At age 82, it’s safe to say (I think) that Ursula Le
Guin will not be publishing additional books in the Earthsea Cycle. Though this has been said before, the
qualities of the last book to be published, The
Other Wind, particularly the subtle and cathartic value of its denouement
and the state in which the main characters are left, make the extension of the
Cycle beyond six books unlikely. Walking
away on a high note, the Cycle is concluded in grand style.
Unlike the personal storylines of the original
trilogy, The Other Wind sees the continuation
of the pattern established by Tehanu
and Tales from Earthsea: groups of
characters take center stage rather than individuals. All of the characters who have appeared in
previous novels are drawn together.
Their purpose: to eradicate the larger ills plaguing the archipelago. The dragons are uneasy and are disappearing
to the west amidst internecine violence.
The dead in the dry land haunt the living in their dreams, begging for
release. And political tension are
rising as the Kargish have sent a princess to Hardic lands with the intent of
marrying her into the fold, uniting two old enemies.
Le Guin resolving matters as only she can,
interrelationships toward social harmony prove a more useful tool for solving
the issues than magic and wizards in The
Other Wind. Another soft fantasy
novel, she again defies the clichés of epic fantasy with her plot structure and
mode of conflict. Events arising and
unfolding in realistic fashion that does not involve mammoth wars or wizardly
duels, instead, diplomacy, understanding, and perennial wisdom save the
day. Moments of strong tension do exist,
but they are the result of the social and political forces at play rather than
the threat of imminent violence. A man’s
longing to escape his dreams and be with his wife; a king’s lack of willingness
to take responsibility for his role; a woman’s fear she will be unable to
perform the task set out for her, and a master’s pride in the face of tradition
are just a few of the back stories causing the more overt threats to the
archipelago.
While inter-cultural politics play a role in the
novel, the fairy tale glass through which Le Guin presents the theme sometimes
distracts from the seriousness of the scenes.
The message burning at the heart is meaningful, only the delivery lacks
a certain maturity of tone, in turn reducing impact. Given the overall import of the theme—its
parallel to our own world affairs—a lot can be forgiven given the poignancy of the
implications.
In the end, The
Other Wind is a well rounded finale that resolves all of the major
plotlines both in- and external to the novel.
Ged, Tenar, Arren, Tehanu, and a variety of other character story arcs
receive treatment and are concluded not only in satisfactory fashion, but in
ways that meet Le Guin’s literary goals.
The story subtle and concerned with social and political conflicts less
discussed in fantasy, readers should thus expect a narrative more in line with
the second half of the Earthsea Cycle rather than the original trilogy.
(For those who have read the book and the Earthsea Cycle as a whole, you
may be interested in reading a paper I wrote on its Daoist tenets and
angles on contemporary theory called "Ursula Le Guin’s Earthsea Cycle:
Paralleling Contemporary Theory with an Eye to the Past". Part I is here and Part II, here.)
(This review has also been posted at www.fantasyliterature.com)
(This review has also been posted at www.fantasyliterature.com)
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