Title: The Farthest Shore
Author: Ursula K. LeGuin
Series: The Earthsea Cycle, #3
Format: Hardcover
Rating: ★★★☆☆
Previously:
I can't exactly put a finger on why I didn't enjoy The Farthest Shore as much as I enjoyed the first two Earthsea books, but I think it has nothing to do with the plot, and rather the introduction of a new character.
Magic is disappearing from the world, and it's up to our intrepid hero Ged to save Earthsea. But for Reasons he has to bring along a boy named Arren. Who I'm really not a fan of. Maybe it's because it was clear that Arren was going to be (spoiler alert!) king or maybe it's because he never really felt that developed. Or maybe it's because he doesn't add that much alongside Ged. Whatever it is, I just didn't have strong feelings about him.
And when the premise of the book takes the reader literally to the farthest shore, where it's just Ged and Arren doing their thing, it can get a bit tiring.
But there's also some really good stuff in there, like the people who nomadically live on rafts. I'd say this isn't Ursula K. LeGuin at her finest, but there's still gems to be found in it.
I've never liked this one as much as the others. I mean, the magic is literally getting sucked out of Earthsea. Of course it doesn't work as well.
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