Take a photo of a barcode or cover
nigellicus 's review for:
The Farthest Shore
by Ursula K. Le Guin
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
The Earthsea Trilogy (before it became the Earthsea Cycle) cemented its reputation and its literary standing with this fraught and eerie quest in search of a man who has returned from death and therefore destroyed all meaning in life magic is draining from the world, but not just magic; all craft and drive, ambition and openness. Archmage Ged and a young prince Arren voyage across the archipelago to find a place from which there is no returning.
If the trilogy has been about anything, it has been about growth to maturity, of mastering oneself and the nature of responsibility. The Farthest Shore is a return of the king narrative, ultimately, where the greatest good that can happen to Earthsea is for a king to assume the throne. I suspect we're in allegorical territory here, with Earthsea's fairy tale roots on show, where a person can only truly be said to rule oneself when one has confronted death and accepted it and found greater joy and meaning in life having done so. Or maybe LeGuin's a monarchist.
I suppose on reflection that this makes it seem worthy and dry, a heavy spiritual message for a piece of children's fantasy, rest assured this is a beautifully written, keenly observed, wise, harrowing, terrifying and ultimately quietly uplifting book. It has dragons, too.
If the trilogy has been about anything, it has been about growth to maturity, of mastering oneself and the nature of responsibility. The Farthest Shore is a return of the king narrative, ultimately, where the greatest good that can happen to Earthsea is for a king to assume the throne. I suspect we're in allegorical territory here, with Earthsea's fairy tale roots on show, where a person can only truly be said to rule oneself when one has confronted death and accepted it and found greater joy and meaning in life having done so. Or maybe LeGuin's a monarchist.
I suppose on reflection that this makes it seem worthy and dry, a heavy spiritual message for a piece of children's fantasy, rest assured this is a beautifully written, keenly observed, wise, harrowing, terrifying and ultimately quietly uplifting book. It has dragons, too.