A Wizard of Earthsea
Ratings498
Average rating3.9
Originally published in 1968, Ursula K. Le Guin’s A Wizard of Earthsea marks the first of the six now beloved Earthsea titles. Ged was the greatest sorcerer in Earthsea, but in his youth he was the reckless Sparrowhawk. In his hunger for power and knowledge, he tampered with long-held secrets and loosed a terrible shadow upon the world. This is the tumultuous tale of his testing, how he mastered the mighty words of power, tamed an ancient dragon, and crossed death's threshold to restore the balance. This ebook includes a sample chapter of THE TOMBS OF ATUAN.
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6 primary books9 released booksEarthsea Cycle
Earthsea Cycle is a 9-book series with 6 primary works first released in 17 with contributions by Ursula K. Le Guin and Ginger Clark.
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This is one of the kind of books that people shudder when they think of fantasy. To be fair, it is one of the precursors of this kind of stories.
It is a children's book and offers nothing worthwhile reading, just some standard young magic boy tropes.
Read 0:58 of 7:09 / 14%
There was nothing new in this book for me. Themes I've encountered before and the same old uber-powerful hero. On top of it all, everything felt rushed. A bit of a disappointment, this one.
ORIGINALLY POSTED AT Fantasy Literature.
Le Guin's writing is beautiful – lyrical and powerful. I love how she makes all of her words count. They are all necessary, there's no fluff or redundancy – it's simple, natural, alive, and vivid. Her understanding of different people and cultures (her father was an anthropologist and her mother was a psychologist) enhances her ability to create imaginative, creative, and believable characters and worlds. When you step into Earthsea, you feel like you're in a real world with real people. It's deep and engrossing right from the start. And did I mention that the writing is beautiful?
This is the original boy-finds-out-he's-a-wizard-and-goes-to-wizard-school story and it's highly enjoyable for both adults and kids. And some of them are available on audiobook or Audible.com download – Hooray! (Those created by Fantastic Audio are particularly entertaining). Read more Ursula Le Guin book reviews at Fantasy literature.
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