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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]
"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.
A Wizard of Earthsea (2005 Review)
A Wizard of Earthsea (2012 Review)
