Dan'l answers “Can I read this first?”

Brett asked this question about Tehanu (Earthsea Cycle, #4):

Can I read this first?

Dan'l This is absolutely not the place to begin. That said, if you start here and are left wondering what it's about, you really will need to go back to lea…moreThis is absolutely not the place to begin. That said, if you start here and are left wondering what it's about, you really will need to go back to learn who Ged and Tenar are, in A Wizard of Earthsea and The Tombs of Atuan, and then read The Farthest Shore to learn what Ged has done with the power he had.

And then, to learn why things in Earthsea are as they are and not otherwise, follow up with Tales of Earthsea. What becomes of Therru - and Tenar, and Ged, and all the Archipelago and the Reaches and the Kargad Lands, one can finish with The Other Wind.

But Tehanu is by far the hardest, least comforting, most disturbing book in all the Earthsea cycle. and I find it as difficult to imagine as a stand-alone as the second act of a three-act play. (less)

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