"There's no less or greater in an absolute thing," Sparrowhawk said. "All or nothing at all, the true lover says, and that's the truth of it. My love with never die, he says. He claims eternity. And rightly. How can it die when it's life itself? What do we know of eternity but the glimpse we get of it when we enter in that bond?"

I absolutely fell in love with the Earthsea Quartet last year - they completely swept me up and I was lost in the dizzying, delectably magical world of Le Guin's creation, and they quickly became some of my favourite books of all time. I still have Tales of Earthsea to read, which is a collection of short stories that expand on the lore and characters of the series, but I think I'll save that one for a later date...I just wanted to be reunited with Ged, Tenar and Tehanu again so I picked this one up as my next visit.

As always, Ursula K Le Guin's writing is impeccable. It's so crisp and precise, not a single word out of place or exchangeable with any other, and I love how sparing she, never adding anything in that doesn't need to be there. It is a delight to be with these characters again, although I regretted how little Ged was in this story. I really liked the direction Le Guin took with Tehanu and it was also great to see King Lebannen again, as well as some great new additions to this world such as Alder and the Princess, Seserakh.

The books in the Earthsea Quartet were all immediate favourites, all 5/5 star reads for me, and this one, while great, wasn't quite up there with the others. While the further exploration of the Dry Lands, which were touched on in The Farthest Shore, was compelling, I felt that those four previous books didn't, for me, need further expansion. I think the fourth book, Tehanu, completed the story nicely and in a satisfying way - I think it was a perfect resolution for Ged and Tenar, and it felt like a goodbye to these characters and this world. I'm not sure that this was a story that I needed...I enjoyed it and, like I said, I think Le Guin did some excellent work with some of the old characters and introduced some great new ones, and the storyline itself was brilliantly executed, but I'm not completely convinced that it was necessary.

I think I'll revisit the original quartet and, perhaps, leave this one to the side. I may reread it in the future and reconsider that but, as of right now, I enjoyed it but it didn't add anything to my love for the original quartet.