The Farthest Shore

The Third Book of Earthsea

By: Ursula K. Le Guin

Narrated by: Kobna Holdbrook-Smith

Darkness threatens to overtake Earthsea: the world and its wizards are losing their magic. Despite being wearied with age, Ged Sparrowhawk - Archmage, wizard, and dragonlord - embarks on a daring, treacherous journey, accompanied by Enlad's young Prince Arren, to discover the reasons behind this devastating pattern of loss. Together they will sail to the farthest reaches of their world - even beyond the realm of death - as they seek to restore magic to a land desperately thirsty for it.

'[This] trilogy made me look at the world in a new way, imbued everything with a magic that was so much deeper than the magic I'd encountered before then. This was a magic of words, a magic of true speaking' Neil Gaiman

'Drink this magic up. Drown in it. Dream it' David Mitchell

Critic reviews

The Earthsea trilogy . . . is a memorable exploration of the relationship between life and death. . . Ged, its hero, must face his shadow self before it devours him. Only then will he become whole. In the process, he must contend with the wisdom of dragons: ambiguous and not our wisdom, but wisdom nonetheless (Margaret Atwood)

[This] trilogy made me look at the world in a new way, imbued everything with a magic that was so much deeper than the magic I'd encountered before then. This was a magic of words, a magic of true speaking (Neil Gaiman)

A Wizard of Earthsea reads like the retelling of a tale first told centuries ago, and whose twists and turns have been handed down through generations of storytellers. It is timeless. . . . Le Guin's words are magical. Drink this magic up. Drown in it. Dream it (David Mitchell, author of CLOUD ATLAS)

Beautiful reading

The only problem with this book is that Kobna Holbrook Smith has only read book one and book three!! An absolute, haunting pleasure.

One of the greatest Fantasy Stories written.

Fantasy lovers must have read/listened to this book series. A typical heroic story of a wizard from young and naive to wise and powerful.

Great how here the series takes a different perspective and tells the story of another character who takes an enormously important role in the Earthsea chronicles

Highly recommend this version, the narrator gives the story a wonderful sparkle and interpretation.

Prose, plot and powerful performance

Le Guin was an artist who wrote 📚- If you just want a simple story told with just enough skill to mystify you without overwhelming the fantasy palate with unnecessary elements, Le Guin's first three Earthsea book is for you. Especially The Farthest Shore, which is more "mature" than the first two and enriched with gorgeous passages. Her style is brilliant. The Narrator KHS was a bit too whispery for the Archmage at times, which is not so bad as to send it back but buyer beware, you might turn it up to hear Ged only to cringe at Aaron's childish voice. Narrator could improve in terms of dynamics but he has an awesome voice perfect for storytelling 👏🏻

Beauty and Hope

Over the many years since I first read The Farthest Shore I've reread it probably hundreds of times. In darkest hours it has given me hope, reassurance and strength even when I know the end will not be perfect. Her writing is pure and breathtaking prose. The story is bittersweet although that word is too gentle for this book. After 40 years I still cry. Read this book.

The performance distracted me though and that's not a compliment. However, what bothers me is most striking in one character so I try to get past it. The accents had me rushing through one chapter in particular.