The Farthest Shore

The Farthest Shore is a fantasy novel by the American author Ursula K. Le Guin, first published by Atheneum in 1972. It was her third novel set in the fictional archipelago Earthsea and it completed the so-called Earthsea Trilogy (1968 to 1972).[a] Its events take place about two decades after The Tombs of Atuan. The Farthest Shore won the 1973 National Book Award in category Children's Books.[2] It is the Earthsea story that inspired the Studio Ghibli animated film Tales from Earthsea. A strange, inexplicable malaise is spreading throughout Earthsea. Magic is losing its power; songs are being forgotten; people and animals are sickening or going mad. Accompanied by Arren, the young Prince of Enlad, the Archmage Ged leaves Roke Island to find the cause on his boat Lookfar. They head south to Hort, chief port of the island of Wathort where they encounter a drug addled wizard called Hare, who almost tricks them into following him into the Dry Land to their deaths. They realise that Hare and many others are under the malign influence of a powerful wizard, who is literally sucking the life out of the world. They head further south again to the island of Lorbanery, which was once famous for its dyed silk. All knowledge of dyeing has been lost however, and the local people are apathetic and hostile to the visitors.