This new, fifth, Earthsea novel pits Ged, Tenar, and Tehanu against the dead. A dragon shows the hard way to salvation. Le Guin shows us the politics of the Archipelago, the crisis caused by the dragons who have come in great flights setting fire to the forests and islands in the west, and the richness of the city: painted bridges, towers topped with sword blades, ships with sails like swan wings. The narrative style is poetic and possesses the simple dignity and compelling rhythm of both fairy tale and epic.