Tehanu (The Earthsea Cycle, Book 4)
by Ursula K. Le Guin
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Book Summary Information
Author: Ursula K. Le GuinEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2004-11-23
ISBN: 1416509631
Number of pages: 288
Publisher: Pocket Books
Book Reviews of Tehanu (The Earthsea Cycle, Book 4)
Book Review: A change for the better
Summary: 5 Stars
I recomend this book for all Serious Ursula K LeGuin Fans! There was a long gap between the original Earthsea trilogy and when this book was written. Ursula K. LeGuin grew up and so did her charecters. Life changes over time, the world changes, people change, they learn and grow wise. Same with this book, the world and the people do too. If you are looking for a childrens book full of a foolish powerful wizard this book isn't for you. (yes, Ursula K LeGuin wrote the first 3 as childrens books.)
If you enjoy the depth of charecters and complexe development of these charecters you will enjoy this book a lot.
This book is the begining of controversy for UKL because Ged has lost his power. But can someone ever truely know wisdom if they have not lived different lives, walked in others shoes, and seen different aspects? this is a very different aspect book but no less amazing.
I see men complaining about how this book is all about womens powers, I see women complaining about how this book shows women as weak. It is amazing that men and women are saying the exact opposite.
It is amazing that women assume that if a woman does not over power everything then they are being taken advantage of. I cannot imagine how these people would deal with reading historic fiction when women were thought of as nothing and had no rights. This book actually focus a lot on womens personal power and is a leader into her next books which are fully about women as the center stage.
My second thought, men who shy away or regard this book as bad because it begings to delve into womens power instead of just mens power shows how sexist they themselves must be.
This book is not worse because it takes on a womans point of view or elaborates on women (my goodness why would you have even begun reading a book writen by a women then?)
In my opinon this book has a balance of the female aspect and the male aspect, something the original 2 books were missing and the 3rd only barely began to touch on. Neither gender is to overpowering in this book and neither is forgotten or left out.
The story is great, though not as elaborate and full of magic as her first 3 (though you could always read harry poter if you need to get your fill of cheap sorcery) This book delves into a different aspect for the wizard, learning about life from a HUMAN standpoint, not a supernatural standpoint. This is what leads him to wisdom, knowledge, and humbleness that he has not fully achieved in the previous 3 books.
The writting is as wonderful as her originial 3, but on a more complex level. This book (and the next 2) are more complex, falling in line with many typical sci-fi/fantasy writters as being written on a higher reading level, not written for children but on an adult level (which sometimes makes it hard for the average adult to understand as the Average American adult only reads on a 9th grade reading level.) So if complex reading is not your thing it may be better to just save yourself time.
Personally I find many of the changes in this book hard to accept as anyone but I don't hate the book because of it. The book is not badly written it's just that everyone wants the powerful fun magic, wild adventures, or sappy happy endings of the first 3 to continue and they don't so people complain. There is no reason to be upset because the story didn't go the way you or I would have invisioned it to go. This book is hard to accept in the way that the truth is. You don't like the turns it makes but they all make sense and while you may not like them you totally understand the reasoning behind it and know that it could not have gone any other way.
This book has become the mother who has told the child that she is not going to buy him the $100.00 toy that he wanted. Some readers throw a fit because they didn't get what they wanted, and some readers, though they would have prefered to get their way understand the reasoning and logic behind it and love and enjoy the book as the way it has to be.
The changes do not detract from this book, it is wonderfully written and is a great addition, developing and expanding on the emotions of humans and each charecter. Instead of devloping a new adventure it devlops their mind. The first 3 books were box office blockbuster hit action films but this book is the award winning independent film.
Summary of Tehanu (The Earthsea Cycle, Book 4)
Book Four of Ursula K. Le Guin's Earthsea CycleYears ago, they had escaped together from the sinister Tombs of Atuan -- she, an isolated young priestess; he, a powerful wizard. Now she is a farmer's widow, having chosen for herself the simple pleasures of an ordinary life. And he is a broken old man, mourning the powers lost to him through no choice of his own.
Once, when they were young, they helped each other at a time of darkness and danger and shared an adventure like no other. Now they must join forces again, to help another in need -- the physically and emotionally scarred child whose own destiny has yet to be revealed.
With millions of copies sold worldwide, Ursula K. Le Guin's Earthsea Cycle has earned a treasured place on the shelves of fantasy lovers everywhere, alongside the works of such beloved authors as J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis.
Ursula K. LeGuin follows her classic trilogy from Earthsea with a magical tale that won the 1991 Nebula Award for Science Fiction. Unlike the tales in the trilogy, this novel is short and concise, yet it is by no means simplistic. Promoted as a children's book because of the awards garnered in that category by her previous work, Tehanu transcends classification and shows the wizardry of female magic. The story involves a middle-age widow who sets out to visit her dying mentor and eventually cares for his favorite student.
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