Tehanu (The Earthsea Cycle, Book 4) - Softcover

Le Guin, Ursula K.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0689845332 ISBN 13: 9780689845338

Publisher: S&S/Saga Press, 2001

Synopsis

The Nebula Award and Locus Award-winning fourth novel in the beloved Earthsea series by Ursula K. LeGuin

Years before, they had escaped together from the sinister Tombs of Atuan—she, an isolated young priestess, he, a powerful wizard. Now she is a farmer's widow, having chosen for herself the simple pleasures of an ordinary life. And he is a broken old man, mourning the powers lost to him not by choice.

A lifetime ago, they helped each other at a time of darkness and danger. Now they must join forces again, to help another -- the physically and emotionally scarred child whose own destiny remains to be revealed.

With millions of copies sold, Ursula K. Le Guin's Earthsea Cycle has earned a treasured place on the shelves of fantasy lovers everywhere. Complex, innovative, and deeply moral, this quintessential fantasy sequence has been compared with the work of J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis, and has helped make Le Guin one of the most distinguished fantasy and science fiction writers of all time.

About this title

Review:

Ursula K. LeGuin follows her classic trilogy from Earthsea with a magical tale that won the 1991 Nebula Award for Science Fiction. Unlike the tales in the trilogy, this novel is short and concise, yet it is by no means simplistic. Promoted as a children's book because of the awards garnered in that category by her previous work, Tehanu transcends classification and shows the wizardry of female magic. The story involves a middle-age widow who sets out to visit her dying mentor and eventually cares for his favorite student.

From the Publisher:

Classics of high fantasy, Ursula K. Le Guin's three previous Earthsea novels--A W izard Of Earthsea, The Tombs Of Atuan, and The Farthest Shore--have been compared with J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings and C.S Lewis' Narnia stories as being among the genre's greatest creations. Now the fourth and final volume, Tehanu, brings to a conclusion the remarkable Earthsea cycle with a revelation of wisdom, wonder, and literary wizardry. Once she'd been a priestess, quest-companion to a powerful mage, a student of high magic. Then she gave it all up to be a farmer's wife on Gont, content to lead a simple life. But Tenar was not born to live her days in peace, away from great events. A dying wizard and an abused child were the first to call her back to the path she had abandoned. For the end of the adventure beckoned and Tenar would be there along with the dragons, mages, and the young king himself to share in the unforgettable fate of the kingdom known as Earthsea.

"A tale with the universality and dignity of legend . . . . Consummately imagines . . . . A grand conclusion to a revered cycle."--Kirkus Reviews

About this edition

• Publisher: S&S/Saga Press
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 0689845332
• ISBN 13: 9780689845338
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 252