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Title:
A Wizard of Earthsea
Series: Earthsea Cycle
#1
Author: Ursula LeGuin
Rating: 5 of
5 Stars
Genre: Fantasy / Middle Grade
Pages:
123
Words: 61K
Publish: 1968
This
is one of those books that I’ve read since childhood. My first
memory is reading the first couple of chapters in a fantasy anthology
when I was still in my single digits. I have no idea what that
anthology was but I suspect it was a collection of chapters from full
books to whet the interest of the readers. If I cared more, I could
probably track it down, but I don’t care enough, not this year
anyway.
I
loved this book as a kid, I loved this book as a teen, I loved this
book in my 20’s, I loved this book in my 30’s and now, I’m
loving it just as much in my 40’s.
Now,
I don’t know how this would go over with me if I was approaching
this for the first time, but I have a feeling I’d still love this.
This is a coming of age story about a young man who grievously screws
up and then has to take responsibility for that mess and fix it.
LeGuin
writes an entire world with just a sentence. A hint here, a
brushstroke there and and the world of Ea comes to life. I know I am
always going on about writers who aren’t wordsmiths but my
goodness, when I see an author being an AUTHOR, it just brings joy to
my heart. It also brings rage when other people don’t appreciate
that, kind of like a food connoisseur sneering at people who think a
Big Mac from McDonalds is the height of food goodness. It has its
place, but it is NOT good food. I will wear my Book Snob badge proud
and loud!
★★★★★
From
Wikipedia
Earthsea itself is
an archipelago, or group of islands. In the fictional history of
this world, the islands were raised from the ocean by a being called
Segoy. The world is inhabited by both humans and dragons, and most or
all humans have some innate magical gift, some are more gifted
sorcerers or wizards.[18] The world is shown as being based on a
delicate balance, which most of its inhabitants are aware of, but
which is disrupted by somebody in each of the original trilogy of
novels.[19] Earthsea is pre-industrial and has diverse
cultures within the widespread archipelago. Most of the characters
are of the Hardic peoples, who are dark-skinned, and who populate
most of the islands.[20] Four large eastern islands are
inhabited by the white-skinned Kargish people, who despise
magic and see the Hardic folk as evil sorcerers: the Kargs, in turn,
are viewed by the Hardic people as barbarians. The far western
regions of the archipelago are the realm of the dragons.[20]
Plot summary
"Only
in silence the word,
only in dark the light,
only in dying
life:
bright the hawk's flight
on the empty sky."
From the Creation of
Éa, with which A Wizard of Earthsea begins.[21][22]
The novel follows a young boy
called Duny, nicknamed "Sparrowhawk", born on the
island of Gont. Discovering that the boy has great innate power, his
aunt, a witch, teaches him the little magic she knows.[15] When
his village is attacked by Kargish raiders, Duny summons a fog to
conceal the village and its inhabitants, enabling the residents to
drive off the Kargs.[16] Hearing of this, the powerful
mage Ogion takes him as an apprentice, and later gives him
his "true name"—Ged.[15] Ogion tries to teach Ged
about the "equilibrium", the concept that magic can upset
the natural order of the world if used improperly. In an attempt to
impress a girl, however, Ged searches Ogion's spell books and
inadvertently summons a strange shadow, which has to be banished by
Ogion. Sensing Ged's eagerness to act and impatience with his slow
teaching methods, Ogion asks if he would rather go to the renowned
school for wizards on the island of Roke. Ged loves Ogion, but
decides to go to the school.
At the school, Ged meets Jasper,
and is immediately on bad terms with him. He is befriended by an
older student named Vetch, but generally remains aloof from anyone
else. Ged's skills inspire admiration from teachers and students
alike. He finds a small creature—an otak, named Hoeg, and keeps it
as a pet. During a festival, Jasper acts condescendingly towards Ged,
provoking the latter's proud nature. Ged challenges him to a duel of
magic,[16] and casts a powerful spell intended to raise the
spirit of a legendary dead woman. The spell goes awry and instead
releases a shadow creature, which attacks him and scars his face. The
Archmage Nemmerle drives the shadow away, but at the cost of his
life.[15][20]
Ged spends many months healing
before resuming his studies. The new Archmage, Gensher, describes the
shadow as an ancient evil that wishes to possess Ged, and
warns him that the creature has no name. Ged eventually graduates and
receives his wizard's staff.[16] He then takes up residence in
the Ninety Isles, providing the poor villagers protection from the
dragons that have seized and taken up residence on the nearby island
of Pendor, but discovers that he is still being sought by the shadow.
Knowing that he cannot guard against both threats at the same time,
he sails to Pendor and gambles his life on a guess of the adult
dragon's true name. When he is proved right, the dragon offers to
tell him the name of the shadow, but Ged instead extracts a promise
that the dragon and his offspring will never threaten the
archipelago.
Chased
by the shadow, Ged flees to Osskil, having heard of the stone of the
Terrenon. He is attacked by the shadow, and barely escapes into the
Court of Terrenon. Serret, the lady of the castle, and the same girl
that Ged had tried to impress, shows him the stone, and urges Ged to
speak to it, claiming it can give him limitless knowledge and power.
Recognizing that the stone harbors one of the Old Powers—ancient,
powerful, malevolent beings—Ged refuses. He flees and is pursued by
the stone's minions, but transforms into a swift falcon and
escapes as Serret, having taken the form of a gull, is killed.
Ged also loses his otak to the shadow.
Ged flies back to Ogion on Gont.
Unlike Gensher, Ogion insists that all creatures have a name and
advises Ged to confront the shadow.[16] Ogion is proved right;
when Ged seeks out the shadow, it flees from him. Ged pursues it in a
small sailboat, until it lures him into a fog where the boat is
wrecked on a reef. Ged recovers with the help of an elderly
couple marooned on a small island since they were children; the woman
gives Ged part of a broken bracelet as a gift. Ged patches his boat
and resumes his pursuit of the creature into the East Reach. On the
island of Iffish, he meets his friend Vetch, who insists on joining
him.[20] They journey east far beyond the last known lands
before they finally come upon the shadow. Naming it with his own
name, Ged merges with it and joyfully tells Vetch he is healed and
whole.
