I'm on track for finishing Earthsea this year! After the "eh" of The Farthest Shore, I was very profoundly moved by Tehanu while also understanding why fans of the first series think this is a slap in the face. Many die, many are basically dead. The world is both moving on and deeply ossified in tradition that was simply a backdrop to the first three books. Yes, witches' magic is weak (as told in the first book) - so why do we need to dive into that? Well, I'm glad Le Guin did.

Tehanu might be super on-the-nose in terms of its "feminist" readings (something Le Guin disagreed with, finding that term only useful by its enemies), but everything there is appropriate both for Earthsea and the state of fantasy itself. Yes, what does it mean when Tenar - a woman of unimaginable skill and courage - is simply sidelined to marriage after The Tombs of Atuan? This book wasn't what fantasy deserved, but it's what Earthsea needed.