Book
The other wind / Ursula K. Le Guin.
Record details
- ISBN: 9780151006847
- ISBN: 0151006849
- Physical Description: 246 p. ; 24 cm. : ill.
- Edition: 1st ed.
- Publisher: New York : Harcourt, c2001.
Content descriptions
| General Note: | "A new Earthsea novel"--Jacket. |
Search for related items by subject
| Subject: | Magic > Fiction. |
| Genre: | Fantasy fiction. Fantasy fiction. |
Search for related items by series
Available copies
- 6 of 6 copies available at BC Interlibrary Connect. (Show)
- 1 of 1 copy available at Terrace Public Library.
Holds
- 0 current holds with 6 total copies.
Other Formats and Editions
Show Only Available Copies
| Location | Call Number / Copy Notes | Barcode | Shelving Location | Holdable? | Status | Due Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Terrace Public Library | LeG (Text) | 001953652 | Adult Fiction | Volume hold | Available | - |
- Booklist Reviews : Booklist Monthly Selections - #1 June 2001
The sorcerer Alder makes his way to Ged's remote home on Gont. Alder seeks relief from nightly consuming dreams about being called to "the wall of stones," where hordes of souls cry out for help in ending their suffering. These dreams are but one harbinger of coming change. Another is the reappearance of dragons, once compatible with humans, to reclaim their former lands. Ged sends Alder to Havnor, where Tenar and Tehanu have been called by King Lebannen to advise him about the dragons as well as the princess unwelcomely sent to be his bride. In time, Tehanu, the dragon Orm Irian (whose story is told in "Dragonfly," which concludes Tales from Earthsea [BKL Mr 1 01]), the king, Alder, Tenar, and the princess all figure in righting ancient wrongs and mending the earth. Steeped in Earthsea lore and featuring familiar characters as well as dramatic action, the first full-length Earthsea novel since Tehanu (1990) will leave its readers wanting yet another. The ongoing Earthsea saga began as children's literature years ago but now moves resolutely into the purview of adults, perhaps because the very well written Earthsea books have long appealed to all ages. Certainly, whatever their ages, its fans will rejoice in revisiting Earthsea. ((Reviewed June 1 & 15, 2001)) Copyright 2001 Booklist Reviews - BookPage Reviews : BookPage Reviews 2001 September
The Other Wind is the sixth book in Ursula Le Guin's Earthsea series, which becomes, with this addition, one of the richest fantasies ever created. Le Guin has written an amazingly spare novel, yet from the beginning, every word is weighed and crafted to add depth and resonance. It's like reading a time-release story, where some of the effects are felt much later. Weeks after reading it, I found myself considering different aspects of the story - the meetings of cultures, the inevitability of love, the process of aging - and realizing anew how well they all fit together.After an absence of 10 years, Le Guin returns to the ongoing fantasy realm of Earthsea, a land where actions have consequences, where characters live their lives, are influenced by others and change in unexpected ways. Le Guin's first book in the series, A Wizard of Earthsea, was published some 30 years ago. In it, we were introduced to Ged, who would one day become Archmage, one of the most powerful people on Earthsea. Now Ged is an old man who has given up his power. He and his wife are scraping by on a farm far from the center of the action. He is a minor character, anchoring us in the world, bringing other characters together, yet keeping out of the way of the wizards and rulers of the lands. He has stepped aside for the younger generation, now facing the central question: what is death?
In earlier Earthsea novels, Ged and others crossed the border into the land of the dead. It was a truly frightening place: there were no animals or plants, and the dead walked in silence, never acknowledging one another. Now, Le Guin examines her fictional land of the dead, and finds it wanting. Death is the great and inevitable unknown. No matter how much we fear it or poke and prod at it, we the living cannot truly understand it. In The Other Wind Le Guin makes us face our own mortality, and, without falling back into cliches, new age mantras or religious imagery, gives us a deeply powerful and satisfying conclusion.
Gavin J. Grant lives in Brooklyn, where he reviews, writes and publishes speculative fiction. Copyright 2001 BookPage Reviews
- Horn Book Guide Reviews : Horn Book Guide Reviews 2013 Spring
Earthsea fans will be drawn to these impressive new editions. Two different publishers have worked together to create a uniform cover design for the series. The paperbacks (and Houghton's hardcovers) contain a map and a new afterword by the author. [cf2]Tombs of Atuan[cf1] was a 1972 Newbery Honor book; [cf2]Farthest Shore[cf1] won the National Book Award; [cf2]Tehanu[cf1] received a Nebula Award. [Review covers these Earthsea Cycle titles: [cf2]A Wizard of Earthsea[cf1], [cf2]The Tombs of Atuan[cf1], [cf2]The Farthest Shore[cf1], [cf2]Tehanu[cf1], [cf2]Tales from Earthsea[cf1], and [cf2]The Other Wind[cf1].] - Kirkus Reviews : Kirkus Reviews 2001 July #1
Back among the wizards and dragons of Earthsea (Tales from Earthsea; Tehanu, etc.). When humans die in Earthsea their spirits flee across the wall of stones to the Dry Land; in that dark, dead, dusty country beneath unchanging stars, they become shadows with no thought for their former selves or lives. Humble sorcerer Alder passionately loved his wife, the witch Lily. When she died tragically young, Alder somehow reached across the wall of stones to touch her, establishing a bond that transcended death. Now, the dead are using this bond to pull down the wall dividing life from death. What if they emerge into the living world? Too terrified to sleep, Alder brings his tale to Ged, the former archmage, thence to King Lebannen and his advisors, among them Ged's wife Tenar and their adoptive daughter Tehanu, a dragon in human form. Other problems beset Lebannen: dragons are attacking islands in the west, apparently intending to drive humans out of Earthsea; and the new king of the barbarian Kargad Lands sends his daughter Seserakh to be Lebannen's bride-a commitment the angry king is unwilling to make. Meanwhile, Earthsea's greatest wizards are divided among themselves over admitting women to the wizard's school, and the advisability of consulting dragons instead of fighting them. The key to the situation lies in the most ancient lore, forgotten by all but a few: that dragons and people once were one.Earthsea's once irresistible charms are fading, with no new vistas, little action, and only intermittent involvement with characters who simply talk their way to a resolution. Copyright Kirkus 2001 Kirkus/BPI Communications.All rights reserved - Library Journal Reviews : LJ Reviews 2001 June #1
In the author's first "Earthsea" novel in ten years, the sorcerer Alder is troubled by the dead and must appeal to the former archmage for help. Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information. - Library Journal Reviews : LJ Reviews 2001 July #1
A village mender's love for his dead wife leads him in his dreams to the dry lands of the dead where a kiss from his wife's spirit begins a chain of events that shakes the foundations of the realms of Earthsea. Le Guin's first Earthsea novel in ten years blends old themes and familiar people from previous series books with new characters and fresh stories, demonstrating once again the power of storytelling to transform the known into the unknown and the ordinary into the extraordinary. Le Guin remains a master of subtlety and grace as she finds new and surprising ways to express deep truths cloaked in the trappings of fantasy. A priority purchase for libraries of all sizes. [Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 5/1/00.] Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information. - Publishers Weekly Reviews : PW Reviews 2001 August #2
What a year it's been for Le Guin. First, there was The Telling, the widely praised new novel in her Hainish sequence, followed by Tales from Earthsea, a collection of recent short fiction in her other major series. Now she returns with a superb novel-length addition to the Earthsea universe, one that, once again, turns that entire series on its head. Alder, the man who unwittingly initiates the transformation of Earthsea, is a humble sorcerer who specializes in fixing broken pots and repairing fence lines, but when his beloved wife, Lily, dies, he is inconsolable. He begins to dream of the land of the dead and sees both Lily and other shades reaching out to him across the low stone wall that separates them from the land of the living. Soon, more general signs and portents begin to disturb Earthsea. The dragons break their long-standing truce and begin to move east. The new ruler of the Kargad Lands sends his daughter west in an attempt to wed her to King Lebannen. Even Ged, the former archmage, now living in peaceful, self-imposed exile on Gont, starts to have disturbing dreams. In Tehanu (1990), the fourth book in the series, Le Guin rethought the traditional connection between gender and magic that she had assumed in the original Earthsea trilogy. In her new novel, however, she reconsiders the relationship between magic and something even more basic: life and death itself. This is not what 70-year-old writers of genre fantasy are supposed to do, but then, there aren't many writers around like Le Guin. (Oct. 1) FYI: In addition to five Hugo and five Nebula awards, Le Guin has won a National Book Award, the Kafka Award and a Pushcart Prize. Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.
