Lucas Blogs About The Other Wind

So, what's this book's deal?

The Other Wind is the last of Ursula K. Le Guin's Earthsea series.

Oh, good, for a while there this blog was threatening to turn into Lucas Blogs About Earthsea and a Series of Unfortunate Events. 

Would it really be that bad?

It might get a little boring.

Okay, but fair warning, I've got ideas for at least two more posts about Earthsea, but I'll sit on them for a little while.

They're about the adaptations, aren't they?

Yep! Anyway, before we talk about The Other Wind, let's talk SPOILERS for Tehanu and "Dragonfly." So at the end of Tehanu, Ged and Tenar have been captured by the new wizard of Re Albi who was a former disciple of Cob (the evil wizard from The Farthest Shore) who was using Pelnish lore to keep the Lord of Re Albi alive but infirm and under his control. The wizard is about to kill them when the dragon Kalessin arrives in the TA-DA! nick of time and saves Ged and Tenar by immolating the wizard. Turns out that Therru had called on him and he showed up. And he addresses her by Tehanu, which must be her true name because dragons only speak the language of making in which it is impossible to lie. Also, she addresses him as father. Then in "Dragonfly," the conflict between Irian and the Master Summoner comes to a head when she challenges him to confront her onto the hilltop of Roke Knoll. You see, Roke Knoll will instantly dispel any illusion and reveal something's true nature. So, when the two of them reach the top of the hill, two things happen: A) Irian turns into a dragon and flies away; and 2) the Summoner collapses and turns into a corpse.

So Tehanu ends with a dramatic entrance and "Dragonfly" ends with a dramatic exit?

Hell yeah! Anyway, The Other Wind picks up about fifteen years after the events of Tehanu and about six years after the events of Dragonfly. A young-ish sorcerer named Alder is on a ship bound for Gont where he wishes to seek out Sparrowhawk, the former Archmage of Roke. You see, Alder's been having unsettling dreams ever since his wife died. In these dreams, he's at the border of the Dry Lands, marked by a short stone wall, when he's approached by the dead asking him to bring them back across the boundary.

Unsettling, indeed.

Verily. At first it was just his wife, but now even strangers are approaching him. Anyway, he gets to Ogion's old cottage where the former archmage lives with his wife and daughter. We now see Ged as an old hermit farmer. Sure he goes into town to trade for supplies, but he's hardly welcome. It turns out that Ged can't help Alder with his dream problem, but he does come up with a temporary fix. It turns out that so long as someone living is in contact with Alder, his dreams are held at bay. So, Ged takes him to Aunty Moss, now mostly bedridden and under the care of Heather, remember Heather? She watches the goats. Anyway, Aunty Moss's cat has recently littered and Alder adopts one of her kittens. However, it's clear that he needs to move on. So, with kitten in tow, Alder gets on a ship bound for Havnor, where Tenar and Tehanu have been summoned to the court of King Lebannen.

Oh, how are things going with him?

Pretty good, except his advisors are pushing him to get married and produce an heir. And it seems like maybe there's a ready-made solution to that problem in the form of the High Princess of the Kargad Empire.

Wait, what happened to the God-king?

He got overthrown by the High King of Hur-at-Hur. Who recently paid a visit to Havnor and left behind his daughter in what can only be described as a passive-aggressive shotgun engagement.

That's not a thing.

Whatever. Alder meets with the King and with Tenar and Tehanu. Tehanu still obviously bears the scars from being pushed into a fire as a child and, though in her early twenties, is still painfully shy. Lebannen has called them to his court because dragons have been flying a good deal farther east than they've ever been known to, and he thought Tehanu might be help to help find out why. So, while Alder continues to try to solve the problem of his dreams, the whole party rides out to the countryside looking for dragons. Fortunately, they find some and Tehanu is able to parley with them, arranging for a meeting with Orm Irian.

Oh, I see.

Yeah, that's right, Irian comes back and while she isn't sure why the other dragons are acting strangely, and suggests that everyone pick up and sail to Roke to receive the counsel of the Master Patterner, Azver. Meanwhile, Tenar has been meeting with Princess Seserakh, happy to meet another Kargish speaker after forty years in the Hardicophone world. In any case, they talk about politics, dragons, and metaphysics, and Tenar begins teaching Seserakh the Hardic language. So the whole gang sets sail to Roke, that's to say, Lebannen, Tenar, Tehanu, Irian, Seserakh, Alder, and a bunch of other characters, except for the kitten, who has been named Tug and given to a young boy at court. What awaits them on Roke? Aside from Azver the Master Patterner who still seems to be carrying a bit of a torch for Irian? Well, I think we've gotten far enough into this discussion of the plot that I don't want to actually SPOIL the ending of the series so let's talk about the series as a whole, and even this gargantuan omnibus volume I read it from.

So, what did you think? Did Le Guin pull of the ending?

I think so. Although, part of that rests in the fact that Earthsea isn't a conventional series.

Because the books largely stand on their own?

That's part of it. In fact, in the foreword and afterwords included in the omnibus edition, Le Guin even states that she never conceived of Earthsea as a series or two trilogies or a cycle or any of that. She just keep writing books and stories as she came up with them. That's probably one of the reasons why this book works as well as it does to wrap up the series. Since there isn't an over-arching narrative, The Other Wind is able to pick up on themes and story threads left behind in previous books and work from there, but it also gets to start out as its own story.

The story about Alder's weird dreams?

The story about Alder's weird dreams. That's right, since it isn't burdened with the weight of culminating Ged or Tenar or Lebannen's story-arcs (each essentially complete by the end of Tehanu), The Other Wind gets to focus in on what exactly is causing Alder (and eventually others) to experience strange dreams about the dead wanting freedom and what's the deal with people like Irian and Tehanu who can speak with or even become dragons. Whether or not the ending is satisfying may depend on your expectations.

What'd you expect?

Well, this might sound disingenuous, but I tried to go in without expectations.

Boo!

Well, after the first five books, I guess I just trusted Le Guin to provide me with something that would be worth my time. And while it isn't the best of the Earthsea books, I enjoyed the ways in which she used the story to expand the world while also giving new context to some of the ideas from previous books.

For example?

Well, let's look at everyone's favorite Earthsea character: Tenar!

Fuck yeah, Tenar!

She doesn't undergo any drastic changes, but her time with Seserakh reminds her that in the Kargad Empire she's still thought of as Arha, the Eaten One. A status that holds even more importance with the God-King overthrown. This brings back memories of her religious education at the Place of the Tombs of Atuan that prove crucial to the plot. We also learn more about the parts of the Kargad Empire outside of the Place.

So, even at the end we're learning about the different cultures and peoples of Earthsea?

Yeah! And it also deals with the ways in which the different cultural groups view each other as uncivilized. Heck, you even find out that the Kargish word for magic-user translates as "accursed sorcerer."

That is a neat detail. So, you said you wanted to talk about the series as a whole, what exactly would you like to focus on?

Well, let's just sort of see where the conversation takes us. Let's start with Le Guin's writing. Different books and stories in series are written in different styles. While A Wizard of Earthsea and The Farthest Shore have a more self-consciously mythic tone, putting a little more distance between the reader and Ged, The Tombs of Atuan and Tehanu are a bit more intimate, letting the reader experience Tenar's journey more closely. And although the tone is different, her actual writing style remains largely unchanged. Characters and settings are sketched with sparing, but revealing detail, parcelling out world-building only as it becomes necessary for the story. There's nothing even remotely approaching a clunky and extraneous prologue like "Concerning Hobbits."

Look out, internet, Lucas has Lord of the Rings hot takes!

I deserved that. The point is that Earthsea never feels like it was written as an excuse for Le Guin to tell you the deep history that she devised for her imagined world (well, maybe a little bit in "The Finder"). There isn't an audience stand-in who needs to have the world explained to them, everyone just knows how important things like true names and the Long Dance are. You get to figure it out from context clues. This is particularly impressive in the first three books since they were written to be accessible to younger readers (well, teenagers).

About that, what would you say is the biggest change after the series switches from Young Adult to Adult Fiction?

Well, I mean, not a lot changes in terms of content, really. Tehanu is pretty blunt about the fact that, in addition to pushing her into a fire, her family also subjected Tehanu to physical and sexual abuse. But the biggest change is that the main characters are mostly adults with adult problems. The books are no longer actively trying to appeal to younger readers.

Want to move onto The Books of Earthsea, The Complete Illustrated Edition?

Okay, want do you wanna know?

You said you wanted to talk about it.

Okay, so on the one hand, this volume is amazing. It has all six books in the series, a few foreword and afterwords by Le Guin, and back matter that I haven't read yet (including a few stories that preceded Earthsea and essays and speeches and stuff). It includes dozens of beautiful full page illustrations (several of them color plates) by Charles Vess which he created in partnership with Le Guin. And really, I think the illustrations are the thing I that I've short-changed the most in these reviews. Some are dynamic like Tenar dancing in the Hall of the Empty Throne, some are more subdued and intimate like Tenar tending to Ogion as he dies, but all of them feel of a piece with the books. His style is largely realistic, fantasy elements aside. If I had one gripe about them, it's that the focus on illustrating important plot and emotional beats means that some characters just never get drawn. The book itself is printed on high quality paper and reading is pleasantly tactile. However, there is one minor gripe I have.

Do tell.

So, the print isn't tiny, but it is pretty small, even so, the book is huge, and heavy and maybe isn't the best way to read these stories for the first time. Also, because the print was fairly small, it forced me to admit that I probably need reading glasses.

Oh noes! Creeping senescence!

Oh noes indeed. Anyway, this book is amazing, but you could also probably find all of these individually at a used book store for cheaper, or at your local library for free. After that, go ahead and buy the omnibus, you deserve to have nice things.

Yes I do!

The Other Wind by Ursula K. Le Guin, illustrated by Charles Vess, from The Books of Earthsea, The Complete Illustrated Edition, Saga Books hardcover edition, October 2018, originally published 2001, 145 pages, pairs well with the feeling of accomplishment that accompanies finishing a big reading project

Links:

Hey, it's still Ursula K. Le Guin's website, for those who are into that kinda thing.

We also have a link to Charles Vess's website, if that's the kinda thing you're into.

Back when this volume was published, Tor.com ran a series of essays about Earthsea's impact. Here are the links to them. You should read them, though maybe read Earthsea first. You know, 'cause of teh SPOILARZ. I am aware of the irony of putting these links and this spoiler warning at the end of a series of reviews where each one spoils the previous book. I do not apologize.