The sorcerer Alder fears sleep. He dreams of the land of death, of his wife who died young and longs to return to him so much that she kissed him across the low stone wall that separates our world from the Dry Land-where the grass is withered, the stars never move, and lovers pass without knowing each other. The dead are pulling Alder to them at night. Through him they may free themselves and invade Earthsea. Alder seeks advice from Ged, once Archmage. Ged tells him to go to Tenar, Tehanu, and the young king at Havnor. They are joined by amber-eyed Irian, a fierce dragon able to assume the shape of a woman. The threat can be confronted only in the Immanent Grove on Roke, the holiest place in the world and there the king, hero, sage, wizard, and dragon make a last stand. Le Guin combines her magical fantasy with a profoundly human, earthly, humble touch.
The greatest fantasies of the 20th century are J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings and Ursula K. Le Guin's Earthsea Cycle. Regrettably, the Earthsea Cycle has not received the fame and sales of Tolkien's trilogy. Fortunately, new Earthsea books have appeared in the 21st century, and they are as powerful, beautiful, and imaginative as the first four novels. The fifth novel and sixth book of the Earthsea Cycle is The Other Wind.
The sorcerer Alder has the power of mending, but it may have become the power of destruction: every night he dreams of the wall between the land of the living and the land of the dead, and the wall is being dismantled. If the wall is breached, the dead will invade Earthsea. Ged, once Archmage of Earthsea, sends Alder to King Lebannen. Now Alder and the king must join with a burned woman, a wizard of forbidden lore, and a being who is woman and dragon both, in an impossible quest to save Earthsea.
Ursula K. Le Guin has received the National Book Award, five Nebula and five Hugo Awards, and the Newbery Award, among many other honors. The Other Wind lives up to expectations for one of the greatest fantasy cycles. --Cynthia Ward
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 4.0 / 5.0
The Other Wind - Ursula K. Le Guin:
Writing Style - 3/5
Characters - 3
Storyline - 3
Resonance - 1 The Not-Too-Revealing Synopsis:
The divide between life and death is not as it should be. A minor magic artisan - a layman really - finds that he has some inexplicable connection to the portents and sets off in search of aid from the skilled and learned of Earthsea. The Review
Note - I did not realize this book was part of a series until after I had finished it and was looking at online reviews. So take my... more info
Fascinating:
For many years I didn't pick up LeGuin's Earthsea cycle. What a mistake! The entire series is first rate, a cut above the usual fantasy novels.
Absolutely one of my most favorite book sieries.:
I'm just putting in a good word for one of my most respected authors. I've read most of her books, and this is one is the one that sucked me in the most out of all of them.
Not my cup of tea:
While I really loved the original Earthsea trilogy, both as a kid and as an adult, this book (and "Tehanu") were a bit disappointing. I had a hard time deciding on whether to give this book 3 or 4 stars and in the end went with 3. I can't pick out anything technically wrong with the book, but it failed to draw me in. Despite being relatively short, it took me months to finish this book. Nothing much was really happening, so I didn't feel at all compelled to see what happened (or rather, didn't happen) next.... more info
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