Book Title: The Other Wind
Author: Naomi Novik
Series: The Earthsea Cycle #6
Date Started: August 22nd 2026
Date Completed: September 27th 2026
Genres: Fantasy, Adventure
Quality Rating: Four Stars
Enjoyment Rating: Four Star
Final Rating: Four Stars
Review:
Over the last few years, I've been consciously finishing book series, mostly for my neat completionist mode. I've reconnected with a bunch of stories I'd forgotten I'd enjoyed, as well as some that don't sparkle like they used to. But Earthsea, while a part of my rather long list, hasn't felt like finishing a book series. It feels timeless, ever-present and insightful even decades after its inception and placement in the canon of fantasy literature. Le Guin is referred to as the mother of modern fantasy for a reason.
I always take a moment to read le Guin's notes on her stories in the Complete Edition. Like so many masterful creators, she has a gentle and un-grand perspective on her books, on the tales that came from her fingertips but are, of course, on an evolution of their own outside of her control. The universal truth which she allows to lead her storytelling is what makes then so timely no matter the place or year you read them in.
It was particularly interesting to hear her thoughts on the Earthsea story not ending with the previous book, as planned, and the seeming finality of The Other Wind. Tales from Earthsea may have been a collection of shorter stories, but they felt like rather neat ends to le Guin's 'Cycle'. Yet there is a lingering 'what next' that comes after the acknowledgement and deliberate deconstruction of what came before. In the later stories, le Guin gives time to look at the inevitable darkness that comes alongside human nature even in a fantastical environment. The Other Wind is all about seeing that, accepting it, and carving the path ahead.
However much we loved it, Earthsea and its kingdoms and commoners and magic and wonder was flawed. Built, we come to realise, on a mistake, on violence and suffering unto others. To move forward, into the unwritten, we must choose the responsibility to end what someone else chose, even if it wasn't out doing and becomes our burden. As I say, ever-present, timely and relevant to the universal truth of being human - le Guin's stories feel just as important in this exact second in time as they did when they were first made.
I always take a moment to read le Guin's notes on her stories in the Complete Edition. Like so many masterful creators, she has a gentle and un-grand perspective on her books, on the tales that came from her fingertips but are, of course, on an evolution of their own outside of her control. The universal truth which she allows to lead her storytelling is what makes then so timely no matter the place or year you read them in.
It was particularly interesting to hear her thoughts on the Earthsea story not ending with the previous book, as planned, and the seeming finality of The Other Wind. Tales from Earthsea may have been a collection of shorter stories, but they felt like rather neat ends to le Guin's 'Cycle'. Yet there is a lingering 'what next' that comes after the acknowledgement and deliberate deconstruction of what came before. In the later stories, le Guin gives time to look at the inevitable darkness that comes alongside human nature even in a fantastical environment. The Other Wind is all about seeing that, accepting it, and carving the path ahead.
However much we loved it, Earthsea and its kingdoms and commoners and magic and wonder was flawed. Built, we come to realise, on a mistake, on violence and suffering unto others. To move forward, into the unwritten, we must choose the responsibility to end what someone else chose, even if it wasn't out doing and becomes our burden. As I say, ever-present, timely and relevant to the universal truth of being human - le Guin's stories feel just as important in this exact second in time as they did when they were first made.
