In her afterword to the 2012 "unified edition" of Earthsea, author Le Guin notes that the six books have been persistently called a "trilogy" and sometimes a "quartet," while she resists "sextet," and even "series" or "cycle," feeling that the meta-title "Earthsea" is itself sufficient. I noticed a conspicuous five-fold structure to the six books. There are five novels. The non-novel fifth volume consists of five stories. The fifth novel (i.e. sixth book) has five chapters. 5 = 6 is an expression of magical adeptship, some might note.

As each of the previous novels introduced a key viewpoint character, so too does The Other Wind: Alder is a bereaved village sorcerer sent on a quest by his nightmares. He is at the focus of the first chapter, and then the story becomes very much an ensemble affair involving all of the principal protagonists developed over the earlier volumes. Ged remains on Gont, but Havnor is the meeting place of Alder, Tenar, Lebannen, Tehanu, and Irian. The second chapter also features the arrival of the Karg princess Seserakh, and the third brings in the Pelnish wizard Seppel. The fourth chapter is a sea voyage, so that the final chapter can take place on Roke with a climax at the Immanent Grove.

I couldn't resist interpreting the emotional swings of Tenar throughout the book as reflecting those of the author as she worked to gather up the threads of her creation and tie them into a finished work. There is an especially rich and dense passage just prior to the major plot resolution, in which the reader gets a quick description of the sleeping dreams for each of the many main characters.

The Other Wind offers no sense of an enemy or an oppressive evil like the preceding four novels did. Neither the dead nor the dragons are villains, and the old powers of the earth give only ambivalent solace. The book instead presents a time of perplexing crisis, in which established wisdom is undermined by a clearer view of the past, and diverse agents need to cooperate in order to create their future. Species of "original sin" are divined--the division between dragon and human, and between the Kargs and the Hardic peoples. The nature of the Hardic afterlife is understood and transformed. And the dragons find their destiny.

The completed Earthsea reminds me more of Delany's Return to Nevèrÿon than it does of any other fantasy series. The two had very different models and audiences. I suspect Le Guin of taking her cue from high fantasy as exemplified by Lord Dunsany, and Delany of taking his from the sword and sorcery of writers like Robert E. Howard. Earthsea was written for young readers (at least initially), and Nevèrÿon ... was not. But both bring a late 20th-century philosophical sophistication to their stories, a linguistic turn beyond Tolkienesque conlangs, and an exploration of non-modern societies in flux that can inspire reflection in modern readers. Both use their fantastic worlds to explore a diversity of mundane perspectives. Delany is perhaps more incisively psychological, Le Guin more stunningly poetic.

The Other Wind is not a long book; I read it in a little over a weekend. But it is very full, with its large cast and world-shifting resolution. Although Le Guin intimated that she had a view of what might happen later to Ged, among others, she did leave us a satisfyingly complete set of stories in the six books of Earthsea.

I loved this series! I think this one could've been longer, but it was a good conclusion to the series. ( )

Don't think I fully grokked this one - need to read again in sequence. ( )

Consequences. Equivalent exchange. Equilibrium. Costs.

The hallmarks of power in Le Guin works, magic here in Earthsea, are the consequences of actions taken. All accounts come due in "The Other Wind." This book is a beautiful closure of her Earthsea sagas, as warm in the telling and in the character portrayals as usual, and as human. It starts very slowly as far as progressing the narrative, but the last quarter is spellbinding (no pun intended). I wish there had been more, particularly concerning some characters, but there it is. ( )

Hmm, I think I'm with the Pelnish wizards on this one.

Now I want to read a story where the protagonists find immortality against all odds and it's the best thing ever. ( )