The Farthest Shore
Ratings160
Average rating4
This book makes me want to drop my readthrough of Earthsea. I'm yet to decide. If I ever read Tehanu it seems like it's gonna be more of a hate read than anything else since reviews say it's as bad as this one only with 1000% more of “THE MESSAGE” and it completely ruins Ged's character.
This one is pretentious. There is nothing happening for 98% of the time and when there finally is something it's so extremely vague that even the metaphors she tried to put in there sound dumb. No tension. No sense of awe even though they are traveling through half of the world. It's all dull and vague. And I HATE her style of writing where she spoils the ending at the beginning. I know this is a children's book but god damn it why?!
I really liked first book and second one was passable, admittedly better as it went, but this book is jaw-droppingly poor compared to it. I cannot even fathom how this book can have average rating above four stars.
Originally I didn't know whether to first read Le Guin's sci-fi or fantasy novels so I created a poll and Earthsea completely obliterated Hainish Cycle. Can someone for the love of all good books explain to me how that's possible?
Another excellent book by [a:Ursula K. Le Guin 874602 Ursula K. Le Guin https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1244291425p2/874602.jpg]. Here she brings a more adult Ged/Sparrowhawk to the narrative, a fantastic unfolding of what she accomplished in the previous two books. You can notice the growth of the character Ged, now in his winter and on the edge of the land without sun.In a similar manner to the second book, [b:The Tombs of Atuan 13662 The Tombs of Atuan (Earthsea Cycle, #2) Ursula K. Le Guin https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1166571534s/13662.jpg 1322146], Ged gets to the aid of another character, the immature and passionate Arren/Lebannen, teaching him important lessons about life and death. The end of the book is impressive, showing how [a:Ursula K. Le Guin 874602 Ursula K. Le Guin https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1244291425p2/874602.jpg] knows how to keep the pace, style and the raise an amazing climax such as seen in the previous books, [b:A Wizard of Earthsea 13642 A Wizard of Earthsea (Earthsea Cycle, #1) Ursula K. Le Guin https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1353424536s/13642.jpg 113603] and [b:The Tombs of Atuan 13662 The Tombs of Atuan (Earthsea Cycle, #2) Ursula K. Le Guin https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1166571534s/13662.jpg 1322146]. A classic, and a must read for all fantasy fans.
This series has been on my list for years. I'm glad to have it under my belt, but I definitely enjoyed the second book more than the other 2 I've read so far. LeGuinn's writing doesn't really flow for me, it more goes from one event to another. This style does cut out a lot of minutiae, but I guess I like some minutiae. Overall, I am inversted enough to see what happens in this world, but it's not urgent.
This one started out pretty slow for me. Then I felt like stopping because everyone they came across was just rambling on, and the gibberish started to get on my nerves. Not sure if it was my mood or the book. I decided to keep reading, and I'm glad I did. I loved the dragons and the ending. They redeemed the book for me.
Le Guin's books really come alive when her characters, chiefly Ged, speak openly about different topics and share nuggets of wisdom. The dialogue is wonderfully done in these moments.
I struggled with this book more than the other two. While I enjoyed the two characters, I just found the majority of the journey and story quite boring. I loved the interaction between the wise wizard and the prince, however, things just felt flat in other instances and was just boring to me. I'd be okay with rereading it to see if it is just my current circumstances that caused me to not enjoy this one as much.
Quotes
“No darkness lasts forever. And even there, there are stars.”
“You will die. You will not live forever. Nor will any man nor any thing. Nothing is immortal. But only to us is it given to know that we must die. And that is a great gift: the gift of selfhood. For we have only what we know we must lose, what we are willing to lose... That selfhood which is our torment, and our treasure, and our humanity, does not endure. It changes; it is gone, a wave on the sea. Would you have the sea grow still and the tides cease, to save one wave, to save yourself?”
“But when we crave power over life—endless wealth, unassailable safety, immortality—then desire becomes greed. And if knowledge allies itself to that greed, then comes evil. Then the balance of the world is swayed, and ruin weighs heavy in the scale.”
“Having intelligence, we must not act in ignorance. Having choice, we must not act without responsibility.”
Not as unique as Tombs of Atuan, but still enjoyable. Very classic fantasy feel.
3.5 stars
life and death, death and life, beginnings and ends... i didn't love this book as much as i loved the first two, but i appreciated the discussions about life - what it means to die, what it means to live. her books and her prose make me... ponder.
i think what makes me like this book less is that the stakes are too high... i don't know. but i liked how the first two & tehanu are more contained, more... i can't think of the right word. this one feels a little more like a classic hero's journey than the others. i liked it but i didn't love it - i think that's the best way i can express this.
Audiobook reread. I love this book. It deals with, among other things, power, balance, friendship between generations, the shrinking of magic loyalty.
26/09/2023
I feared finishing this for the longest time because I thought it was quite the depressing read but actually it was a lot more.
The book alluded to depression and many serious topics like drugs and it was very frank and real in the way only a fantasy book could be when it talks about things in the real world in its own image.
The most worth while aspect of this book was following Arren on his journey. It was not that he grew ultimately wise as he was confronted with each of his weaknesses but rather the admittance that though his journey is great he is also but a man. I couldn't have loved it more.
While I wouldn't recommend someone to read this during a depressive episode like I was in, I would certainly say this is an enjoyable read for those wanting something relatable.
Final rating: 5/5
Le Guin is so real for having the first Earthsea book be like a revisionist Tolkien riff that is kind of standard in style and tone and then just throw the entire approach out and make books 2 and 3 stylistic experiments where Tombs of Atuan is like Lovecraft anthropology and then this book is like a 250-page dream sequence that mostly consists of two guys on a boat having conversations with progressively more and more insane people. Sparrowhawk is the most goated old dude that just kinda hangs out in all of fantasy, I really love how he's still kind of an idiot despite speaking only in esoteric wise man like gandalf or whoever.
