A review by arockinsamsara
Tehanu by Ursula K. Le Guin

adventurous challenging emotional inspiring reflective 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? No

4.5

What a fantastic addition to the Earthsea Cycle. There is so much that is frustratingly wonderful about this novel, where to begin? First, whereas each of the other novels had some time gaps between them this novel, although written nearly two decades after the third, picks up on near the day the third novel left off. Importantly, though, we return to the perspective of Tenar, who guided us through the second book. The depth of character work in this novel is really wonderful. Tenar and Ged both, as well as the new characters we meet, none of them are simple or boring. Most importantly, they change. They have changed from what we may have known of them previously, but also within this story they change, they find more of themselves and embrace what they find. All of the twists and turns and evolutions they go through are believable, even if not what the reader may have been expecting of them, and I am really appreciative of that fact, that Le Guin excavated a story truer than expectations. 

 

The world building continues to evolve, Earthsea continues to surprise as it grows and changes. The writing is fierce and clear, moving swiftly across the story and is perhaps the most intimate of the Earthsea books, so far. Her ability to focus on small details in one paragraph and then, swift of foot, travel across calendar pages the next, without it ever feeling out of sort or disjointed, is wonderful. I enjoyed the pacing, and it worked for this story, but it isn’t as balanced as it might be. Or, rather, the action in the front half is of a different, quitter sort, even if no less intense, than that in the back half and especially the final two chapters. The tone of the story never changes, though, just the sensation of change. The ending is maybe somewhat predictable, at least to an adult reader. Le Guin doesn’t hide all the seeds she plants and waters throughout, and she isn’t concerned with red herrings or misdirects to hide the scent from you. This story is part of an epic, it has an air of inevitability about it, and she doesn’t shy from that. Because of this I had no problems with the story going where I expected it to, and ending with as bold, and open-ended, a proclamation as it does. Again, the story has no interest in pulling the wool over your eyes or, totally surprising you, it is showing you the pieces before setting them all in play just as they belong. 

 

The themes and ideas in this story feel especially powerful. Le Guin hasn’t been interested in platitudes in any of the Earthsea books, but here she is very much looking at orthodoxies and declaring them brittle and wanting. There are questions of trauma and resiliency, but also knowledge and power, too. Explorations of what it means to grow into your own power, or to sacrifice parts of yourself in exchange for different types of power. What is the distinction between power and control, and that between knowledge and learning? Is it possible that compassion is perhaps the most powerful asset we have, the very thing shunned by petty rulers and those desperate for fame? While this is certainly still a YA novel, written in a way that is approachable and accessible, it is definitely more mature than the previous books in the series, both in terms of the breadth of ideas but also in some of the contents (including mention, without details, of the sexual assault of a child). The story has continued to age with its readers, pushing its audience to grow and expand and never be content with what you’re told is what you deserve. but instead discover and celebrate your true worth.