The Other Wind (The Earthsea Cycle) (The Earthsea Cycle, 6)

Over the years, I have read most of Ursula LeGuin's books. I have not read any sci fi since about 1982. Then I Used the first three books of the Earth Sea series to write a Master's Theses on the Psychological and Theological aspects of what was then only a trilogy. Lately, retired and getting a Kindle for my birthday, anniversary and next Christmas, I found the last two of the series. (I had read the fourth book after the Theses.) So it was with great welcome and surprise to read the last two books. It feels like I have known Ursula through her books and was welcoming a long lost friend. This one really hits home as I am getting older and have lost so many friends thru the years. If you have not read any of the first five books in the series, I recommend them to you. In total if you are a fast reader like I am, you could read then easily within five days.Enjoy them all and then think about them for the rest of your life!

The more I read by LeGuin, the more I love her work. She's a master storyteller, and weaves the most intricate tales so skillfully. There's no excess in her work. It's almost like poetry in its perfection. The first three Earthsea books were good reads, but by the time I got to Tehanu and The Other Wind I was enrapt and wrapped up in the wonderful world she created. Maybe it's better to day she revealed it, for now in my mind, it has a life of its own, like Tolkien's Middle Earth.

I started reading Le Guin's Earthsea series by borrowing the books from the library. Then I received the new Kindle 3 for my birthday, and decided to try reading Tehanu and The Other Wind on it instead of the library books. I was enjoying the series and thought I would enjoy reading them again. However, the digital editions of these books have some serious conversion errors: It would appear that the publisher used optical character recognition (OCR) software to scan the books into a digital edition, without any quality checks after conversion. Given the nature of the series and the importance of language, these are serious flaws. Here are some samples from The Other Wind:"She asked him to assure the High Bang of the Kargs that his daughter was well..." (location 1117)Translation: "She asked him to assure the High King of the Kargs that his daughter was well..."Note: Oddly, this line was regarding one character giving another character this message through an interpreter..."I will come to conduct you to the kings presence when the fifth hour is told..." (location 1201)Translation: "I will come to conduct you to the king's presence when the fifth hour is told..." (missing apostrophe)"...wizard Seppel of Pain..." (location 1276)Translation: "...wizard Seppel of Paln..."Note: Paln was constantly misspelled as Pain."'Between Pain and Semel, and the Island of Havnor, is only the width of the Pelnish Sea,' said Prince Sege." (location 1283)Translation: "'Between Paln and Semel, and the Island of Havnor, is only the width of the Pelnish Sea,' said Prince Sege."Note: At least they got "Pelnish" right..."Who goes to the dry land when they diet..." (location 1904)Translation: "Who goes to the dry land when they die..." (die, not diet)Note: That's actually quite funny, but it's really not appropriate for the conversation!"The women looked at her, some thinking her plain, some beautifid, some pitying her for having to go barefoot in the palace." (location 1998)Translation: "The women looked at her, some thinking her plain, some beautiful, some pitying her for having to go barefoot in the palace."Note: Seriously? Just do a spell-check!!"Long ago the Grey Mage of Pain had brought ruin on his island by summoning the souls of the dead to advise him and his lords..." (location 2186)Translation: "Long ago the Grey Mage of Paln had brought ruin on his island by summoning the souls of the dead to advise him and his lords..."Note: Paln again..."There had been more than one duel in wizardry between a man of Roke and a man of Pain..." (location 2187)Translation: "There had been more than one duel in wizardry between a man of Roke and a man of Paln...""'What a ragbag you are bringing them, to be sure!' she said. 'A sorcerer with nightmares, a wizard from Pain, two dragons, and two Kargs. The only respectable passengers on this ship are you and Onyx.'" (location 2642)Translation: "'What a ragbag you are bringing them, to be sure!' she said. 'A sorcerer with nightmares, a wizard from Paln, two dragons, and two Kargs. The only respectable passengers on this ship are you and Onyx.'"One of the most distracting, and terrible, errors were in names. The series places a huge importance on names, so it's ridiculous that the publisher wasn't as careful. In Tehanu, the publisher constantly misspelled Sparrowhawk as two words: Sparrow hawk. It's subtle, but very distracting.In the end, given this poor handling of the conversion from the physical book, I would simply wait for a new digital edition with revisions or just get the physical book at the library or a bookstore.

A friend told me something about her family a couple of weeks ago, and as a result I re-read the first three Earthsea books and plunged headlong into the next three. I agree with other reviewers who felt a bit jarred by "Tehanu", which seemed to depart almost completely from the path of the first three books. Still, my curiosity wouldn't let me stop until I had read both remaining volumes. Thank goodness for curiosity!I read the books in chronological order and I am glad I did. I'm not reviewing "Tales from Earthsea" here, so I'll limit my comments to advising other readers to do as I did and read the books in order."The Other Wind" is beautifully written, and does a wonderful job of bringing the cycle to a place where one can see that life in Earthsea will go on whether or not the author continues to tell the story. Change comes, accepted beliefs are challenged and found to be mistaken, and the truth is a paradox. Maybe that's what makes me love Earthsea so much: dragons and mages are found only in our fantasies, but in LeGuin's hands, they come to life in a way I can fathom, a way that allows me to believe that their world just might really exist. Hmm. Anyhow -- read the book! It's really good.

Not to repeat from my reviews of the other books in this series, but again, the reader will find him/herself on a journey of personal growth in a world that is threatening to fall apart at its very seams. Those heroes and heroines of stories past come again to face new challenges, and to teach new characters about the world beyond that in which they were raised.Like a pawn in a game of chess, a young woman is sent to live in a country with a language and customs drastically different from her own. If she cannot overcome her own fears and learned inhibitions, war might destroy the world. At the same time, the fate of the world rests on other alliances -long since forgotten- alliances that MUST be remembered and strengthened. The Other Wind yields a satisfying conclusion to one of my favorite fantasy series. I dare say no more without risking spoilers. If you read and enjoyed A Wizard of Earthsea, don't stop until you've read them all!

Great book

Another amazing book from Ursula Le Guin! She is truly a genius in creating this world! I just love it!

As finales go, this one’s a little bit special. I have thoroughly enjoyed reading these books and am constantly amazed at just how different they are from each other – a really clever trick. This one too is different, but first and foremost it brings a whole bunch of our favourite characters together. What’s not to like?First up is Ged – whom the wizard Alder seeks out first. We engage with Ged in his “life after Archmage” a few times, but this is a good swan song for our beloved hero (he plays the part of wise elder statesman very well). Indeed, though much of the wider series centres on Ged (and rightly so), the torch has well and truly been passed – hence Alder is off to Havnor, the centre of the Islands.This is when we come face to face with some dear friends – Tenar (from book #2 and book #4 and Ged’s wife) and Tehanu (from book #4 – their adopted daughter). Tehanu and Tenar are in Havnor with the king, but Alder is most welcome. After all, if the Wizards of Earthsea on Roke are concerned, then it must be important.And so it is that this new crop of heroes embark on a final adventure to the Island of Roke where they will come face to face with some very deep truths. The very fabric of all that is and has been is at stake, but with the assistance of each other (and perhaps a dragon), our heroes will face the challenge bravely. It really is a very thought-provoking ending.All in all, this is a great ending to what is a fantastic series. The variety of styles and storylines in the series is brilliant, and each book has its own charms. It seems a lifetime ago that I read A Wizard of Earthsea, but this very definitely feels like closure – which is nice. It also follows on really nicely from the Tales of Earthsea (and in particular the story Dragonfly) which is really great too. I love it how all these stories tie in with each other so effortlessly.All in all, a must-read series.

If you are like me; buying all the mass market paperbacks of this wonderful series, because you love the covers and want the books all to be in the same size: think again. They don’t come in the same size. A bit of a dissapointment

What to say? Ursula Le Guin is the maestra of humanist storytelling. This is another epic and portentous tale of our human species facing huge change. If only our worldly politicians had a fragment of the wisdom of these leaders!