A Wizard of Earthsea (Earthsea Cycle, #1)

by Ursula K. Le Guin

Ged was the greatest sorcerer in all Earthsea, but once he was called Sparrowhawk, a reckless youth, hungry for power and knowledge, who tampered with long-held secrets and loosed a terrible shadow upon the world. This is the 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.

• ISBN10: 0553262505
• ISBN13: 9780553262506
• Publish Date: 1 April 1984 (first published 14 October 1971)
• Publish Status: Active
• Out of Print: 6 November 2012
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group Inc
• Imprint: Bantam USA
• Format: Paperback
• Pages: 192
• Language: English

Reviews

[kerrydarkeyes]

There’s a beautiful simplicity to this story — I thought I would struggle, since it’s older fantasy, but I was invested in Ged’s journey.

Minus one star for an excessive amount of geography and a female sorcerer who was your stereotypical Evil Woman.

[jamiereadthis]

This felt like something between prologue and parable, and yet I’m still into it. More Earthsea, here I come.

[HekArtemis]

2.5 stars. I do like the story. I don't really like how it was written. It's the type of writing that tells you about what is happening, but doesn't really draw you into the story. I like to be drawn into the story, like I am part of the story, the world, and when I look up from the book I have to remind myself that I am on Earth now. Earthsea just didn't do that for me, it didn't draw me in. I need a book to draw me in.

[inlibrisveritas]

’ve been meaning to read a book by Ursula K. Le Guin since I first discovered her when I was about 12. I checked out a book of hers but never got around to reading it, now here I am 15 years later finally getting around to it. Better late than never!

A Wizard of Earthsea follows Ged, a young wizard who is learning the art of magic as well as the limits of the power within himself. In some ways, it’s a very typical coming of age story as Ged learns to balance his usage of magic and overcome his own arrogance. The ways in which it is not typical lies in the world itself. Earthsea is a world that is set up as a series of archipelagos. There are no large land masses where many cultures live, but instead a lot of smaller islands that can be incredibly isolated from one another. I personally enjoyed the world building, of what there is, more than the story itself. That’s not to say the story wasn’t good but it did seem to be lacking something magnetic. I formed very little personal connection with the story itself or it’s characters and felt more like a distant observer who is only getting the basic overview of events. Ursula’s writing is simple yet somewhat elegant, and I am curious to see how her writing develops over the course of the series.

Ged is a strong-willed and often times brash individual towards the beginning of the book, and I liked seeing his growth overall as he wrestles with the problems he has created. His journey to freedom from his self-imposed problem is the heart of the story and I realized that it’s actually fairly rare to have a book focus solely on the consequences of one small decision made by the main character in adolescence. However, I don’t really feel like I know Ged. The book is fairly short, but the depth of character development just isn’t there. For the first half of the book, I was severely annoyed with him as he fed into his own ego and didn’t truly care about his journey, and it wasn’t until midway through the second half that I really started to like him. The only character I really liked from the first moment was Vetch, who doesn’t get nearly enough page time. I was also thrown off by the lack of strong female characters, given that Ursula is often recommended for that exact thing. In fact, nearly all of the women in this book are either kind of ignorant or conniving. I’ve heard that she makes up for this glaring issue in other books, so there is still hope.

I rather enjoyed the audiobook of this one. I’ve listened to Rob Ingles narrate the Lord of the Rings trilogy and loved his treatment of that work, and I’m happy to say he really breathes life into this one as well. His voice work is fantastic and I love his pacing, and honestly, he made the whole thing a little more interesting.

I’m really glad that I’m reading this series with a group because while the book isn’t terrible, it doesn’t really have much that makes me want to move forward. I am curious about where the second book will go now that his major character growth is out of the way, but I’m somewhat disappointed in the rather unforgettable nature of this one.

Great quick light classic fantasy book. I found this laying around the house as a part of my "read everything I own challenge" and I'm glad I did. Can't wait to read the next two/few.

[teachergorman]

This novel is such a classic that it doesn’t need my additional plaudits, but I think one thing should be said. While this book is written in a style that demands that the reader recognize its importance - a kind of mythic style reminiscent of Beowulf or Le Mort d’Arthur, I came to it after reading LeGuin’s Powers series. This book is fully deserving of its 5 stars, but I think I enjoyed the Powers series more because they were more subtle. It’s reassuring to see that an author of LeGuin’s talent can still grow and shift in her style.

[ibeforem]

It’s been a while since I read true fantasy! This book is one of my husband’s favorites, so I figured I should give it a read at some point. I did enjoy it. There’s a lot of great, extensive world-building, with a variety of characters. At its heart it’s a coming-of-age story, as Sparrowhawk grows from an impetuous, cocky teen to a man with the weight of the world on his shoulders. I also enjoyed the way the magic worked — simple and tied to the land. And it’s clear that there’s more to Sparrowhawk’s story. If you enjoy fantasy, this is a classic worth reading.

[Ben Pick]

Thrilling start to a riveting series. Ursula Le Guin masterfully crafts the seafaring tale of a boy learning to wield magic. Every object in the world has a true name and every spell has unexpected consequences.

[dokie80]

Mirip Eragon Series... Bukan dr segi naga nya, tapi dari segi magic nya. Lots of wisdom. :)
Dan mirip Bartimaeus Trilogy... Nama asli kudu di rahasiain.

[empressbrooke]

I waver between giving this 2 and 3 stars; it's very dry and not written in the most readable style, but I almost feel like giving it two stars denies its historic importance to the fantasy genre.

Despite clocking in under 200 pages, it's not really a quick read. Like I've noted before in some of Ray Bradbury's books, the language is poetic but doesn't flow like you expect it to, so you have to read slowly and absorb each word. I spent more time with it than I wanted to, and by the time I was done, I couldn't say that I really enjoyed Ged's journey. The end is both expected and anticlimactic, and never once did I feel like there was really anything at stake.

I'm not yet sure if I'll continue with the series. I'll probably read some reviews first and find out of it improves (and I completely welcome fans' thoughts about whether I'd enjoy later ones if I was only so-so on this one).