, interconnected worlds of Earthsea. If Wizard was her imagination of "what would Gandalf or Merlin be like in their youth?", then the Farthest Shore is her wrapping back around to learn how she might write her own distinct version of a wise and powerful wizard.
Le Guin gets her jabs in at what she regards as the foremost social ills of her time, but seems to undercut some of her commentary with an undercurrent of Arthurian-adjacent restoration fantasy. It will be interesting to see how she revisits this world and its ideas so much later in Tehanu.
Despite some heavy handed philosophizing and a more archetypal plot structure than the predecessors, The Farthest Shore still accomplished some really wonderful character moments and frequently pulled off the rich descriptive prose that makes the world of Earthsea sing. I think Tombs of Atuan is a better complete work, but Farthest Shore is a nice reminder of the joy and drama of adventuring in the wider world of Earthsea.
Le Guin is back at it again with a barrage of cultures and islands, another great adventure across the many tiny, interconnected worlds of Earthsea. If Wizard was her imagination of "what would Gandalf or Merlin be like in their youth?", then the Farthest Shore is her wrapping back around to learn how she might write her own distinct version of a wise and powerful wizard.
Le Guin gets her jabs in at what she regards as the foremost social ills of her time, but seems to undercut some of her commentary with an undercurrent of Arthurian-adjacent restoration fantasy. It will be interesting to see how she revisits this world and its ideas so much later in Tehanu.
Despite some heavy handed philosophizing and a more archetypal plot structure than the predecessors, The Farthest Shore still accomplished some really wonderful character moments and frequently pulled off the rich descriptive prose that makes the world of Earthsea sing. I think Tombs of Atuan is a better complete work, but Farthest Shore is a nice reminder of the joy and drama of adventuring in the wider world of Earthsea.
This was my least favorite of the original trilogy. In short, I found it boring, and I think this has largely to do with the fact that Arren isn't in control of his journey the way Ged and Tenar were in control of theirs in Book 1 and Book 2.
We know from the get-go that Arren feels this intense adoration towards Ged, and for a while, we experience the way that adoration grows and subsides the more exposed he is to the man behind the myth. It's very interesting to watch Arren's feelings towards Ged change, and this seems to be the central human conflict of the book. However, this conflict comes to a head with the Sopli arc, where Arren finds someone who indulges his skepticism fully. We sense a coming mutiny, a low-point that Arren needs to hit before his growth-- maybe Arren will betray Ged, go his own way for a while before realizing his error-- but the book doesn't go there. Sopli abruptly dies, the Lookfar is rescued by the raft-folk, and the arc of Arren's conflicted feelings towards Ged basically comes to an end once Ged recovers. Then, the rest of the book after this moment is entirely plot-driven, not character-driven, and it drags on as a result.
Ged and Arren meet the dragons, and finally confront and defeat Cob, but Arren is pretty much a bystander, a sidepiece, for Ged, throughout all of these events. By resolving Arren's internal conflict so soon, Le Guin kind of kills the intrigue we feel as readers towards Arren and his role in the story to the point where we're just waiting for the mission to be over already. It's ok that Arren is a bystander/sidekick, but if you're going to tell a story about a sidekick and a hero that's narrated by the sidekick, you want the relationship between them to be the meat of the tale... in my opinion?? Especially bc the hero himself is so cerebral and far removed from like human emotion, he's like this ascended spiritual guru, that we just observe everything he does w little ability 2 relate? Idk it was just frustrating! Arren as a character to sink your teeth into just felt very rushed. he needed to go through more shit and just do more shit and just be the focus of more shit
Maybe I'm just someone who lives for interpersonal and intrapersonal human drama?? Tldr the character development in this book felt so lacking compared to the previous two
Of course, there were things I did like-- Leguin's writing style is superb and gorgeous as usual, and her description of dragons in particular was so thrilling to read. I didn't hate the book, I just don't think I would recommend it or pick it up again. And it felt like a letdown compared to the first two installments. Ged in book 1 and Tenar in book 2 were given much better arcs than Arren was in book 3.
We know from the get-go that Arren feels this intense adoration towards Ged, and for a while, we experience the way that adoration grows and subsides the more exposed he is to the man behind the myth. It's very interesting to watch Arren's feelings towards Ged change, and this seems to be the central human conflict of the book. However, this conflict comes to a head with the Sopli arc, where Arren finds someone who indulges his skepticism fully. We sense a coming mutiny, a low-point that Arren needs to hit before his growth-- maybe Arren will betray Ged, go his own way for a while before realizing his error-- but the book doesn't go there. Sopli abruptly dies, the Lookfar is rescued by the raft-folk, and the arc of Arren's conflicted feelings towards Ged basically comes to an end once Ged recovers. Then, the rest of the book after this moment is entirely plot-driven, not character-driven, and it drags on as a result.
Ged and Arren meet the dragons, and finally confront and defeat Cob, but Arren is pretty much a bystander, a sidepiece, for Ged, throughout all of these events. By resolving Arren's internal conflict so soon, Le Guin kind of kills the intrigue we feel as readers towards Arren and his role in the story to the point where we're just waiting for the mission to be over already. It's ok that Arren is a bystander/sidekick, but if you're going to tell a story about a sidekick and a hero that's narrated by the sidekick, you want the relationship between them to be the meat of the tale... in my opinion?? Especially bc the hero himself is so cerebral and far removed from like human emotion, he's like this ascended spiritual guru, that we just observe everything he does w little ability 2 relate? Idk it was just frustrating! Arren as a character to sink your teeth into just felt very rushed. he needed to go through more shit and just do more shit and just be the focus of more shit
Maybe I'm just someone who lives for interpersonal and intrapersonal human drama?? Tldr the character development in this book felt so lacking compared to the previous two
Of course, there were things I did like-- Leguin's writing style is superb and gorgeous as usual, and her description of dragons in particular was so thrilling to read. I didn't hate the book, I just don't think I would recommend it or pick it up again. And it felt like a letdown compared to the first two installments. Ged in book 1 and Tenar in book 2 were given much better arcs than Arren was in book 3.
dark
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
adventurous
dark
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Pacing or maybe my interest is reading (from having lost the book midway) was touch and go. Arren was harder to like as a character than Ged, but came to grow on me. As always - the ending themes and scenes are so beautiful.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
adventurous
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
"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."
This is easily my favourite in the Earthsea cycle so far. I've debated for a little while now on my rating, because I don't give out 5 lightly, but I think Le Guin has earned it. The way she captures the feeling of the epic and distils it into a form that is so engaging and readable is a miracle. And I know that it's great because this typically isn't the style of book I enjoy. While I love fantasy, I generally gravitate towards character-driven works, and Earthsea certainly isn't. It sacrifices character development for the general feeling of grandeur that can only be achieved by never lingering on one character or period of time for too long. And somehow it pays off. The only other reservation I had on my rating was the derivative nature of this story that I couldn't help but notice. Anyone who is at all familiar with Lord of the Rings will certainly see parallels. Arren is the rightful heir to the throne of Havnor (the centre of Earthsea of which no one has ruled for generations), Ged takes on a Gandalf role and recruits Arren for his quest, Arren and Ged travel to the dark lands and rest on lava rock, and the dragons fly them home at the end. There are so many more parallels I'm forgetting, but you get the idea. That being said, it's all done so well that I don't really mind. Besides, Arren is not exactly a Frodo stand-in. He's more of a cross between Aragorn and Samwise in regards to his role. Overall, I really loved this and would love to reread at some point. I'll leave you with some more quotes that I loved if I haven't already convinced you to read this.
"From the hurricane and the great whale's sounding to the fall of a dry leaf and the gnat's flight, all they do is done within the balance of the whole. But we, in so far as we have power over the world and over one another, we must learn to do what the leaf and the whale and the wind do of their own nature. We must learn to keep the balance. Having intelligence, we must not act in ignorance. Having choice, we must not act without responsibility. Who am I - though I have the power to do it – to punish and reward, playing with men's destinies?"
&
"They went on together in silence. But Arren saw the world now with his companion's eyes, and saw the living splendour that was revealed about them in the silent, desolate land, as if by a power of enchantment surpassing any other, in every blade of the wind-bowed grass, every shadow, every stone. So when one stands in a cherished place for the last time before a voyage without return, he sees it all whole, and real, and dear, as he has never seen it before and never will again."
This is easily my favourite in the Earthsea cycle so far. I've debated for a little while now on my rating, because I don't give out 5 lightly, but I think Le Guin has earned it. The way she captures the feeling of the epic and distils it into a form that is so engaging and readable is a miracle. And I know that it's great because this typically isn't the style of book I enjoy. While I love fantasy, I generally gravitate towards character-driven works, and Earthsea certainly isn't. It sacrifices character development for the general feeling of grandeur that can only be achieved by never lingering on one character or period of time for too long. And somehow it pays off. The only other reservation I had on my rating was the derivative nature of this story that I couldn't help but notice. Anyone who is at all familiar with Lord of the Rings will certainly see parallels. Arren is the rightful heir to the throne of Havnor (the centre of Earthsea of which no one has ruled for generations), Ged takes on a Gandalf role and recruits Arren for his quest, Arren and Ged travel to the dark lands and rest on lava rock, and the dragons fly them home at the end. There are so many more parallels I'm forgetting, but you get the idea. That being said, it's all done so well that I don't really mind. Besides, Arren is not exactly a Frodo stand-in. He's more of a cross between Aragorn and Samwise in regards to his role. Overall, I really loved this and would love to reread at some point. I'll leave you with some more quotes that I loved if I haven't already convinced you to read this.
"From the hurricane and the great whale's sounding to the fall of a dry leaf and the gnat's flight, all they do is done within the balance of the whole. But we, in so far as we have power over the world and over one another, we must learn to do what the leaf and the whale and the wind do of their own nature. We must learn to keep the balance. Having intelligence, we must not act in ignorance. Having choice, we must not act without responsibility. Who am I - though I have the power to do it – to punish and reward, playing with men's destinies?"
&
"They went on together in silence. But Arren saw the world now with his companion's eyes, and saw the living splendour that was revealed about them in the silent, desolate land, as if by a power of enchantment surpassing any other, in every blade of the wind-bowed grass, every shadow, every stone. So when one stands in a cherished place for the last time before a voyage without return, he sees it all whole, and real, and dear, as he has never seen it before and never will again."