The Farthest Shore is a fantasy novel by the American author Ursula K. Le Guin, first published by Atheneum in 1972. It is the third book in the series commonly called the Earthsea Cycle. As the next Earthsea novel, Tehanu, would not be released until 1990, The Farthest Shore is sometimes referred to as the final book in the so-called Earthsea trilogy, beginning with A Wizard of Earthsea. The events of The Farthest Shore take place several decades after The Tombs of Atuan and continue the story of the wizard Ged. The Farthest Shore won the 1973 National Book Award in category Children's Books. Studio Ghibli's animated film Tales from Earthsea was based primarily on this novel. Plot summary 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 Town, where they encounter a drug addled wizard called Hare. They realize that Hare and many others are under the malign influence of a powerful wizard, who is promising life after death. They head further south to the island of Lorbanery, once famous for its dyed silk. All knowledge of dyeing has been lost however, and the local people are apathetic and hostile. Fleeing the sense of evil they encounter there, Ged and Arren head southwest, to the furthest parts of the Reaches. Increasingly, they come under the influence of the dark wizard. Ged is injured when they attempt to land on an island, and Arren does little to help him. He can feel his energy ebbing from him, and they both drift away on Lookfar out into the open ocean. They are saved by the Raft People, who live on great rafts in the open ocean, only coming to land once a year to repair them. The Raft People are so far unaffected by the spreading evil and Ged and Arren recover their strength there. However, the sickness reaches the Raft People on the shortest night of the year, when their singers are struck dumb, unable to remember the songs. The dragon Orm Embar flies over the rafts and tells Ged to sail to Selidor, the westernmost isle of all Earthsea, and the home of the dragons. Orm