The stink of burning filled the wind, as with a hissing roar the dragon, turning to land on the shelf of rock, breathed out a sigh of fire. Its feet clashed on the rock. The thorny tail, writhing, rattled, and the wings stormed and rustled as they folded down to the mailed flanks. The head turned slowly. The dragon gazed straight at the woman from yellow eyes under armored carapaces wide-set above the narrow nose and flaring, fuming nostrils. And her small, soft face and dark eyes gazed straight at it.
The dragon turned its head aside a little so that she was not destroyed when it did speak, or perhaps it laughed — a great "Hah!" of orange flame.
Tenat saw then the man astride its back, his hands clenched on the rust-dark mail of the dragon's neck, his head bowed as if he were asleep.
The dragon lowered …
The stink of burning filled the wind, as with a hissing roar the dragon, turning to land on the shelf of rock, breathed out a sigh of fire. Its feet clashed on the rock. The thorny tail, writhing, rattled, and the wings stormed and rustled as they folded down to the mailed flanks. The head turned slowly. The dragon gazed straight at the woman from yellow eyes under armored carapaces wide-set above the narrow nose and flaring, fuming nostrils. And her small, soft face and dark eyes gazed straight at it.
The dragon turned its head aside a little so that she was not destroyed when it did speak, or perhaps it laughed — a great "Hah!" of orange flame.
Tenat saw then the man astride its back, his hands clenched on the rust-dark mail of the dragon's neck, his head bowed as if he were asleep.
The dragon lowered its body into a crouch and spoke. "Sobriost," it said, and that word of the Language of the Making she knew: Go up, the dragon said: Mount! and she saw the steps to mount. The taloned foot, the crooked elbow, the shoulder-joint, the first musculature of the wing: four steps.
She too said, "Hah!" but not in a laugh, only tring to get her breath. Then she went forward, past the talons and the long lipless mouth and the long yellow eye, and mounted the shoulder of the dragon. She took the man's arm. He did not move, but surely he was not dead. "Come on," she said, and then seeing his face as she loosened the clenched grip of his left hand, "Come on, Ged. Come on…."
I generally prefer novels to short stories, and might have skipped over this entry in the Earthsea series if I wasn't reading all of them with a group. So, I'm glad that I am reading them with a group, because I really enjoyed this book, and think that it is an essential part of the series.
I enjoyed some of the stories more than others, but there were none that I disliked at all. Overall, they very much enriched my understanding of Earthsea.
One of the things that is fascinating to me about reading this series is that I can see Le Guin growing as a writer. In particular, I see her developing the confidence to write realistic female characters, rather than the unsatisfying female characters which I think is what she felt she had to write in her earliest books (when she included female characters at all).
"Tehanu" est le quatrième tome du cycle Earthsea d'Ursula K. Le Guin, également connu en français sous le nom de cycle de Terremer.
Publié en 1990, près de vingt ans après le tome précédent, le roman reprend cependant le récit directement après l’épilogue de The Farthest Shore. Le vieux mage Ged et le jeune prince Arren sont de retour de leur terrible voyage : Arren va monter sur le trône sous son nom véritable, Lebannen, tandis que Ged, privé de sa magie, va s’exiler. Dans le même temps, Tenar, l’héroïne du deuxième tome The Tombs of Atuan, désormais veuve d’un fermier, recueille Therru, une fillette gravement brûlée et maltraitée par sa « famille ».
Le roman met en scène les retrouvailles entre Ged et Tenar, des années après leurs aventures dans The Tombs of Atuan. Tenar n’est plus la grande prêtresse de sombres divinités, et Ged n’est …
"Tehanu" est le quatrième tome du cycle Earthsea d'Ursula K. Le Guin, également connu en français sous le nom de cycle de Terremer.
Publié en 1990, près de vingt ans après le tome précédent, le roman reprend cependant le récit directement après l’épilogue de The Farthest Shore. Le vieux mage Ged et le jeune prince Arren sont de retour de leur terrible voyage : Arren va monter sur le trône sous son nom véritable, Lebannen, tandis que Ged, privé de sa magie, va s’exiler. Dans le même temps, Tenar, l’héroïne du deuxième tome The Tombs of Atuan, désormais veuve d’un fermier, recueille Therru, une fillette gravement brûlée et maltraitée par sa « famille ».
Le roman met en scène les retrouvailles entre Ged et Tenar, des années après leurs aventures dans The Tombs of Atuan. Tenar n’est plus la grande prêtresse de sombres divinités, et Ged n’est plus mage, même s’il conserve encore le titre honorifique d’archimage, le temps que les maîtres de Roke désignent son successeur. D’une certaine façon, le roman nous parle du temps qui passe, des vies qui avancent pour le meilleur et pour le pire, de la nostalgie d’une époque révolue.
Surtout, Ursula K. Le Guin propose un récit profondément féministe qui aborde les questions de la place des femmes dans la famille et dans la société, du rapport au pouvoir et de la domination masculine. Elle le fait avec talent, finesse, mais sans concession. Elle offre ainsi de la fantasy engagée, à la fois intelligente et divertissante.
J’ai l’impression que chaque tome de ce cycle est meilleur que le précédent, c’est en tout cas le cas pour l’instant. Il ne me reste désormais plus que deux livres à lire dans ce cycle, un recueil de nouvelles puis le roman final de la série. Je vais m’y mettre très vite !
Review of 'Tehanu (The Earthsea Cycle, Book 4)' on 'Storygraph'
4 stars
I enjoyed this book more than “Farthest Shore” but not as much as “Wizard of Earthsea” (one of my favourite books) and “Tombs of Atuan” (also very good). Le Gunn’s writing is as beautiful as ever but this one loses its way in the middle and the ending is satisfying but feels rushed. It was lovely to be reunited with Tenar and the dragons are always great.
This book was both heartbreaking and heartwarming. It was heartbreaking because there is a constant violence against the poor little girl, and she seems to suffer so much. But then things turn to a positive outcome at the end, and she speaks to Kalessin and calls Ged and Tenar her father and mother (when there where just hints of Tenar thinking of her as "adoptive daughter"). I was feeling joy while reading those pages.
At the fourth book in the series, I think I see a kind of tidal cycle between male- and female-focused stories. Books 1 and 3 were pretty much male-focused and books 2 and 4 are strongly female-focused. It's explicit, the Place of the Tombs of Atuan has no men, only eunuchs. In "Tehanu" the female perspective is weaved in almost every page, both in the grand scheme of things and the everyday life.
I couldn't help noticing a Christian analogy for the final scene when Kalessin says that Tehanu is their daughter, given to Ged and Tenar who should care for her - but it's Tehanu who chooses to stay and help them. So it's actually a radically different approach than the Christian God.
