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rootytootyrissa 's review for:
The Farthest Shore
by Ursula K. Le Guin
Heck ya, Ursula K. Le Guin. I'm so happy to have finally completed the Earthsea trilogy--although I'm equally happy to see that there is more to come in the fourth book 'Tehanu,' which seems equally as well regarded amongst those who have read these fine books.
The Earthsea Cycle is one that feels ... so wonderfully quiet compared to a lot of classic or popular fantasy novels. It's not huge, loud, or brimming over with detail. Everything is so wonderfully succinct. And in fact, there's only a few key 'action' moments that usually take part in any of these books. The rest is travel, and thinking, and discovering--sprinkle a dragon in here or there, and you've got yourself a book. Sound dry as hell? Maybe for someone other than Ursula Kickass Le Guin.
The one thing that really struck me by the end of the tale of Ged and the young king Arren in this story, is that there's not really a traditional bad guy in any of these. The Farthest Shore has the most direct reference to a single person being the source of a lot of world's problems, but even these issues can be directly boiled down to this: fear of death. And in the two former books, Ged's and Tenar's struggle with their own emotions, pride, and darkness all feature prominently. It's amazing.
Just such fondness for this series. My only sad point is that Goro Miyazaki made such a mess of the film adaptation of something that could have been so very lovely.
The Earthsea Cycle is one that feels ... so wonderfully quiet compared to a lot of classic or popular fantasy novels. It's not huge, loud, or brimming over with detail. Everything is so wonderfully succinct. And in fact, there's only a few key 'action' moments that usually take part in any of these books. The rest is travel, and thinking, and discovering--sprinkle a dragon in here or there, and you've got yourself a book. Sound dry as hell? Maybe for someone other than Ursula Kickass Le Guin.
The one thing that really struck me by the end of the tale of Ged and the young king Arren in this story, is that there's not really a traditional bad guy in any of these. The Farthest Shore has the most direct reference to a single person being the source of a lot of world's problems, but even these issues can be directly boiled down to this: fear of death. And in the two former books, Ged's and Tenar's struggle with their own emotions, pride, and darkness all feature prominently. It's amazing.
Just such fondness for this series. My only sad point is that Goro Miyazaki made such a mess of the film adaptation of something that could have been so very lovely.