Listened to the Recorded Books version this time, narrated by Jenny Sterlin.

Sterlin was a wonderful actress and reader. It made a lot of sense to change the narrator to a woman for the fourth book, since this book deals with the theme of what it means to be a woman.

The book takes place 25-ish years after the events in The Tombs of Atuan and very shortly after The Farthest Shore.

Tenar, now a farmer's widow, has been living on the island of Gont, where she has taken in a burn-scarred, abused child and named her Therru. Meanwhile the dragon Kalessin brings Ged to Gont after the events in The Farthest Shore, and he must contend with the loss of his powers and of his status as Archmage of Roke.

I don't think I understood this book reading it as an 18-year-old. Now that I'm closer in age to the Tenar in Tehanu and farther from the Tenar in The Tombs of Atuan, it makes a lot more sense to me.

Tenar had spent her whole childhood being treated as something set apart from others, especially men, so it made sense that she decided to live a normal life, get married, and have children after coming to Gont.

It's only when she's faced with the violence done to an innocent child that she really begins to dig down deep and question why men have and seek power whereas women and children have so little, or at least of a different kind.

At the same time, Ged must deal with the loss of his power and question who he is without it.

They both find that there is more to being a man or a woman than strict roles based on power, and that power in itself is less meaningful than either had thought.

However, the reveal that Therru has bucketloads of power and is a actually a half-dragon-creature kicks huge amounts of ass. It upends the presumed power structure of Earthsea completely.

Also, I have to laugh at myself that I'd forgotten Ged and Tenar totally get together. I was so innocent writing my re-review of The Tombs of Atuan ("It's so nice that they can just be friends!") Uhhh... no. They were slavering for each other the whole time, but Ged was apparently either too stupid or too wizard-ish to figure it out before.

I loved the scene where Tenar was like "Whose bed should I sleep in tonight? The child's, or yours?"

And Ged was like "uhhh... mine, if you'll be patient with me."

I thought if Ged were a real guy, he'd probably be like "But if you sleep in my bed, where will I sleep?" lol. Maybe he is not so clueless, though.

I've never read Tales from Earthsea or The Other Wind, so I'm looking forward to hopefully a little more expansion on the story in this book when I read them. While Tehanu was character-focused and not plot-focused at all, I did find the plot a little disappointing with the villain not fully engaged until the end and the story dropping off with a lack of explanation about things regarding Therru.

Still, the journey was worth taking, and I added a star to my verdict of sixteen years ago. ( )

9.5/10
Although this is billed as the final book of EarthSea, there is yet another. And a good thing, for this feels a bit unfinished—while I suspected Therru was a “dragon-human”, we don’t get to see her in the fullness of who she is, only hints of what might be.

I don’t quite know why Tenar had no power and was susceptible to the evil wizard’s curses/spells. Was it because she stopped her learning with Ogion that she lost her ability to do any magic”?

I loved that fact that Ged and Tenar were able to be together as man and woman, and I so appreciated the compassion of those who accepted Therru despite her physical deformities. This story touched me deep in my soul. ( )

In this book Ursula Le Guin made a welcome return to her Earthsea cycle 18 years after publishing The Farthest Shore, continuing to show her mastery at world building and expanding on feminist themes. She is always enjoyable to read and I appreciate her subtlety in building up to scenes of conflict, which then have more power as a result. The antagonist in this story doesn’t appear on all that many pages, but his malevolence is always felt, lurking. In this case, however, I thought there were places where rather mundane activity, like on the farm, went on too long, causing the story to drag a bit, and stopping me from truly loving it.

Quotes:
On judging others improperly:
“Like most people, Tiff believed that you are what happens to you. The rich and strong must have virtue; one to whom evil has been done must be bad, and may rightly be punished.”

On men:
“’What’s wrong with men?’ Tenar inquired cautiously.
As cautiously, lowering her voice, Moss replied, ‘I don’t know, my dearie. I’ve thought on it. Often I’ve thought on it. The best I can say it is like this. A man’s in his skin, see, like a nut in its shell.’ She held up her long, bent, wet fingers as if holding a walnut. ‘It’s hard and strong, that shell, and it’s all full of him. Full of grand man-meat, man-self. And that’s all. That’s all there is. It’s all him and nothing else, inside.’”

On women:
“If women had power, what would men be but women who can’t bear children? And what would women be but men who can?” ( )

Though the cover boasted "The Last Earthsea" book, two more were to follow. This was LeGuin revisiting the trilogy to attempt to address its narrow male focus, by following not only what happened to Ged but Tenar from The Tombs of Atuan. Strong through early LeGuin was, this is clearly a more mature author at work. The tone is much more up close and personal, compared to the distanced telling of the trilogy. There's a suspenseful scene when Tenar is besieged in her cottage that is unlike anything I recall in other LeGuin novels. Overall I prefer this to the original books, especially the scenes where the male wizards struggle to understand that there are more powers in the world than theirs. I found the discussions on men versus women to be shallow, and as disappointing as similar passages in The Left Hand of Darkness and The Dispossessed.

Recommended. ( )

Le Guin's Tehanu is completely different from the first three books in the Earthsea Cycle. It's about middle-aged, widowed Tenar and her life as an average woman in rural Gont. It feels more reflective and subversive to me than the first four books did.