More of a typical adventure novel than Tombs of Atuan. The farthest shore takes the reader to the farthest reaches of LeGuin's Earthsea. This 3rd book in the Earthsea series drives home to me how odd these novels are. The main recurring character of the series so far is really only the main character of the first book. Most of the conflicts are resolved by speaking. The undead are dispelled by the wizard knowing how to tell them to go away, dragons are handled by knowing how to keep interesting conversation with them, etc. Even the most legitimate kings & warriors are basically pirates. The more I read Earthsea, the more I'm thinking I would not have been able to get these books as a kid (I probably would have appreciated the Ekumen books more). Looking forward to reading Tehanu, and maybe re-reading the Earthsea novellas in Found & Lost before I return it to the library.