The Other Wind (The Earthsea Cycle, Book 6) | 
 enlarge | Author: Ursula K. Leguin
Publisher: Ace
Category: Book
List Price: $7.99
Buy New: $3.45
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Avg. Customer Rating:  61 reviews
Sales Rank: 37299
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 224
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 6.4 x 4.2 x 0.7
ISBN: 044101125X
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9780441011254
ASIN: 044101125X
Publication Date: September 30, 2003
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Amazon.com's Best of 2001
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
Book Description
THE NEW EARTHSEA NOVEL--NOW IN MASS MARKET
World Fantasy Award Winner--Best Novel
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| Customer Reviews: Read 56 more reviews...
 Not my cup of tea March 19, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
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.
This novel didn't have a plot so much as a theme, and LeGuin used some familiar and some new characters to explore that theme. If that's the kind of book you like, then you'll probably love "The Other Wind". However, I read fiction (and fantasy in particular) for engaging and thrilling stories. That type of story was lacking here.
I still think LeGuin is very talented, but as she has matured as a writer she now seems to prefer writing a type of book that I do not prefer to read.
Lovely language - barren story February 21, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Le Guin has remade the world of Earthsea into 'Land of the Suicides.'
In this story, she mythologizes about the nature of life and death. However, it seems she has NOT thought through the implications of what she's created (a mistake Segoy would never make).
In this tale, human life is an (apparently) endless series of reincarnations, with (apparently) NO reasons for whether you come back as a slug or a dragonlord. In such an existence, there is no reason for people to resist or avoid death: after all, everyone gets randomly recycled anyway.
Therefore, in Le Guin's realm, there is no reason for anyone to endure an unpleasant life. Just like any other death, suicide would deliver you up to the reincarnation roulette wheel; the body erodes into the earth and the spirit erodes into the wind. And, since it's human nature to avoid stress and difficulty, everyone in Le Guin's world who dislikes their life can just end it.
With this ontology, the Kargish lands (people who are already have the privilege of being recycled) would be in violent chaos. There's no reason to resist whatever greed or lust might tickle your fancy at any moment. Robbery? Why not. Rape? Who cares? Murder? No big deal---that shmuck is just going to get recycled like you. Is the law or government or warlord's army going to prevent anything? No---you can escape them like a ninja; just cut open your guts and fade into dust. Maybe next time YOU will come back as the warlord.
The only plausible explanation why the Earthsea peoples aren't in constant turmail is that they don't have the human nature we do. That is, they are NOT actually human characters. There's something different about them that exempts from impulses to violence---there is something else controlling them. And it brings up the question, what point is there for real humans (like you and me) to read about wooden puppets?
The saddest part is that Le Guin's prose is so delightful and elegant. In fact, it's so pleasing, most people will probably assume that what she proffers as a beautiful ending IS actually beautiful. Readers won't see past the glamour to realize the fraud. They'll savor the delicious spices and just swallow the carrion.
 It's just sad that this is the last book... November 12, 2007
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
Quite simply put, the Earthsea books are among my favorite stories.
This final (unless, as we're hoping, another one comes out...) book in the Earthsea series furthers the more poetic style LeGuin shifted to in Tehanu. The book concerns itself with a number of important philosophical themes but remains a full-fledged fantasy novel. Readers will learn more about the true nature of the land of the dead, of the dragons, of the origin and balance of magic, etc.
While it's sad to realize you may be reading the last installment in the Earthsea cycle, this is a beautiful and enthralling story that's definitely worth your time and money.
Another overrated and dreary sequel to an otherwise wonderful trilogy August 21, 2007
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
Although I'm a big fan of the first three books of the Earthsea series, I think that this latest book (as was the case with Tehanu), was both overrated and underwhelming. It weighed in at just over 200 pages, which is somewhat anemic, and the book plods along at a slow pace ... and is unfortunately somewhat dreary and predictable.
IMHO, this series should have remained the trilogy that the author first envisioned it as ... books 4 and 5 are just anemic tack-on stories that lack the magesty and wonder of the original three books. There's neither wonder, nor savor, in these latest offerings. I found book 5 to be somewhat more satisfying than book 4, but that's not saying much, because I didn't really care for book 4.
Kudos to the authoress for typing up a philosophical loose end regarding the concept of death and afterlife in her world ... but she could, and should, have covered the same material by combining books 4&5, pulling a plot comb through it, and getting the combined book down to 300 pages.
 Slow with an Incomprehensible ending April 10, 2007
2 out of 7 found this review helpful
Let me preface this with my Earthsea background. I read the first 3 books when I was young and loved them. Then did them again on audio a couple years ago and enjoyed the 1st and 3rd books but thought the 2nd one was slow. Then I read -Techanu- and thought it was more like an interlude with a plot added in at the end for good measure and seemed like an interlude. -Stories of Earthsea- was barely passable and now this -The Other Wind- left me with a final bad taste for a series I loved for a long time.
It was nice to hang out with some old friends (Ged, Tenar etc...) but at some point toward the end it started this downward spiral into incomprehensibility. There would be section I just didn't get but I'd just move on hoping that it would make sense later. It never did. When it ended I had no idea what had happened. Was it just too simple? I do see a lot of reviewers saying that the ending was predictable. I don't even know who was still alive at the end. It seemed like a bunch of snippets of action that never got resolved. Was it some type of literary experiment?
I'm not sure, but my final stance on Earthsea is: Read the first 3 books and pretend the others don't even exist.
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