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conspystery's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
reflective
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
5.0
I don’t think I can capture how absolutely phenomenal I thought this book was within a review, but I’m going to try. The Other Wind is a stunningly poignant yet hopeful convergence of all Earthsea has to offer, a perfect conclusion to the series that keeps its narrative alive rather than closed with the book when it ends.
I think my favorite thing about The Other Wind is how it draws together all the previous volumes of Earthsea; Le Guin has dedicated five incredible books to building this world and developing its main characters, and this one is the ultimate payoff. We see echoes of A Wizard of Earthsea in Alder, having once practiced magic and now plagued by the ghost of his wife in his dreams, who acts as a fascinating parallel to Ged-- and Ged himself is a minor character in the novel, having fully embraced domesticity and content with his lack of magical ability after the events of Tehanu. Tenar is present and crucial to the narrative, her ideas about womanhood, power, and identity fully brought to light after Tehanu but now facing the challenge of reconciling her experience in The Tombs of Atuan with the anti-Kargish bias of the rest of Earthsea; her discussions with Seserakh, a Kargish princess meant to marry the King, are enlightening and empowering on both sides. King Lebannen, mature and noble and worldly due to years of kinghood and his quest in The Farthest Shore, must face his own anti-Kargish bias in turn to unite Earthsea and simultaneously unfold the ancient wrongdoing behind Alder’s dreams. Tehanu needs to figure out how she fits into society as a dragon and a person, and is the only one capable of summoning her sister in dragonhood Orm Irian, “Dragonfly” from Tales from Earthsea, to discover the root of the conflict with the dragons. And all these threads are deeply interconnected-- the dragons are in uproar directly in relation to the troubles in the Dry Land, whose problems are the result of the greed of wizards and the separation of nations on Earthsea.
Because every issue animating The Other Wind is tangled up in every other issue, the whole cast (which feels less like a group of written characters and more like a familiar sample of authentic, multifaceted people) must work together to examine the problem and trace it to its source. The way the previous books culminate here is not only intensely satisfying, but actively exciting-- this story has a sense of motion and scope to it I don’t think I’ve ever experienced before while reading. The audience knows this world; we’ve seen the arcs of these characters, the context for their relationships and the institutions of the societies they live in. In The Other Wind, we take all that richness as preliminary and face the plot as its convergence, with the new details folded in along the way as reasonable yet fascinating extensions of what we already know. For me, this book is like taking an important test after a thousand hours spent studying: it’s crucial, but I’m well prepared, and enthusiastic to follow through on what I’ve learned. The Other Wind feels like its title. It moves like a tradewind, pushes its audience forward on a high-stakes quest with the narrative.
Le Guin’s prose is stunning in this book as usual, and the structure she uses to place it is an amazing conduit for her narrative voice. It isn’t really an odyssey or quest in the sense that A Wizard of Earthsea is, because that kind of story relies so heavily on a singular protagonist. This book has many protagonists, and each of them have their own smaller journeys to take within the context of the larger one: Alder has to find Ged and then Lebannen, Tehanu has to go seek out Orm Irian, Tenar has to converse with Seserakh, everyone has to travel by boat to see the masters of Roke, and plenty more. This structure allows Le Guin to flow freely between points of view as the themes and narrative call for them, and the way she achieves this is natural and engaging.
I love getting glimpses into the minds of all these characters through their points of view, new and old alike, and I love the way we see them see each other. Alder, while similar in concept to Ged and Lebannen, feels distinctly different from either of them. Every detail about his character is so wonderful and interesting to me. I love his soft spokenness, his love for Lily, his cat, the way he perceives Tehanu and Ged and the king… speaking of whom, Lebannen is of course a greatly noble and respectable man, but his point of view reveals so much depth into his conflicting mindset and his relationships with the other characters, especially Tenar. Tenar! I loved her in The Tombs of Atuan and even more in Tehanu, and I adore how she takes precedence in this narrative over Ged even though she longs for nothing more than to go home and see him. Interactions between Orm Irian and Tehanu are so interesting-- all of Tehanu’s interactions are interesting. Le Guin lends particular emphasis to the interactions of women in this novel through the perspective-shifting structure; my favorite example of this is the conversation Seserakh, Tehanu, and Tenar have about death towards the end of the novel. I love it. Not to mention the brief flits of narrative spotlight we get on the supporting cast throughout the novel! Ged, Orm Irian, Seserakh, Azver, Onyx… it’s all so sprawling and vibrant and genuine, I love it.
Most of all, though, I think I just love the hopeful poignance of The Other Wind’s plot, themes, and conclusion. Earthsea is built around cycles, and I think the realization that death is also a cycle that must be maintained hits so hard in this book. Just as the characters have to face it, so too do we, the audience-- this is the last book. There has to be an ending. Ergo I love the fact that this book’s ending is so beautiful even in its most tragic moments. Alder dies, but meaningfully so (and we know his cat gets a happy ending, too, a tiny detail I’m endlessly glad Le Guin included earlier on in the novel.) Tehanu assumes her form as a dragon and leaves to be with Kalessin and Orm Irian on the other wind, but her presence continues in the impact of her actions, and there is always the hope of reunion. Lebannen and Seserakh marry, ushering in an uncertain but optimistic age of unity and balance in Earthsea. I particularly love the scene we end on of a dialogue between Tenar and Ged at home; the Odyssey-like yet subverted homecoming of Tenar to Ged is clever and beautiful at once, and truly feels like a cycle returning to its beginning. Every connection between these characters and the ripple-effecting plots of the previous novels feels satisfyingly wrapped up while still maintaining the possibility of an audience-imagined future for them. Through the determination and cleverness and heart of the cast we’ve grown to love, Le Guin makes sure that this world keeps moving even after we stop watching it. I adore that.
I picked up A Wizard of Earthsea on a whim this time last year, and I could not be more glad I did. I don’t know if I’ve ever read a fantasy series, or any series at all, quite like this one-- the Earthsea Cycle has such a wonderful quality of optimism and acceptance and growth to it, with truly affecting messages about the power of goodness, trust, acceptance, change, and balance to be found in its characters and worldbuilding. The Other Wind is a fittingly bittersweet send-off to an incredible story; it’s everything I love about Earthsea, phenomenal writing and genuine characters and a vibrant world and monumental scale and powerful themes converged. Le Guin is unparalleled. Earthsea is inimitable. Everyone should read this series.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, and Death
In a previous book, Tehanu is violently assaulted and burned; the scars she bears are continually detailed upon throughout this novel, though I don't think their cause are delved into as much here. This might be important to keep in mind if you are sensitive to descriptions of fire injury and assault injury.nerdkitten's review
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
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? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, and Panic attacks/disorders
Moderate: Medical content, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, War, and Xenophobia
Minor: Cannibalism, Child death, Pregnancy, Racism, Slavery, and Trafficking
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