Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

The Farthest Shore (Earthsea Cycle #3)

4.07 of 5 stars 4.07 · rating details · 34,129 ratings · 479 reviews

Darkness threatens to overtake Earthsea. As the world and its wizards are losing their magic, Ged -- powerful Archmage, wizard, and dragonlord -- embarks on a sailing journey with highborn young prince, Arren. They travel far beyond the realm of death to discover the cause of these evil disturbances and to restore magic to a land desperately thirsty for it.

Mass Market Paperback, 259 pages

Published September 1st 2001 by Simon Pulse (first published 1972)

more details... edit details

Get a copy:

More…

Friend Reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

Lists with This Book

This book is not yet featured on Listopia. Add this book to your favorite list »

Community Reviews

(showing 1-30 of 3,000)

filter | sort: default (?) | rating details

Feb 01, 2011 Jeanette rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: all-fiction, fantasy, young-adult-books, four-star-fiction

The Farthest Shore was written for tweens and teens, so if you just want a good fantasy full of adventure and daring and DRAGONS (the best part!), ignore all of the following and just enjoy.

This is a story the meaning of which will derive from the beliefs of the individual reader. Had I read it when I still held spiritual beliefs, I would doubtless have fit the story into a framework of religious allegory and symbolism. As I am now comfortable in my unbelief, I focused on the more concrete them...more The Farthest Shore was written for tweens and teens, so if you just want a good fantasy full of adventure and daring and DRAGONS (the best part!), ignore all of the following and just enjoy.

This is a story the meaning of which will derive from the beliefs of the individual reader. Had I read it when I still held spiritual beliefs, I would doubtless have fit the story into a framework of religious allegory and symbolism. As I am now comfortable in my unbelief, I focused on the more concrete themes of right use of power and man's fear of death.

The plot headed off in directions I was not expecting, so I'll preserve the suspense for future readers and not reveal many specifics. Briefly, Sparrowhawk (Ged) is now the Archmage on the Isle of Roke. He sets off on a journey with Prince Arren to visit places in Earthsea where the magic is dying. They don't know exactly what they're seeking as they travel. They only hope to discover why the spells are not working, and to restore the Balance before it's too late.

Sparrowhawk is a wise leader who does not squander his power. Prince Arren wonders why the Archmage doesn't use magic more often to make life easier for himself. Arren learns that power is not something to be used just because you have it. It must be carefully guarded and nurtured so it will be at full strength when it's most needed. With power comes responsibility. Sparrowhawk saves his power so it will be available when he calls it forth to serve all of Earthsea, rather than using it for his own benefit.

The second thread I found running throughout the story was that of the universal fear of death. Humans cannot get their minds around the idea of future non-existence. They will strike any bargain, embrace any belief system, if it will allow them to maintain the illusion of some sort of immortality. I think it's a consequence of evolution to higher thought capabilities. We're able to project our minds forward to our own death, but not beyond. I'm already treading on the border of spoiler territory, so I'll go no further. It's instructive, though, to follow that theme through to the end.

I enjoyed this one more than The Tombs of Atuan because it has a lot more action and excitement. Tombs made me a little claustrophobic with so much of it taking place underground. I get the symbolism, but I prefer the aboveground journeys of Books 1 and 3.

(less)

5 likes · like · see review

Jun 23, 2007 Jerzy rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

As usual with Le Guin's books, the flow of the plot is not the strong point. It's more about the sum of experiences and discussions that the characters have, if that makes any sense. So although this one has a more hackneyed plot than any other book of hers I've read, there are (as usual) quite a few really nice moments and deep insights. She spins out some more thoughts about balance and equilibrium, continuing the conversation from A Wizard of Earthsea. Here, Earthsea is being overrun by greyn...more As usual with Le Guin's books, the flow of the plot is not the strong point. It's more about the sum of experiences and discussions that the characters have, if that makes any sense. So although this one has a more hackneyed plot than any other book of hers I've read, there are (as usual) quite a few really nice moments and deep insights. She spins out some more thoughts about balance and equilibrium, continuing the conversation from A Wizard of Earthsea. Here, Earthsea is being overrun by greyness and utter lack of joy or courage or conviction. Sparrowhawk goes out to find the problem, but he's getting old, so naturally the philosophical bits tend to deal with balancing life and death, finding a successor to carry on the fight, knowing the value of your own life, etc.

In particular, I liked some things she said about life and death and rebirth, seeming to imply that the reason we value and enjoy life is that we know our time will run out and we will die. If we were immortal, would we really say, "Ah, now I can finally have time to do all those things I should do and the things I've wanted to do"? I worry that I would instead say, "Ah, now I don't have to feel guilty about sitting on the couch reading trashy fantasy novels all day because I know that I'll have all the time in the world to do everything I want to do... later." And then perhaps I'd sink into greyness and never do anything interesting again. Knowledge of our mortality (and, for that matter, deadlines in general) is what keeps us moving, acting, living.

Of course, that's not the whole story. I know that my parents left Communist Poland because greyness can also arise from a system with no outlets for individual passion and ambition (beyond pandering to the rulers). If you'll get rewarded the same no matter how hard you work, there's no reason to work hard. This'll kill any desire to take pride in your work, without which nothing good can really be done. Le Guin points this out as well: "For discipline is the channel in which our acts run strong and deep; where there is no direction, the deeds of men run shallow and wander and are wasted."

Sure, I'm reading into it things that perhaps she didn't explicitly mean. But in that case, the fact that it got me thinking makes it a pretty good book, doesn't it?(less)

6 likes · like · see review

Nov 27, 2012 Kyle Muntz rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

this book is like a dream-journey, intensely imaginative and surprisingly contemplative and philosophical, especially in the conversations between ged and arren. at the same time, while i think it was probably the best book so far, a few problems with the series are becoming more noticeable. in particular the characterization is shallower than it could have been, the pace is a little too fast--not to mention i think ged would have been a better pov character than arren. still, this series is rea...more

1 like · like · see review

Mar 12, 2013 Dan rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: own-it

Good story, bad prose.

When I was in high school, I read an Ursula K. Le Guin story in my Science Fiction Literature class. I found it to be difficult to read. I chalked that up to being young and a relatively inexperienced reader. I saw this book at a library book sale and picked it up to give it a try.

I discovered that being young an inexperienced had nothing to do with her stories being hard to read. She uses peculiar word order that confuses the meaning, missing or extra commas, excessive adv...more Good story, bad prose.

When I was in high school, I read an Ursula K. Le Guin story in my Science Fiction Literature class. I found it to be difficult to read. I chalked that up to being young and a relatively inexperienced reader. I saw this book at a library book sale and picked it up to give it a try.

I discovered that being young an inexperienced had nothing to do with her stories being hard to read. She uses peculiar word order that confuses the meaning, missing or extra commas, excessive adverbial phrases, and run-on sentences. Here are some examples from this book.

"As evening came on serried lines of clouds rose from the west, borne on great winds from the sea, and burnt fiery before the sun, reddening it as it sank."

Wow! Put something like that in an English paper and see what your teacher has to say.

"The stillness of the earth was strange to them when they had beached Lookfar and walked after so long on solid ground."

What she is saying here is that it felt strange to walk on solid ground after so long at sea. I've felt that myself. Her wording to me sounds like they had walked a long time on solid ground, which is not the case. Maybe it is just me. It could easily be fixed with some commas ("walked, after so long, on solid ground") or a change in word order ("walked on solid ground after so long").

"Though he spoke in the language of the Making, yet Arren understood, at last, as all who ear that invocation must understand, for it has power over all......."

Besides being a run-on sentence, "Though" and "yet" are redundant. Having both made me pause and think "What is she trying to say?"

I liked the story. It would be very captivating if not for the prose. I'm not sure if I will read the rest of the series, or any other Ursula K. Le Guin stories. Trying to figure out what she is saying slows me down and keeps me from really getting into the story. But then I am a fan of descriptive but efficient prose.

If you have an opinion on this, please comment on this review. I would love to hear your view.(less)

1 like · like · see review

Sep 20, 2007 Cristen rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: top-scores, classics

When I picked up this series I never thought I'd be learning valuable life lessons from it. NEVER. But the author touches on some interesting subjects, like life and death and sacrifice. It's not as kid friendly as the first two. But still a well written and thought provoking story.

"Death and life are the same thing - like the two sides of my hand, the palm and the back. And still the palm and the back are not the same... They can be neither seperated, nor mixed."

"...when we crave power over li...more

1 like · like · see review

Apr 20, 2013 Sam King rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The Wizard of Earthsea series is heavily influenced by nonwestern philosophy, so I wasn't expecting to see an existentialist novel by Le Guin. I enjoyed it.

The antagonist in this novel is the unwillingness of people to accept death. This also causes them to lose their passions in life: "To refuse death is to refuse life... You will die. You will not live forever. Nor will any man nor anything. Nothing is immortal. But only to us is it given to know that we must die. And that is a great gift: the...more

like · see review

Apr 04, 2013 Jim Collins rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The Farthest Shore was an enjoyable read, but it was the least strong of the three original Earthsea books. It had an episodic quality that some other fantasy novels I've read have.

Chapter Y: Characters go to a place X that has some quality. Characters learn about themselves and their mission. Characters leave.
Chapter Y+1: Characters are traveling to a new place, Z, pondering on what they learned at X.
Chapter Y+2: Characters arrive at place Z, which has different qualities than X. Characters lea...more

like · see review

Dec 05, 2012 Smcleish rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: owned

Originally published on my blog here in July 2001.

The third, and for many years, final, volume of le Guin's Earthsea series is again a bleak novel. It is more explicitly about death than the earlier two - that is what the title refers to - though it is treated in a less personal way here and so The Farthest Shore may be a novel suitable for younger children than The Tombs of Atuan.

Sparrowhawk is now an old man by Earthsea standards (about fifty), and is Archmage of the wizard's isle of Roke. The...more

like · see review

Sep 28, 2012 Erik rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: of-great-delight, scififantasy

Attempting to describe a great book is a bit like attempting to describe the beauty of a sunrise: It was red and stuff was glowing orange and yellow. It just doesn't translate. Which is an interesting thing to my mind because OF COURSE a sunset doesn't translate. It's photons and light beams and refraction and fire and energy, no mere words. But shouldn't a book? It IS mere words.

But it's not. It's the fatigue you feel at the end of a work day when you recline in your favorite chair and open the...more Attempting to describe a great book is a bit like attempting to describe the beauty of a sunrise: It was red and stuff was glowing orange and yellow. It just doesn't translate. Which is an interesting thing to my mind because OF COURSE a sunset doesn't translate. It's photons and light beams and refraction and fire and energy, no mere words. But shouldn't a book? It IS mere words.

But it's not. It's the fatigue you feel at the end of a work day when you recline in your favorite chair and open the book to the furthest dog-ear. Or the noise of skateboarder grinding on a nearby rail in your favorite park and your annoyance at the distraction. It's the slow imperceptible slanting of light through window blinds as you read the day away. It is the memories that the book invokes. It is the new ideas that the book inspires.

This is not true of all books. Some books are mere words. There are characters and conflicts and the occasional witty metaphor and it all resolves and the person who finishes reading this book is the same person who started it.

The Farthest Shore is not such a book. It tells the superificial story about Sparrowhawk - now Archmage of Roke - and a young prince, Arren, as they travel about earthsea in an attempt to figure out why magic is going extinct. This story has everything you could hope for in a fantasy. There's dragons. Huts made of dragon bone. There's an exotic peoples, the People of the Open Sea, who live on giant rafts. There's a land of death into which our heroes must travel. There's thieves and scoundrels and slavers and a corrupt powerful mage.

But none of those are why I give this book five stars. They had to be there to earn the five stars, yes, but they are like the wrapping paper on a present. The presentation matters, it does, but the core fulfills. And the core of The Farthest Shore is strong. Told from Arren's point of view, this is a bildungsroman (that's a fancy word for coming-of-age). It talks about a life of being vs. a life of doing whether suggesting that either is the better. It confronts evil vs good and speaks of it in fresh language, not as yin and yang, nor as black and white. Arren says: "I see why you say that only men do evil, I think. Even sharks are innocent; they kill because they must.”

Ged responds: “That is why nothing else can resist us. Only one thing in the world can resist an evil-hearted man. And that is another man. In our shame is our glory. Only our spirit, which is capable of evil, is capable of overcoming it."

It confronts, too, the strangeness of immortality, the inherent despair of believing or needing an afterlife. Such a belief is not forced upon you: this is not a pedantic tale. But it is there, if you care to see it. The great evil of this book is the result of people thirsting after eternal life. But as Ged says: "How can one appreciate life without death?" Indeed, implicit in the idea of a heavenly afterlife, is the notion that this life, our life here on earth, needs something more to be complete. But I do not think that is so. I believe when I live, I am living, and when I die that I shall be dead, and that is good enough for me.

It is this complexity - combined the grandness of adventure - that leads me to suggest that this one of my very favorite books. Read it?(less)

1 like · like · see review

Aug 08, 2012 Davis rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

After the complete unexpectedness of Tombs of Atuan, I expected this book to be quite different also. It's not; the story hits some of the same points as the first book, and suffers a little for it. Arren, the main character, wasn't as interesting, and Ged really takes the spotlight away a little too much. Ged tries to relive his past by going on a journey that he should never have left on, and Le Guin feels like she's doing the same thing with the story as a whole. Also, Ged talks philosophy a...more

like · see review

Aug 11, 2011 "Mhd Haikal" rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Waktu itu jam 2 pagi ketika menyelesaikan membaca buku ini... Sambil menarik nafas panjang dan menyeluarkannya lagi, terucap kata 'nikmat'. Yah itulah kesan ketika akhir membaca buku ini. Selain bertamasya ke dunia earthsea, kita seperti mendapatkan sesuatu yang baru.

Mungkin beberapa orang lebih suka buku pertama daripada buku ini. Tetapi saya pribadi lebih menyukai buku ketiga. Indah, luas, segar dan detil. seperti menerima hidangan di restoran berbintang.

Dimulai ketika beberapa penyihir di dae...more

1 like · like · see review

May 20, 2011 Cyndy Aleo rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, young-adult

My husband was absolutely convinced after we saw the atrocious Earthsea miniseries on the SciFi Channel that I needed to read all of Ursula LeGuin's Earthsea Cycle books for myself. I was skeptical after the sheer awfulness of the miniseries, but after completing the first two novels in the Cycle (A Wizard of Earthsea and The Tombs of Atuan), I was beyond eager to get to the original conclusion of the Earthsea Cycle (which has since been added to): The Farthest Shore.

::: Ged and Arren Hit the Ro...more My husband was absolutely convinced after we saw the atrocious Earthsea miniseries on the SciFi Channel that I needed to read all of Ursula LeGuin's Earthsea Cycle books for myself. I was skeptical after the sheer awfulness of the miniseries, but after completing the first two novels in the Cycle (A Wizard of Earthsea and The Tombs of Atuan), I was beyond eager to get to the original conclusion of the Earthsea Cycle (which has since been added to): The Farthest Shore.

::: Ged and Arren Hit the Road, er, Sea :::

The Farthest Shore begins back with the figure who seems most central to LeGuin's Earthsea: the wizard Ged, who we find is now Archmage, the chief wizard and head of the school for wizards on the Isle of Roke. A visitor has arrived: Arren, the Prince of Enlad, who was sent by his father with a report that magic is gone from many of the lands surrounding Roke, with no explanation. Ged and the other Masters of Roke meet to determine what the best course of action might be, but Ged has already made up his mind; he will take Arren and go out to seek what is causing the lack of magic.

Arren has offered his services to Ged in whatever way they can be used, and seems to hope that there might be some talent he has, as he is a descendant of one of the most famous mages in history. Ged, however, seems to have other plans, and he and Arren take his boat, the Lookfar (which played a prominent role in A Wizard of Earthsea) sailing ever farther away from Roke. Each stop finds sorcerers who have lost their magic, people who have turned to drugs, and despair everywhere they go.

Eventually, Arren and Ged meet up with a raft people, who live their entire lives on rafts in the middle of the ocean. It is there that the dragon Orm Ebbar enlists Ged's help with the evil he is searching for, and Ged and Arren set off to see if they can somehow restore magic to Earthsea.

::: It's Got a Quest, an Old Hero, a Young "Apprentice"... :::

One of the things that makes LeGuin so good at what she does is that she can take a common story idea and still find a way to make it fresh and interesting. While sci-fi and fantasy fans will recognize similar plotlines in her novels to other stories, the world of Earthsea and LeGuin's treatment of it are unique.

LeGuin uses the wise wizard/untried prince relationship to its advantage, leaving the reader wondering what possible reason Ged could have for bringing Arren along with him on this quest. From their first meeting on Roke, Arren develops a sort of hero worship of Ged. When they are attacked after being sold out by a former sorcerer, Arren's first thought it to grab their money and run, drawing the intruders after him to divert them from Ged. Even Ged's introspective silences when the two are on the Lookfar (which brings to mind the long stints at sea in A Wizard of Earthsea) do nothing to dissuade Arren's adoration.

If I found one fault with The Farthest Shore, it's that LeGuin wasn't quite as crafty with some of her plot developments as I think she was trying to be. It was apparent fairly early on what Arren's eventual role was going to be, even if the final resolution of the loss of magic was less obvious.

The Farthest Shore had everything that fans of the Earthsea Cycle could have wanted in an ending, resolving most of the situations from the first two novels, while still leaving enough room for the series to continue, which LeGuin did with Tehanu and The Other Wind.

This review previously published at Epinions.com: http://www.epinions.com/review/The_Fa...
(less)

like · see review

May 16, 2011 J. Trott rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

People like to talk about "The Golden Compass" as the athiestic answer to C. S. Lewis' Narnia series. However Ursula Le Guin's series has a far better claim to this title. In these books, the most trenchant critiques of religion, and the best arguments for humanism are presented. In the first book, the greatest enemy is within the protagonist, who must name his darkest self in order to overcome. Old powers are present throughout, and fear is their power. In the second book we see this replayed,...more People like to talk about "The Golden Compass" as the athiestic answer to C. S. Lewis' Narnia series. However Ursula Le Guin's series has a far better claim to this title. In these books, the most trenchant critiques of religion, and the best arguments for humanism are presented. In the first book, the greatest enemy is within the protagonist, who must name his darkest self in order to overcome. Old powers are present throughout, and fear is their power. In the second book we see this replayed, with religion being the worship of darkness and fear. Throughout this, the wizards power comes from knowing names. This corresponds to science.

But it is the final book that most tellingly seeks to express problems that Le Guin identifies with religion. In the book, people lose their pleasure in life as their longing grows to gain eternal life. The protagonist has to argue back his friends from the abyss of leaving life, and sanity, in their pursuit of eternal life, and fight with the one who makes these promises. It is a gripping book, in which simple sentences are chunked into pictures. In one particularly memorable passage, the wizard of Earthsea visits a city where addictions are rampant, greed has overcome, and chaos rules everything. For the student of the modern city, the description rings true. Visit Atlantic City. Or don't and read the book.

Anyways, I had to think through the thematic implications of this book. It is true for a long time that faith in an afterlife has made many Christians into people who do not believe in the goodness of this one. Examples are rampant, but I find the Shakers, with the banning of sex, particularly apt. Recent readings of Paul point out that this is not the intention of the early church, that the redemption, not the chucking, of this creation is what it's all about. Jesus isn't raised as a spirit, he's a body. To quote Bryan Appleyard interviewing Marilynne "Robinson, sitting in a “porch swing”, a hanging sofa, swings continuously for two hours. The sounds, the swinging and the damp, dim light make me feel we have been sitting here for ever. In a way, in Robinson’s faith, we have, for here is heaven. “In Revelations, what is promised is a new heaven and a new earth.. .” she says, “which sort of suggests what we have here.. . I would not ask for more. It’s a vastly more moving idea to me than the idea of pearly gates. I mean, this” - she sweeps her hand in a gesture that takes in the house and the deep green, soaking garden - “would be heaven enough for me.”"

Therefore, I can read this as an honest critique of what faith often is, but not of what it should be.

I wish that this trilogy was not over. I would put this in the top five fantasy series I have read. (less)

3 likes · like · see review

Apr 05, 2011 Aaron rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, re_read, young_adult

This book is a great return to the high seas questing and discovery that I loved so much about the first book.

Set even further into Ged's life, the book again takes another as its main character, shifting the perspective to a young prince who joins Ged on his quest to find the source of a great evil. The novel has more to discover than either of the other two, and it features more of the dragons that inhabit Earthsea. I appreciate these dragons; like many, they are old, wise, and strong in magic...more

like · see review

Mar 13, 2011 Benjamin added it · review of another edition

Shelves: audiobook

Perhaps as good as the first two in the Earthsea cycle, The Farthest Shore seems to me to be too much of a retread thematically, and only slightly necessary for the way it completes the issue of the reunification of the archipelago into a single kingdom under a wise king, an issue which has come up in the first two books.

See, in this book, old Ged is now mentor to a kid, which is kind of what he does in the second book; and he faces a sorcerer who tears open a hole between the lands of the livin...more

like · see review

Jan 23, 2011 Jeremy rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A thinly veiled metaphor for criticism on drug culture, perhaps? The high fantasy story of a world that has turned it's back on real "magic" and favors escape into an opium induced trance. Except in this story the "nameless ones" return, perhaps, as the antagonist... an old mage who is luring people to a stead of being undead on the isle of Selidor.

Perhaps one of the most enjoyable elements of this book, for me, was the "romantic" relationship between Ged, the archmage, and his boy Arren, who "f...more

1 like · like · see review

Oct 19, 2010 Bryn rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

In the third of Ursula Le Guinn's Earthsea books, Sparrowhawk the mage is a much older, wiser man. We see him through the eyes of Arren - a Prince making the jouney from boy to man, and devoted to the mage. Magic is dying, and the two set out to discover what has gone wrong and try and save the world.

It's not just the magic being lost - all the joy, skill and art is leaving the world. Creativity, hope and inspiraiton are stripped away. I could not help but read this book and see parallels with m...more

3 likes · like · see review

Mar 28, 2010 Surreysmum rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 1981, fantasy-fiction

[These notes were made in 1981:]. The young king-to-be and the old wizard set out for the end of the world to conquer the forces of darkness - not death, but the denial of death. It has everything - the initiation of the young man, a trip to the underworld, dragons, and a primal struggle between the strongest representative of Good and strongest of Evil. And the young man comes back from his ordeal ready to benefit the world. The whole thing would make Campbell's heart beat with delight. But alt...more

like · see review

Jan 10, 2010 Christine rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: fans of fantasy, wizards, philosophical fiction, Earthsea, Ursula Le Guin

Shelves: fiction, scifi-fantasy, young-adult

Not as emotionally riveting as "Tombs of Atuan," but better written than both "Tombs" and "Wizard of Earthsea." It's clear Le Guin has fully mastered writing as a craft by this book. The reader is plunged into the action immediately, and the pacing and plotting in the latter half of the book are handled perfectly. However, the new protagonist, Arren, though likeable and well-characterized, is just not as interesting as Tenar and Ged were. Which I hate to say, because I love Arren when he reappea...more

1 like · like · see review

Jul 14, 2009 Nikki rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy, dragons, favourites

When I first read Earthsea, this was probably my least favourite book. Probably because throughout it the world I've started to love is dying and in pain. The pain isn't just the characters, it's the whole world; it's less a personal journey and of significance for the whole of the world. I mean, it wasn't like a Ged-gebbeth wasn't a big threat to the world, or finding the ring of Erreth-Akbe wasn't important, but the story in this world is all about the failing of the world -- not a single thin...more

2 likes · like · see review

Sep 18, 2012 Apatt rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

“I would not ask a sick man to run a race,” said Sparrowhawk, “nor lay a stone on an overburdened back.” It was not clear whether he spoke of himself or of the world at large. Always his answers were grudging, hard to understand. There, thought Arren, lay the very heart of wizardry: to hint at mighty meanings while saying nothing at all, and to make doing nothing at all seem the very crown of wisdom."

There are surely better passages to quote than the above to encapsulate the meaning or theme of...more

“I would not ask a sick man to run a race,” said Sparrowhawk, “nor lay a stone on an overburdened back.” It was not clear whether he spoke of himself or of the world at large. Always his answers were grudging, hard to understand. There, thought Arren, lay the very heart of wizardry: to hint at mighty meanings while saying nothing at all, and to make doing nothing at all seem the very crown of wisdom."

There are surely better passages to quote than the above to encapsulate the meaning or theme of this book but I think it's a fine example of Le Guin's beautiful writing and her ever-present wit. The Farthest Shore is the longest of the original Earthsea Trilogy but still a mere pamphlet by today's standard for fantasy books. It takes place seventeen years after events of The Tombs of Atuan, and the series hero Ged (AKA Sparrowhawk) is now old, and occupies the lofty position of Archmage. The story basically concerns "a hole in the world" that is sucking life, love, magic, names and other essentials out of the world (this strangely reminds me of the runaway black hole David Brin's Earth that I am still in the middle of). It falls to Ged and his young princely companion Arren to investigate and put an end to Earthsea's first first global crisis before the entire world is devoured. That is the basic plot but but does not begin to cover the point of the novel.

I believe this is the most philosophical volume of the original trilogy (thereby excluding the subsequent volumes - #4 onward - which I have not read). One of the main themes is the balance between life and death and how one give rise to the other in a cyclical manner. The idea of immortality is frowned upon as it upsets this balance and makes life meaningless. Ged's old age is often contrasted with Arren's youth, and they represent how the old must makes sacrifices for the young. This book is the slowest paced of the Trilogy, most of it is focused on the arduous and harrowing journey of the two central characters. While Ged is front and centre of the story the narrative point-of-view is almost entirely from Arren's perspective, thereby underlining his importance in the scheme of things. The character Arren is similar to Tenar in the The Tombs of Atuan and Ged himself in A Wizard of Earthsea in that he starts off as a naive young lad and develops into a man of substance by the story's conclusion. It is interesting that Le Guin achieves dramatic effect without an epic climactic battle in the final stretch of the book, the "fights" such as they are start and end very quickly and almost dismissively. The drama is achieved through tension and consequences of actions and events. Dragons play a much more significant role in this book, and the world of Earthsea continues to develop wonderfully. Particualry notable are the raft-folks whose water based community may have inspired a similar culture in China Miéville's The Scar, another fantastic book.

The Farthest Shore is not as breezy as A Wizard of Earthsea, not as dark as The Tombs of Atuan, but more emotional and melancholic than both. The end of the book wraps up the story of Ged beautifully. Here is a character we followed from his youth as a gifted goat herder boy, to a confident young man in the second book and now a strong and wise leader of the mages. As I understand it Le Guin came back to write Tehanu, the fourth book is the series more than twenty years after the publication of this book. I have not read it yet but the consensus opinion seem to be unfavorable, apparently it has a much more adult theme. I will have to read for myself soon. In any case the first three books are some of the best fantasy I have ever read.(less)

3 likes · like · see review

Aug 17, 2011 vivliovision rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Ο νεαρός γιός του Πρίγκιπα των Ενλάδων, ο Άρεν, καταφθάνει στην νήσο Ροκ κομίζοντας στους εννέα θεματοφύλακες των μαγικών τεχνών που διδάσκουν εκεί την πανάρχαια τέχνη, δυσάρεστα νέα. Ο Γέροντας Αρχιμάγιστρος Γκεν, ο Κοσμήτορας της Σχολής, θα διακρίνει στο πρόσωπο του παιδιού κάτι βαθύ και ελπιδοφόρο· την πιθανότητα της εκπλήρωσης μιας παλιάς, αλλά όχι ξεχασμένης, υπόσχεσης. Οι δυο τους θα βγουν μαζί στο Αρχιπέλαγος της Γαιοθάλασσας αναζητώντας τη βαθιά πληγή στο μεδούλι ενός κόσμου, που δεν είν...more Ο νεαρός γιός του Πρίγκιπα των Ενλάδων, ο Άρεν, καταφθάνει στην νήσο Ροκ κομίζοντας στους εννέα θεματοφύλακες των μαγικών τεχνών που διδάσκουν εκεί την πανάρχαια τέχνη, δυσάρεστα νέα. Ο Γέροντας Αρχιμάγιστρος Γκεν, ο Κοσμήτορας της Σχολής, θα διακρίνει στο πρόσωπο του παιδιού κάτι βαθύ και ελπιδοφόρο· την πιθανότητα της εκπλήρωσης μιας παλιάς, αλλά όχι ξεχασμένης, υπόσχεσης. Οι δυο τους θα βγουν μαζί στο Αρχιπέλαγος της Γαιοθάλασσας αναζητώντας τη βαθιά πληγή στο μεδούλι ενός κόσμου, που δεν είναι πια γηραιός αλλά γηραλέος.

Καθοδόν θα συναντήσουν όλα όσα απεύχονταν.

Ανθρώπινα ράκη καθεύδουν μακάρια βουλιάζοντας στα μελανά απόνερα της αβελονίνης. Τα θολωμένα μάτια των πολλών αδυνατούν να ξεχωρίσουν πια το καθάριο γαλανό από το λασπερό γαλάζιο. Στις συντροφιές τους οι χωρικοί δυσπιστούν για ό,τι είχαν για να μην έρθουν αντιμέτωποι με ό,τι έχασαν. Οι γιορτές τους ρημάζουν νωρίς, γιατί οι τροβαδούροι χάνουν τα λόγια των τραγουδιών. Ορισμένοι επιχαίρουν, γιατί είναι δειλοί και δεν θέλουν ν’ ακούνε για ήρωες. Οι γνώριμες λέξεις, που έσφυζαν άλλοτε από δύναμη και ζωή, γυρνούν αξιοθρήνητες μέσα στα στόματα των ανθρώπων, ακατανόητες, άγνωστες, απογυμνωμένες νοήματος. Ακόμη και οι δράκοι, οι γιοι και οι κόρες του Σεγκόυ, που ποτέ τους δεν καταδέχθηκαν άλλη από την αρχαία λαλιά της δημιουργίας, μοιάζουν να έχουν καταδικασθεί στον βουβό τρόμο των ζώων.

Η ισορροπία ενός ολόκληρου κόσμου έχει διασαλευθεί κι έχει μετατραπεί σε διακύβευμα.

Μια γυναίκα θρηνεί: «Έχασα όλα τα πράγματα που ήξερα, όλες τις λέξεις και τα ονόματα. Βγήκαν στη σειρά σαν ιστοί αράχνης από τα μάτια και το στόμα μου. Υπάρχει μία τρύπα στον κόσμο και το φως διαρρέει απ’ αυτήν.» Ο νεαρός Άρεν αδυνατεί να καταλάβει την πλήρη σημασία των λόγων της, αλλά ο γέροντας Μάγιστρος θα του πει την αλήθεια με τρόπο: «Η πρόβλεψη της μοίρας και τα ερωτικά φίλτρα δεν είναι τα παίρνει κανείς στα σοβαρά, αλλά τις γριές γυναίκες αξίζει να τις ακούει κανείς με προσοχή.»

Η αλήθεια είναι πικρή σαν κινίνο, αλλά η Ursula K. Le Guin, με την σοφία που είχαν οι γιαγιάδες, πριν αποτρελαθούν από το Botox και τις ασκήσεις σουηδικής γυμναστικής, έχει επιλέξει σοφά να την λιώσει μέσα στo ζαχαρόνερο της φαντασιακής αφήγησης: άπαξ και το αντίκρισμα των λέξεων χαθεί, τίποτα δεν μπορεί να ‘χει πια σημασία.
(less)

like · see review

Jan 01, 2010 Kyle rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

From the back cover "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." ......I just don't get it. If you're looking for an escape, read the Earthsea books, but don't look for more.

I just never really believed any of the characters and I never feared for the ending. By about the first quarter of the book I KNEW that whats-his-name was going to win. No quest...more

1 like · like · see review

Aug 17, 2012 Jamie Johnston rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction

Compared to the first two Earthsea books, this was surprisingly close to standard-issue Tolkien's-coat-tails fantasy. There's a young adventuresome dude and a wise old magic dude. There's a quest. There's an evil enemy associated with darkness. There's world-healing prophecy-fulfilling monarchism.

If we were allowed half-stars I'd give it half a star less than I gave the two previous books, and mostly for that reason. But I can't honestly say I enjoyed it much less than the others -- perhaps beca...more

like · see review

Nov 15, 2011 Elisa rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy-and-sci-fi, young-adult

Kaukaisin ranta ilmestyi vuonna 1972 trilogian viimeisenä osana. Neljäs osa Tehanu ilmestyi vasta vuonna 1990. Tätä en aiemmin ollut tiennyt. Jos on nähnyt Goro Miyazakin Maameren tarinoihin pohjaavan animaatioelokuvan, niin tästä kolmannesta löytänee tähän mennessä eniten yhteyksiä siihen - joskin myös tulee huomaamaan, että leffassa on otettu vapauksia sekä juonen että hahmojen suhteen suht reippaasti. Kirjat ovat ehdottomasti lukemisen arvoisia, jos yhtään on jäänyt vaivaamaan elokuvan hahmoj...more

like · see review

Jan 30, 2013 RØB rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

AND, after I read THE TOMBS OF ATUAN I couldn't wait to just read this one, too. AND IT WAS COOL. Again, LeGuin has created a very detailed universe, and the things that happen there are endlessly interesting! Parts of this book (and TOMBS) were made into the animé movie TALES FROM EARTHSEA, which is pretty good in its own right. Certainly it's better (and truer to LeGuin's world) than that miniseries with X-Men dude and Danny Glover (though that was entertaining as well, perhaps for different r...more

like · see review

Jan 08, 2012 Vidi rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Bacalah buku ini ketika masih anak-anak, maka kita akan menemukan sebuah fantasi seru ala Neverending Story-nya Michael Ende. Penuh dengan sihir, perjalanan dan naga-naga.

Bacalah buku ini ketika dewasa, maka kita akan menemukan percakapan-percakapan penuh dengan alegori kehidupan.

Dualisme yang disajikan dalam buku ketiga ini adalah dualisme purba dalam pemikiran manusia. Kehidupan dan kematian.

“... Kematian dan Kehidupan merupakan hal yang sama – seperti dua sisi tangan, telapak dan punggungny...more

like · see review

Jun 07, 2013 Clorush rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy, fiction

For quite a while, I've spent my time in reading fantasy books. From The Lord of the Rings, Narnia, and Harry Potter, to Eragon, Percy Jackson, and Stardust. I have to say that Earthsea is really a wonderful addition to the world of fantasy. Though what makes Earthsea outstanding is not what I expected.

One thing that I can't believe is that this book is actually published in 1972, more than three decades ago, but is still in print today. As a matter of fact, my copy was from Simon Pulse, publish...more

1 like · like · see review

Feb 09, 2013 Savanna rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, favourites, reviewed

The Farthest Shore (the third book in Le Guin's Earthsea series) is more similar structurally to the first book, A Wizard of Earthsea, than it is to the second, The Tombs of Atuan. While it lacks the strong female character dimension of the latter, it shares the wonderfully descriptive yet understated style and the complex characters and institutions of the previous Earthsea books.

The narrative this time focuses on a new character, a prince called Arren with no talent for magic who like Tenar be...more

like · see review

Jul 31, 2010 Cat rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A beautiful, mournful book about mortality, power, and humility. Le Guin returns to her themes of cyclicality and balance, and at first, I thought I would like this book less because its ecological and social messages are initially very heavy-handed: magic is dying out of the word, while political strife, drug abuse, chaotic markets, and cultural ignorance grow strong. It felt like The Neverending Story, and there was even a boy, Arren, who arrives, meeting the old mage Ged, seeking wonder throu...more A beautiful, mournful book about mortality, power, and humility. Le Guin returns to her themes of cyclicality and balance, and at first, I thought I would like this book less because its ecological and social messages are initially very heavy-handed: magic is dying out of the word, while political strife, drug abuse, chaotic markets, and cultural ignorance grow strong. It felt like The Neverending Story, and there was even a boy, Arren, who arrives, meeting the old mage Ged, seeking wonder through doubt, feeling love and also rebellion. But even though I felt like some of Le Guin's allegory for contemporary life and the loss of magic, artisanship, and fealty to all living things was heavy-handed, her mastery of setting -- all the seascapes and shadowy horizons -- infuse every scene with the weight (not in a bad way) of the metaphysical questions she handles so poignantly.

Le Guin has such a haunting, beautiful sense of the sea and seascapes. One of the special treats of this book was a brief respite for healing among the Children of the Sea who live on rafts following the grey whales. Lyrical and exhilarating, which was necessary because much of this book follows the threat of death, the sadness of mortality, and its necessity. Le Guin's descriptions of the fear of death cut close to the bone; in her descriptions, I could feel certain nightmares I've had and moments in the middle of the night when I've woken up with the real knowledge that I too will someday die.

Her descriptions of dragons are concrete, majestic, otherworldly, and feline. She uses the dragons as the symbols of a deeper elemental sacredness that has to be held in awe. This book feels more desperate than the two earlier Earthsea books about the costs of man misusing power and mistaking his power in the world for a necessary status on top of the pyramid of beings. It shared an urgency and nightmarish, apocalyptic feel with The Lathe of Heaven. When she describes the zombie-like dead, I was reminded of His Dark Materials books; I wonder if Pullman has read Le Guin.

There are more Tolkeinian elements to this book than the other Earthsea books. Solpi is reminiscent of Gollum, while Arren's dynamic with Ged is reminiscent of Sam and Frodo. (In other sections of the book, Arren's flirtation with bitterness and despair also feels like Frodo wearing the ring.) But while you can feel this influence, it doesn't impair the book.

A beautiful, melancholy, yet somehow redemptive book about death and its place in the Balance.(less)

like · see review

« previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 … 99 100 next »

new topic
Discuss This Book

topics	posts	views	last activity
Can I just read this one?	9	41	Jan 01, 2013 02:01pm

combine
Other Editions (69)

More editions...

Genres

Fantasy

2,038 users

Young Adult

214 users

Science Fiction Fantasy

100 users

Science Fiction

54 users

Fantasy > High Fantasy

47 users

Fantasy > Magic

41 users

Classics

38 users

Adventure

32 users

Speculative Fiction

25 users

Fantasy > Epic Fantasy

25 users

See top shelves...

Readers also enjoyed similar books

About Ursula K. Le Guin

As of 2011, Ursula K. Le Guin has published twenty-one novels, eleven volumes of short stories, four collections of essays, twelve books for children, six volumes of poetry and four of translation, and has received many awards: Hugo, Nebula, National Book Award, PEN-Malamud, etc. Her recent publications include the novel Lavinia, an essay collection, Cheek by Jowl, and The Wild Girls. Forthcoming...more As of 2011, Ursula K. Le Guin has published twenty-one novels, eleven volumes of short stories, four collections of essays, twelve books for children, six volumes of poetry and four of translation, and has received many awards: Hugo, Nebula, National Book Award, PEN-Malamud, etc. Her recent publications include the novel Lavinia, an essay collection, Cheek by Jowl, and The Wild Girls. Forthcoming in 2012, Finding My Elegy, New and Selected Poems. She lives in Portland, Oregon.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ούρσουλα Λε Γκεν (Ursula Kroeber Le Guin, Berkeley California, 21 Οκτωβρίου 1929 - ) Πολυγραφότατη, πολυδιάστατη και πολυβραβευμένη Αμερικανίδα ποιήτρια και συγγραφέας του χώρου της «Επιστημονικής Φαντασίας» αλλά και των παιδικών διηγημάτων.

ΠΡΩΤΑ ΧΡΟΝΙΑ
Γεννήθηκε στο Μπέρκλεϋ της Καλιφόρνιας από τον ανθρωπολόγο Άλφρεντ Κρέμπερ (Alfred L. Kroeber) και την συγγραφέα Θεοδώρα Κρέμπερ (Theodora Covel BrownKracaw Kroeber), σπούδασε στο «Radcliffe College» και εν συνεχεία Φιλολογία (γαλλική και ιταλική αναγεννησιακή λογοτεχνία) στο «Πανεπιστήμιο Columbia». Το 1953 παντρεύτηκε στην Γαλλία τον ιστορικό Σαρλ Λε Γκεν (Charles A. Le Guin), που έγινε καθηγητής Γαλλικής Ιστορίας στο «Portland State College» του Όρεγκον και απέκτησε μαζί του 3 παιδιά.

«ΕΠΙΣΤΗΜΟΝΙΚΗ» ΚΑΙ «ΜΕΣΑΙΩΝΙΚΗ» ΦΑΝΤΑΣΙΑ
Από τα μέσα της δεκαετίας του 1960 συνέγραψε περισσότερα από 100 διηγήματα (που εκδόθηκαν σε 8 τόμους), 3 συλλογές δοκιμίων, 5 ποιητικές συλλογές, 19 νουβέλες και 13 παιδικά βιβλία, αλλά είναι περισσότερο αναγνωρισμένη για τα έργα της στον τομέα της «Επιστημονικής» και «Μεσαιωνικής» Φαντασίας, όπου συγκαταλέγεται ανάμεσα στους σημαντικότερους σύγχρονους δημιουργούς (πιο γνωστά στην Ελλάδα είναι τα βιβλία της «Ο Αναρχικός των Δύο Κόσμων», Αθήνα, 1992 και «Το Αριστερό Χέρι του Σκοταδιού», Αθήνα, 1990, 1994). Το 1990 αιφνιδίασε το αναγνωστικό κοινό της όταν πρόσθεσε δίχως προειδοποίηση στην έως τότε τριλογία του «μαγικού» «κύκλου της Γαιοθάλασσας» («A Wizard of Earthsea», «The Tombs of Atuan» και «The FarthestShore», 1968 - 1972) το σκληρό «Τεχανού», για το οποίο έλαβε το Βραβείο Nebula.(less)

More about Ursula K. Le Guin...

Books by Ursula K. Le Guin

A Wizard of Earthsea (Earthsea Cycle, #1)

More…

Share This Book

Facebook Twitter Your website

Trivia About The Farthest Shore

3 trivia questions

More quizzes & trivia...

Quotes from The Farthest Shore

“I do not care what comes after; I have seen the dragons on the wind of morning.” — 85 people liked it

“This is. And thou art. There is no safety. There is no end. The word must be heard in silence. There must be darkness to see the stars. The dance is always danced above the hollow place, above the terrible abyss.” — 77 people liked it

More quotes…

title link	preview: The Farthest Shore
avg rating	preview: The Farthest Shore Goodreads rating: 4.07 (34129 ratings)
small image	preview: click here [close]
med image	preview: click here [close]
BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/776572.The_Farthest_Shore?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1303133948l/776572.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/776572.The_Farthest_Shore?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]The Farthest Shore by Ursula K. Le Guin[/url]

The Farthest Shore (Earthsea Cycle #3)

Friend Reviews

Community Reviews

Share This Book

Share This Book on Your Website