“In the court of the fountain the sun of March shone through young leaves of ash and elm, and water leapt and fell through shadow and clear light.”
Ursula K. Le Guin, The Farthest Shore, 1972
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The Farthest shore is the third book in the series. The original finale, it would be 18 years until Le Guin wrote another book set in Earthsea.
Books one and two were Bildungsroman novels (meaning coming-of-age stories which focus on an individual’s inner development as they gain experience which shape who they become as an adult). As much as book three is also a coming-of-age tale like the previous two, it is also about accepting life-after-youth.
The story re-centers around Ged, who is now middle-aged and the greatest living wizard. His counsel is sought by young prince Arren because of troubling reports from all across Earthsea that magic is dying. During their travels to distant islands they find a lethargic malaise spreading across the kingdoms of the world, as if the spark of life is seeping away. At the heart of the mystery is a strange force which promises everlasting life while betraying and feeding off of those who pledge themselves to it.
In one sense The Farthest Shore is Arren’s coming-of-age story as his experiences prepare him to be a good and empathetic king. But in another sense it is about Ged accepting that his role is to become lesser as Arren becomes greater; the older generation receding as the younger ascends. To drive the theme further, the antagonist they seek is bent on breaking this cycle, replacing acceptance of death with an immortality based on avarice; stealing from the young to hoard everlasting life.
The Farthest Shore is a meditation on what happens when the middle-aged begin to accept (or refuse to accept) their own mortality. When people who once had their best days ahead must now mentor and celebrate the next generation, or instead live as if the world should not outlive them.
This is probably the weakest entry in the Books of Earthsea, but its underlying theme of acceptance of the passage of time resonated with me.