> Thanks for that reminder Sam. Reminder to
read the new book, that is, or books as the
case seems to be. I'm off the library web site
to see if they have a copy of it or not. I'm
almost finished reading Blue Mars, so I'll
shortly be in need of new reading material.

I just finished reading "Tehanu: The Last Book
of Earthsea." I give it a thumbs-up, but with
reserve. I didn't enjoy it as much as the
original trilogy. The tone seems very different
from the earlier novels; I want to say "darker"
but that doesn't really make sense. I thought it
ended too suddenly after the climax, and in
fact felt that the climax itself was rather
rushed, as if she had a limited number of
chapters or pages to work with and got too
near the end before realizing she needed to
wrap things up.

The eighteen-year time gap between "The
Farthest Shore" and "Tehanu" is probably
sufficient to explain the difference in tone. The
world itself changed a bit in those years and
it's reflected in LeGuin's writing style and
subject matter.

I'm hoping that the newest book will further
delve into the new character introduced in
Tehanu. I do admit that the book left me
hungering for more, although I personally
wouldn't have titled it "The Last Book of
Earthsea" if I planned on continuing the story.
But perhaps the author had some clever
reason for doing so that will only become
apparent once you read the new novel...

Gri"but curse the luck, my library doesn't have
a copy of the new book yet!"shny