A review by oatmilktea
Tehanu: The Fourth Book of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin

dark emotional reflective slow-paced
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.25

Once again (as with The Farthest Shore), I gleaned more from the afterword than the actual story. And again, I feel like I might just not get Le Guin. I understand what Le Guin wanted to accomplish with Tehanu; I understand why others love and value this book. But reading Tehanu, to me, was tedious, I simply did not enjoy a large portion of it. It took me 101 days in total from beginning to end. It was put on hold for most of that time because I was simply not interested, and not because Tenar was at the centre of it (I really liked The Tombs of Atuan, and I like Tenar). 

There were too many side characters I didn’t care about and to me, so many of them were interchangeable. I couldn’t tell you anything about who they were except for their names, and even those I’ve already forgot despite finishing the book 15 minutes ago. And unfortunately, I couldn’t connect to Therru and her plot line at all. She was just suddenly there and made me feel little. And that’s coming from someone who’s also been abused and bullied as a child. Usually, I empathise with such characters.

The Earthsea books are well-written but overall too slow for me. I start to lose interest if little to nothing happens for a while. The beginning and end of Tehanu were its strong suit, whereas the middle bored me immensely. That’s where I got stuck in my reading process.

Perhaps I’ll have to reread Tehanu some day. Perhaps I’ll be able to appreciate it more then. But for now, I am just relieved to take it off my “currently reading” stack. I am in no hurry to pick up Tales of Earthsea.

But I want to end on a positive note, so here's a line I liked, from chapter 5. I don't think it takes anything away because it's just a beautifully worded description, but to be safe, I'll mark it as a spoiler:
"When she spoke the dragon's name again it spoke itself, shaping her mouth to its shape and sound, making her breath soft fire."
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