The Other Wind by Ursula le Guin
Having finished Ursula le Guin’s The Other Wind I would say that my overwhelming impression is interest in the insight it gives into the creative process. Picture the scene: In the 1970s Ursula le Guin writes a trilogy about Earthsea and thinks that she has gleaned from that world all there is to glean. Nearly 20 later she revisits it and writes a novel which is entirely different and in many ways more powerful, Tehanu. That provokes Tales from Earthsea, a book of short stories which plays a role in driving forward the narrative, then The Other Wind, the fifth Earthsea novel and sixth Earthsea book.
I believe that, in the introduction to Tales from Earthsea, she says that on revisiting her island world she found certain things had happened, as it were, in her absence. Suddenly things were clear in the plot that she hadn’t seen before, and which led to the continuation of the narrative. Suddenly she and we have a much clearer view of Earthsea, which has almost gained its own creation myth in this process. And the clues were in the books all along.
While we can admire the terrific creativity and organisation that allows JK Rowling to know what happens seven novels in advance, and to plan it all out minutely, I don’t think this is a common way of working among authors. I love the idea that Le Guin was able to go back and see what had been there all along – and presumably get that lovely feeling for a writer of everything falling into place.
As an aside, I think The Lathe of Heaven and Orsinian Tales will be my next stops. For a complete Le Guin bibliography, visit her website.