Reviews

The Farthest Shore by Ursula K. Le Guin

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scarletsnake's review against another edition

4.0

There are parts of this I liked, but it's a step down from Book 2. This novel follows a young prince named Arren and Ged now much older and Archmage of Roke, as they adventure trying to figure out why magic is dying out.

The point of view sits with Arren and I have mixed feelings about him. Looking at him alone, he is fine. He can be a little childish, but his journey from ignorant devotion to Ged, then to distrust and paranoia, and finally to mutual trust was well done. I just found the plot about how he was to be the best king to be really lacking. I am not sure what lessons he learned in the journey apply to that or what great qualities of leadership he demonstrates in the book. This doesn't come as a surprise in the end, it is foreshadowed throughout, and I was on board when he ran out with the robber's loot and then got captured. After that I saw little that endeared me to him as a leader. I am very biased against kings in general and cannot help but carry that over here.

I like the idea that all the great creative minds have been driven mad by a fear of death and a desire to avoid it. I liked the way it was executed in the beginning, but towards the end of the book, things accelerated toward an end out of nowhere. The pair are totally lost and have no clues when a dragon shows up and tells them that he knows the enemy they are looking for and where to find them. The world also rapidly starts to decline, not just at the fringes anymore but in its places of power. This seems to be done to increase the weight of the hero's victory, but for me, it makes the threat more fantastical and less interesting. Maybe I am just tired of seeing heroes save the day from sudden apocolyptic world-ending threats and prefer something smaller.