's Best of 2001
The greatest fantasies of the 20th century are J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings and Ursula K. Le Guin's Earthsea Cycle. Regrettably, the Earthsea Cycle has not received the fame and sales of Tolkien's trilogy. Fortunately, new Earthsea books have appeared in the 21st century, and they are as powerful, beautiful, and imaginative as the first four novels. The fifth novel and sixth book of the Earthsea Cycle is The Other Wind.

The sorcerer Alder has the power of mending, but it may have become the power of destruction: every night he dreams of the wall between the land of the living and the land of the dead, and the wall is being dismantled. If the wall is breached, the dead will invade Earthsea. Ged, once Archmage of Earthsea, sends Alder to King Lebannen. Now Alder and the king must join with a burned woman, a wizard of forbidden lore, and a being who is woman and dragon both, in an impossible quest to save Earthsea.

Ursula K. Le Guin has received the National Book Award, five Nebula and five Hugo Awards, and the Newbery Award, among many other honors. The Other Wind lives up to expectations for one of the greatest fantasy cycles. --Cynthia Ward

From Publishers Weekly
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)has won a National Book Award, the Kafka Award and a Pushcart Prize.Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal
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 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
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. Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
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. Sally Estes
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

FROM OUR EDITORS

The Barnes & Noble Review
The Other Wind, Ursula K. Le Guin's first Earthsea novel in more than a decade, is so much more than the sum of its parts. Yes, it is the fifth novel (and sixth volume overall, including the short story collection Tales of Earthsea) in Le Guin's classic Earthsea cycle, arguably one of the greatest fantasy sagas of the last century. It was also the winner of the distinguished World Fantasy Award for Best Novel of 2001, beating out the likes of Ray Bradbury, Neil Gaiman, and Lois McMaster Bujold. But The Other Wind is so much more than an award-winning fantasy; it's a deep, theological novel about understanding who we really are and coming to terms with our own mortality.

When I first read the original three Earthsea novels as a teenager back in the early 1970s, one of the most memorable images was that of the dry lands, the gray afterworld in the far west where the dead went for all eternity. A simple stone wall stretches endlessly across a hillside of dead grass separating the living from the dead. The magical border, which no one can cross, can only be visited by the living in dreams.

It is at this border where The Other Wind begins. Alder is a humble sorcerer from the island of Ea whose gift is mending. Ever since his beloved wife, Lily, died, he has been troubled by nightmares of the dry lands. In his dreams, he stands on the hillside by the stone wall while the dead souls -- including his wife -- beg him to free them. He sees them trying desperately to dismantle the stones in the wall. If the wall is breached, will the dead souls invade Earthsea? Alder goes to the mages of Roke Island for answers, but they're mystified. He is eventually sent to Sparrowhawk (a.k.a. Ged), the ex-Archmage of Earthsea, who is now leading a simple agrarian life with his wife, Tenar, on the Island of Gont. After listening to Alder's plight, Ged quickly realizes that Alder's dreams of the dead are connected to other disturbing events in Earthsea, including the recurrence of dragon attacks in the western isles as well as a strange diplomatic gesture from the new warlord king of Karg.

Sensing that Alder's dreams portend some great imminent unbalancing in the world, Ged sends the troubled sorcerer to Havnor to meet with King Lebannen. Ged's wife and their daughter Tehanu are already in Havnor consulting with the king. Also present are Seserakh, a mysterious Kargish princess whose religious and cultural beliefs are much different than those of the Archipelago, and Orm Irian (a.k.a. Dragonfly), a representative from the dragons who has a much different perspective on the dry lands and human afterlife. It is decided that a small group should travel to the Immanent Grove on Roke Island, the center of Earth's powers, to try and rebalance the world.

Although The Other Wind can be enjoyed as a stand-alone novel, I think that readers would be doing themselves a great disservice by not reading the first four novels (A Wizard of Earthsea, The Tombs of Atuan, The Farthest Shore, and Tehanu) as well as the short story collection (specifically the novella "Dragonfly"). This adition to the saga not only expands and enriches the Earthsea mythos but also gracefully and poetically concludes the lives of Ged and Tenar, the two primary figures throughout much of the series. Paul Goat Allen

FROM THE PUBLISHER

The sorcerer Alder fears sleep. He dreams of the land of death, of his wife who died young and longs to return to him so much that she kissed him across the low stone wall that separates our world from the Dry Land-where the grass is withered, the stars never move, and lovers pass without knowing each other. The dead are pulling Alder to them at night. Through him they may free themselves and invade Earthsea.

Alder seeks advice from Ged, once Archmage. Ged tells him to go to Tenar, Tehanu, and the young king at Havnor. They are joined by amber-eyed Irian, a fierce dragon able to assume the shape of a woman.

The threat can be confronted only in the Immanent Grove on Roke, the holiest place in the world and there the king, hero, sage, wizard, and dragon make a last stand.

Le Guin combines her magical fantasy with a profoundly human, earthly, humble touch. 6 X 9.

Author Biography: Ursula K. Le Guin was born in Berkeley, California, in 1929. Among her honors are a National Book Award, five Hugo and five Nebula Awards, the Kafka Award, a Pushcart Prize, and the Harold D. Vursell Memorial Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. She is a feminist, conservationist, and Taoist, and lives in Portland, Oregon.

FROM THE CRITICS

I adored The Other Wind. Real mythmaking, done by a master of the craft. . . . The magic of Earthsea is primal; the lessons of Earthsea remain as potent, as wise, and as necessary as anyone could dream.

Michael Swanwick - author of Stations of the Tide

Le Guin understands magic and dragons better than anyone, and her writing only gets better with each new book. THE OTHER WIND is a triumph.

Neil Gaiman

I adored The Other Wind. Real mythmaking, done by a master of the craft. . . . The magic of Earthsea is primal; the lessons of Earthsea remain as potent, as wise, and as necessary as anyone could dream."

Publishers Weekly

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.

KLIATT - Janet Julian