Ursula Le Guin, Tehanu: The Last Book of Earthsea

Luke Shelton (University of Glasgow)

Ed. by Dimitra Fimi, University of Glasgow
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 3.2.4: American (US) Writing and Culture: Postwar and Contemporary, 1945-present.
Vol. editors: Emory Elliott (University of California, Riverside), Dale Enggass (University of Utah), Christopher Hugh Gair (University of Glasgow), Matthew Hofer (University of New Mexico), Stephen E. Meats (Pittsburg State University), Kerry Myler (Newman University), Justin Parks (UiT - The Arctic University of Norway), Nick Selby (University of East Anglia)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1990

Places

United States (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Novel

Resources

Ursula K. Le Guin’s fourth book in the Earthsea cycle would not be published until approximately eighteen years after the third. Published in 1990, Tehanu initially bore the phrase “the last book of Earthsea” on its cover. Although there were two additional volumes eventually added to the cycle in 2001, this book stood as the final text in the series for around a decade. Le Guin won the 1990 Nebula Award for Best Novel from the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America for Tehanu.

The main character in Tehanu is decidedly not Ged. Instead, the story focuses on, and is told from the perspective of, Tenar. This is the same character whom Ged met in the second book of the series, <…

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2155 words

Citation: Shelton, Luke. "Tehanu: The Last Book of Earthsea". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 18 January 2020 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=24759, accessed 22 November 2024.]

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