Bringing in a Cold Front.. (The Other Wind - Ursula K. Le Guin)

Member Name: Mitnik

Product:	The Other Wind - Ursula K. Le Guin
Date:	14/02/03 (98 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: it`s hard to think of any..

Disadvantages: The Series should have been laid to rest., A poor excuse for a poor book.

Firstly before I do anything else I`d like to take a few seconds to confuse you beyond belief, I`ll then spend the rest of the review explaining to you why it was good that you got confused and that you should eternally be gratefull for the gift I have bestowed upon you, and in that way you can truly experience this Ursula K. Le Guin offering without having to stray from the comforting glow of your computer monitor..

Anyways let us begin, Firstly To the Isle of Gont, the rustic retreat of the former Archmage Ged, comes Alder, a village sorceror who is afflicted by haunting dreams of his dead wife. Like all the dead in the world of Earthsea, his wife's soul is consigned to the desolate Dry Land, beyond that low wall of dark stones, to which only a Mage may safely travel... It isn't just his wife, however, who is haunting Alder. The dead en masse seem eager for his attention, and still more eager to get out of the Dry Land for good, infact they`ve become so desperate to leave they place they are actually attempting to dismantle the wall that contains them.

And so that brings us to this Books Quest, Alder had original been sent to seek Ged by the mages of the Isle of Roke, Ged in turn sends him to the Great Isle of Havnor, where the (not so young anymore) King Lebannen, is fending off both an unexpected invasion of dragons and the attentions of an unlooked for and unwanted potential bride with the help of Ged's wife, Tenar, and adoptive daughter, Tehanu (who is, in some as yet unclear fashion, both a human and a dragon). and so that`s the general idea behind this story. (Confused? I knew you would be... Now I shall attempt to explain..)

You see Le Guin's fiction, whether in the Earthsea setting or otherwise, has always been a plot and character-driven exploration of profound themes. The nature of evil and ambition, the purpose and validity of religion, the fear of death, have all had an outing in earlier Earthsea novels.


In The Other Wind, the key issue is, of course, death. What is death? What is the afterlife? What is it that mortals should seek in death, what should they expect? What are, in a very philosophical sense, the proper possibilities open to the dead?

It isn't the first time that Le Guin has explored this theme. Her third novel in the series, The Farthest Shore, was a vivid exploration of how one man's desire for immortality could threaten a whole world with collapse. It was also, however, a taut, brisk, highly engaging quest. The narrative had the energy necessary to support such a weighty theme. Sadly, The Other Wind, does not and that is where the confusion comes into play..

When Le Guin chose to follow the often regrettable trend of adding further volumes to an old and hallowed work, it was disquieting to say the least. But at least Tehanu, the fourth novel in the Earthsea saga, confounded low expectations with its clarity, vigour and tension. Unfortunately, in a clear departure from earlier Earthsea books (though Tehanu was tending this way), The Other Wind disperses its energies in a variety of directions; Alder's afflicted dreams, King Lebannen's reign and political problems, the demands and fears of the dragons (and of the humans who are dragons), the equivocal nature of death... All These elements the wild and rampaging sections that make up the story do not gel into a pleasing whole, rather they contend with each other for page space, often leaving what should be key areas untapped and undisclosed while other secondary issues are delved into in great depth making you wonder just where the authors mind is half the time.

LeGuin's prose is still smooth for that she could never be faulted, and it's a pleasure to once again see old friends resume their tales and resolve various elements of their lives, but the story behind this story is an odd, ungainly thing, trying to be and do too much, and ultimately failin
g, when all is said and done, to convince us that in any single area it has done enough to satisfy even the most basic of cravings for complete understanding of the subject matter.

It is no secret that The Earthsea Trilogy has long-ago secured a much deserved place in the pantheon of Fantasy Classics. Infact the earlier novels could well be claimed to be one of the formative influences on much of what we read today they are easily up there with the works of Tolkien, Howard, Leiber, Moorcock and Vance. But now with this addition to the series it is sad to say there is a strong sense of artificiality in LeGuin's solutions to the conundrums she has set her characters, an almost regrettable air of an author tampering with the bedrock rules of her world, in order to justify telling another story about it.

The Other Wind is, in summary, a disappointment, and a clear signal that the Earthsea epic has reached its proper conclusion. The prospect of more works, of perhaps steadily declining quality, is nothing to look forward to..

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