A Wizard of Earthsea

Sword and Laser picked this book this month, and it's the first time since I joined that the choice was a book I had already read and loved. Instead of reading it again, I opted for the audiobook, a very different experience from reading it, but a pleasant one nonetheless. The reader is brilliant and does his best to capture the oral storytelling tradition in which the story is meant to be told.

Earthsea is one of my favorite series of all time, and while the first installment is not my favorite, it nevertheless remains a brilliant introduction to the world. I've been hearing a lot of people compare this work to Harry Potter and the like, but for me the comparison doesn't stand. LeGuin's prose is elevated far above Rowling's and most every other book classified as “children's” or “YA.” A Wizard of Earthsea is the type of story people used to tell their children, an uncluttered parable about the follies of youth, the truth of Self, and the dangers of shadows and dragons. It's a story children should be told and adults should be reminded of.