Rating: 
Summary: Adds another dimension the Earthsea
Review: I have always regarded Ursuala Le Guin as my favorite author, and her new addition to the Earthsea cycle has just strengthened my convictions. Her writing is stylish and uncluttered, and I thank her for that. The beautiful and touching tales of the Earthsea transform me into a simpler and magical world that I hate to leave behind. The Other Wind is no exception and it deeply satisfied me as it brought me news of Earthsea. In her new novel, Le Guin re-examines the foundations of her land and has delved deeper into the magical realms to produce a story with profound consequences on the characters we know so well. It is melancholic to read about Ged and the others aging, but it is also refreshing to watch the evolution of Earthsea take place, as one would imagine such an animate land to do so.
This latest chapter has enriched and redefined the Earthsea as we know it and it should be welcomed. I recommend The Other Wind to everyone. It left me happy.
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Summary: A good 'end' to a stellar series
Review: This is now the 'The Last Book of Earthsea', not Tehanu as Le Guin earlier predicted. I've read all of the other books and am currently reading 'Tales of Earthsea' right now. This is a thinking man's finish to the series, which is one of the best collections of fantasy out there. A mage named Alder suffers from dreams that deal with the dead. Without giving the plot away, I'll say that his dreams point to a greater problem facing Earthsea and all it's inhabitants. The Hardic people, Kargs, and dragons are all being affected and are thus forced to confront this problem. Alder, Tehanu, The King (Lebannen), wizards, and others all meet to deal with this. Ged and Tenar have a lesser role, but still fill a lot of this book with their presence. Ged hasn't changed much since we last saw him. He and Tenar live a simple life on Gont, with Tehanu still with them. The climax of the book shows the resolution of this problem involving the dead, and to a large extent dragons. I won't give it away, but will say it's an appropriate ending. I wish this book had been a bit longer. It's a great read, but will probably leave those craving action a bit disappointed. This series is outstanding and recommended to all fans of fantasy.
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Summary: Fitting conclusion to the second Earthsea trilogy
Review: I read the first Earthsea trilogy as a teenager and loved them. I read Tehanu in my late 20's and HATED it. I felt that Le Guin was defiling the original trilogy by using it as a sounding board for feminist themes. Now in my late 30's I have just completed re-reading the entire series from start to finish and I have completely revised my thinking. I now find Tehanu to be the deepest and most fulfilling book of the series. And I view the series as two separate trilogies. The first trilogy was aimed at a much younger audience and has simpler themes. The second trilogy is aimed at a more mature audience. I wasn't ready for Tehanu when I first read it. Come to think of it, I think that the second trilogy would be best appreciated if read many years after the first. The first trilogy does stand on its own, but the second transforms and enriches it. While some authors have to invent new themes and characters to extend a series, Le Guin reaches back to the original series and re-examines the original themes from a different point of view. In doing so she expands on them and yet does not diminish the originals in the process...a very difficult feat! The Other Wind is unique in the Earthsea books in that it is the only one to follow multiple plot lines through the eyes of several characters. All the previous stories had been single threaded and primarily told through the eyes of a single character. This book is alternatively told from the points of view of Tenar, Lebannen and a new character, Alder. While Ged is the central character of the first trilogy, the first three books were from the point of view of Ged, Tenar and Lebannen respectively. If the second trilogy has a central character it would be Tenar, although I don't believe she ever appears in "Tales from Earthsea". It is unusual to have the second volume in a trilogy be a collection of short stories, but I think it succeeds brilliantly. The Other Wind is the first in the series to push politics to the forefront. There are four major parties represented here: the Kargs, the people of Paln, the Hardic peoples and the dragons. Each of them has a different world view which puts them into conflict and, ultimately, resolution. I found the pacing of this novel to be excellent. Fast enough to keep the reader's interest, slow enough to let the reader absorb the many themes. If you are looking for swords, sorcery and gothic battles, look elsewhere. This is a book where people are struggling to understand the meaning of their lives and deaths. It is a novel that shows that men and women can be equals but still different. And it shows that the hero doesn't have to slay the dragon to win the princess.
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Summary: Adult novel is finale to kids series
Review: Yes, you kind of have to have read the previous books to get the deeper meanings of the plot and character development. Yes, it is not the simplistic (as if anything by leguin could be called simplistic) plot of the first few Earthsea books. Unlike those first books: aimed at children, this book is aimed at the adult who can tolerate a more complex world, more complex characters, and a few suprises along the way. Less action, more food for thought.
She undoes some of the pat solutions left earlier in the series, makes heroes into human beings, and does all those things I hated in a book in my teens but appreciate now: portrays life as messy and complex and makes you question everything: But in a deepening way, not a disturbing way.
Fans of LeGuin (Left Hand of Darkness, The Telling...) will not be disappointed.
Rating: 
Summary: Should be titled "Men do Everything Wrong"
Review: This book should have been titled "Men do Everything Wrong", in two senses: First, in every story the men can't do anything right. Secondly, everything that's wrong with Earthsea is the fault of Men. In this way, LeGuin begs forgivness for the sin of not being sufficiently Feminist in the first three books. If you loved the Earthsea trilogy, you'll be outraged by what LeGuin does to it in this book, and in Tehanu. As best I can sum it up, her attitude is "I spit on your memory."
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Summary: A Splendid, Long Awaited Return to Earthsea
Review: "The Other Wind", Ursula Le Guin's latest novel in her Earthsea fantasy series, is a splendid addition to her saga. Like her previous works, this is finely crafted introspective fantasy of the highest order. Unlike Tolkien, she is less concerned with monumental events and battles, and more interested in the personal struggles undertaken by her characters. All of this is told in sparse, yet lyrical, prose. The minor wizard Alder has stumbled upon the dead in his dreams, seeing again his late beloved wife. Unsure of its meaning, he visits the great wizard Ged, once the Archmage. Eventually his journey will lead to a conflict between humans and dragons. "The Other Wind" reintroduces us to many of the major characters in the Earthsea saga and ties up many of the tales' loose ends. Those who've enjoyed the Earthsea saga as well as Ursula K. Le Guin's writing will have cause to celebrate the publication of this fine slender book.
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Summary: A real page-turner!
Review: When the sorcerer Alder shows up at Ged Sparrowhawk's door, his haunted tale tells of great changes coming, both for the living and the dead. Alder soon finds himself in the center of a storm, collecting around him the king of the Archipelago, a Kargan princess, dragons, wizards, and others. Back in the days of prehistory, a decision was made, and a land was stolen. Now what was broken must be fixed, and what was made must be broken. Earthsea will never be the same again... This is quite a haunting book. Reading like a murder-mystery, the book drew me along, hoping to understand the enigma that Earthsea was groaning under. The book is short, and written with a clarity that demonstrates why Ursula Le Guin is considered one of the giants of the genre. If you are a fan of the Earthsea books, then I can't urge you enough to buy and read this book!
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Summary: Of Promises and Names
Review: The Earthsea tales, from the very beginning, have always been different from the average fantasy, focusing far more on individual character and actions than on grand battles, and with a dark overtone, dealing with very adult themes of the balance of nature, life after death, love and ambition. The Other Wind is no exception. Still told with Le Guin's sparse but finely drawn prose, this books re-unites almost all of the major characters from the earlier books along with some interesting new ones to deal with the problem of the dead trying to tear down the wall that separates them from the living. And the strength of this book lies directly in this characterization, as we find that the characters from earlier books have changed, sometimes radically, such as Ged, who is no longer arch-mage but rather a quietly satisfied farmer, and the new characters have their own loves, doubts, uncertainties, and inner strengths. The reader will find it easy to empathize with these characters, as all correspond with real people in a very real world. The plot line is rather sparse, with little action and a lack of strong tension or great dramatic moments. This is far more a 'thinking' book, both about the world of Earthsea, with its evocation of Names and history, wizards and dragons, kings and long-ago promises, and its relation to the 'real' world that the reader inhabits. By the end of this book, Le Guin has managed to tie up many of the loose ends of the Earthsea world, and provides a very satisfying, if apparently irrevocable, conclusion. The world she has created has been made richer by this final volume. Those who have never entered this wonderful world now have a very complete set of works with which to fall in love with, be captivated and charmed by, and old Earthsea fans will not be disappointed here, even as Le Guin's themes force each reader to examine their own place in the world, their own balance with nature and society.
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Summary: Profound look at life, death, and dragons
Review: Minor sorcerer Alder has suffered from terrible dreams. He dreams that his wife, and countless other dead people, are calling him, begging him to set them free. To escape his dreams, he travels around the world of the Earthsea--and learns that he is seeing a true place. Yet even his problems seem small compared to the troubles that gather. The dragons are attacking, driving humans from islands where they have worked for generations. King Lebannen believes that the dream and the dragons are connected, but what can anyone do against dragons--or the dead? Author Ursula K. Le Guin writes a different kind of fantasy. Rather than the huge battles and heroic characters of a Tolkien, Le Guin sets her tales on a smaller stage where the dangers are often personal rather than monumental. Still, the stakes in THE OTHER WIND are high indeed. For the dead "live" on in a strange halfway land, or at least some of the dead do. And Lebannen must both decide their fate and, somehow, break the barriers that confront immortal dragons as well as human wizzards. Fans who look for more action may occasionally find this novel slow going, but Le Guin's almost poetic language and her thoughtful presentation of the issues of death and love make THE OTHER WIND a fine contribution to the fantasy genre of which Le Guin is a master.
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Summary: A maturing view of Earthsea
Review: In the latest novel set in her Earthsea setting, Ursula K. Le Guin builds upon the themes she explored in "Tales of Earthsea" and that were introduced in "Tehanu." Through the course of the novel, we see how "Dragonfly" the last story of "Tales" ties in with "Tehanu," which she once called the last book of Earthsea. Le Guin's prose is highly polished and evocative. I felt at the end of this book that I was seeing the changes that over 30 years of professional writing can make in a finished work. Not a line was wasted and the book progressed so smoothly that you hardly noticed time passing. At the same time, it felt like an older woman's view on Earthsea; stately, settled, full of wisdom. The adventerous Ged who left Gont to become a mage seems very far away. The magic of the world remains (though Ged has given his up) but the vigor of Ged is no longer driving the story. Several characters carry the action in this novel; from a sorcerer with troubled dreams to a veiled Kargish princess. My impression was that the events of the story needed to be told but that none of the characters had an essential role in the action. So this is a book for a quiet day. Probably best enjoyed after you've let the earlier Earthsea novels sit in your head for a while. Either a few years after the initial reading or a few months after re-reading them. The progression of events becomes clear fairly early, but the journey to the conclusion is highly enjoyable.
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