Book Review
Title: The Farthest Shore (Earthsea #3)
Author: Ursula K. Le Guin
Genre: YA/Fantasy
Rating: *****
Review: I left quite a big gap between reading A Wizard of Earthsea and The Tombs of Atuan, but I decide to up straight into The Farthest Shore after finishing book 2. We are introduced to Arren, Prince of Enlad, who is going to be important to this story. He brings news of magic disappearing in his lands and seeks council from the Wise in the City of Roke, where Ged is now Archmage. Ged draws the council together as there have been several reports from different lands of the same thing happening and he is concerned they have been too focused on the peace that came with his return with Tenar and the Ring to see what was beginning to happen through the land. However, Ged doesn’t voice any ideas of what is causing this problem or how to fix it, even the Master Patterner says he is afraid by what is happening, and he has no council to offer Ged.
As we approach the ¼ mark in the novel, we learn of a prophecy that talks about a return of the King of Havnor but the Throne of Havnor has sat empty for 800 years and this might be the reason for the magic beginning to disappear. Despite the council meeting, they can’t agree upon a course but Ged as the Archmage has the final decision and he decides he is going to find the thing or person causing the magic to disappear but rather than going alone as he has done in the past, he is going to take Arren with him and it makes me wonder who the King is. Instantly I thought it was Ged, but Ged seems to see something in Arren that he doesn’t see in himself and that we can’t see which makes me wonder. On their journey from Roke to Hort Town, Ged tells Arren that he believes a man, a mage is responsible for the disappearing magic and he hopes to find some truth or at least evidence of this in Hort Town but Arren is very doubtful of himself. His relationship with the Archmage is strange, he claims to love him but at the same time doubts his words and actions and is constantly reminded that he doesn’t truly know this person.
As we cross the ¼ mark in the novel, the pair arrive in Hort Town where you can immediately feel there is something wrong with this place. They come upon a wizard, Hare, who has lost his power and the ability to speak the language of Old. Through Hare we learn things we don’t truly understand yet as he chatters on about trading life for life, power for power but in a hazia induced dream he asks Ged to follow him so he can show him the way to the root of the problem while Arren is left to guard them. However, Arren is constantly fighting sleep or spell work of some kind and when he finally gives into it, he sees a man before him asking Arren to come with him and he does. Arren awakes to find there are robbers trying to steal from them and he acts running away to draw them away from Ged only to be taken to a slaver’s ship to be sold. Ged does find and rescue him only to tell him it was him they were after to be sold as a slave but in acting the way he did, he possibly prevented them from slitting his throat while he was following Hare in the darkness but he didn’t manage to learn anything he didn’t already know from Hare and so the pair continue their journey to the west.
As we approach the halfway mark in the novel, their new destination is Lorbanery to see if the wizards there are the same as in Hort Town or whether there is more to be learned. During the journey Ged and Arren talk about many things and we learn of things that happened to Ged in the periods of time that the first and second books do not cover as years have passed between them and there is a strong friendship building between the pair as Arren’s curiosity draws Ged out of his shell and Ged open Arren’s eyes to the world and the worlds beyond their world. In Lorbanery, the pair find similar tales to the ones they heard in Hort Town but here they also find wizards driven mad by the loss of their power and words but one Sopli, claims he knows where the source of this evil is and asks to join Ged and Arren on their journey as their guide and Ged agrees. Arren isn’t happy with this as he has seen how little he can actually do to help or protect Ged and he is angry yet Ged tells him that he believes that this quest isn’t his but Arren’s and it started long before he even left Enlad, before he met Ged and he can’t turn away from it now especially since so many are suffering because of it and it is spreading throughout the lands. The trio are now heading towards the western island of Obehol but during their journey something strange comes over Arren as it has with Sopli, the desire for eternal life and the place where it is given which Sopli believes is Obehol.
As we cross into the second half of the novel, they near Obehol and Sopli is sure that this is the right place, the place where eternal life will be given to them if they give everything in exchange. However, when they get close to the island, they are attacked by people with spears injuring Ged and they turn away from the island. Sopli who is terrified of the water, jumps to his death trying to reach the island and even Arren turns the boat around without thought as if he is drawn to the island. Arren has changed as Sopli seems to have infected him with his madness and the quest for eternal life and even though he knows Ged is his friend, he constantly doubts him and at times believes that Ged is keeping him from the promise of eternal life and I believe that this is the work of a very powerful and very evil mage. As Ged is injured, they try to head west to another island, Wellogy but in his madness Arren does nothing to steer the boat or to help his master until both are close to death. However, they are rescued by the children of the Open Sea and for a time they share their rafts drifting on the open waters until one night the chanters forget their songs. As dawn approaches a dragon arrives with a message for Ged, telling him that the dragons require his help which he would have thought unthinkable but the dragon, Orm Embar explains that there is another dragon lord that seeks destruction of them, of all and that Ged must travel fast to the dragon isle.
As we approach the ¾ mark in the novel, Ged does as he is instructed since he owes Orm Embar a debt as he told Ged where the find the Ring that restored a semblance of peace to their lands. However, back on Roke things aren’t going well as 3 of the Masters are struck down by the blight that has been spreading across the lands and it begins to infect the students too. However, the Master Patterner and the Doorkeeper are unaffected because much like Ged, they know their roles and life and refuse to let anything change that but it seems that Arren and Ged are walking into a battle that might cost their lives to win. As we can recall from the first book when Ged opened the door into the darkness it took the life of a Master to close it again and it was only open a crack then nowhere near as wide as the door is open now. In the dragon isles, the pair see that the dragons have also been infected with the blight except Orm Ember who tells them the one they seek is on Selidor but not there as he dies and comes back to his body alive over and over and so the dragons fear him. As they make their way towards the end of their journey, we learn the truth of why Ged choose to take Arren on this journey with him and I was right about him being the true King of Havnor but Ged is unsure whether he will live long enough to see him crowned and the days that will come after that but above that Ged longs to return home to Gont, to speak with his former master once more before his death and to see Tenar again and I hope he gets what he truly desires. On Selidor they come face to face with the dead numerous times as Orm Embar hunts down the man they seek until he eventually finds him. Orm Embar has had his speech robbed from him but still shows them the way and even gives his life to protect Ged and Arren as their enemy leads them into the dark for their final battle.
As we cross into the final section of the novel, the pair have entered the dark place and found the man they seek once called Cob and despite Ged’s best efforts he can’t get the man to say his true name as he has forgotten it but he does make him see the error of his ways, partly. In that dark and desolate land, Ged uses all of his strength to close the door Cob opened but it rests on Arren’s shoulders to get them out of it and he takes them both to the very end and over the edge he can see the beach where their mortal bodies lie but I fear it might be too much for Ged to handle but Arren won’t leave him behind. Ged’s journey isn’t over yet as he returns to Roke with Arren on the back of a dragon where he leaves Arren to be crowned King Lebannan, King of All, King of Havnor and he returns home to Gont and the ones he loved which he left behind long ago. The ending of the original trilogy is open ended as we don’t know whether Ged attended the coronation or whether he simply walks the mountain of Gont is silence as his master tried to teach him when he was a young lad. Overall, I felt this was an amazing end to the original trilogy and I will be reading book 4, Tehanu to see whether it is worth finishing the series now Ged isn’t going to be a character in them and Lebannan might not either. I would highly recommend the original trilogy to all especially those looking to get into “traditional” fantasy.
Buy it here:
Paperback/Hardcover: amazon.co.uk amazon.com
Kindle Edition: amazon.com
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