A boy grows to manhood while attempting to subdue the evil he unleashed on the world as an apprentice to the Master Wizard.
A classic with no immediate legacy, unfortunately, than Le Guin's own series. A pitch perfect exploration of power, ambition, and responsibility that should have had more of an impact than it ever did. The clear plotting, the sharp characterization, and an evocative world makes for one of the best fantasy novels ever.
A Wizard of Earthsea is one of the most important fantasy novels in the genre, right up there with Tolkien. Reading this book, finally, for the first time, I see how other novels have stood on its shoulders (most notably the Kingkiller Chronicles), and I am glad this book exists.
That being said, it is not a book for me; possibly, Ursula K. Le Guin is not an author for me. It reads like it was written by an anthropologist (in fact, I was certain she must be until I looked it up just now), which was fine during The Left Hand of Darkness, but dry and wearing during a fantasy adventure.
As with many books I'm just getting around to, I think to myself, "If only 10, 15, 20 years ago someone handed me this book."
Points off for style. A strange choice. Props to her for pulling it off, but I just don't like it. maybe if I listened to the audio book it would have been a better experience?
Regardless, I plan on reading the rest of the series. Excellent world-building.
Fun story definitely not what I expected. I didn't realize how wrong the SciFi (before the damaged syfy) mini-series really had it. Really enjoyed the good/evil aspect really wasn't there. There was an ego that did horrible things borne of spite, envy, and jealously, but was it truly evil if it was a part of Ged?
Nonetheless, this was just a good book and beautifully written.
I loved this novel. It was an excellent representation of what fantasy is, and it was well written to boot. After reading this book, I feel that I can look to Le Guin as a model of how to write fantasy novels. As someone who is trying to write her own novel, I enjoyed the book on an extra level, as it provided many examples for accomplishing certain aspects within a story. I loved the way she introduced Sparrowhawk, and how he was a pretty unlikeable character at first, and the way she transformed him into a sympathetic character. His character was fairly simple too--he had simple motivations, feelings, and reactions. She didn't overcomplicate him or her story, and in that way as well, it was a very refreshing read.
An amazing book, indeed. All that issues regarding the power of naming people, animals and things were just amazing, hiding a powerful message about the language and Linguistics. In a land where the real or true names are so precious, the "magic power" only can be the power of... naming the world around us, giving meaning to our surroundings from the moment we are born until we die! That's awesome, somehow and indirectly a beautiful homage to the Levi Strauss' Structuralism or, perhaps more important, a beautiful homage to the Language itself.
An amazing book, indeed. All that issues regarding the power of naming people, animals and things were just amazing, hiding a powerful message about the language and Linguistics. In a land where the real or true names are so precious, the "magic power" only can be the power of... naming the world around us, giving meaning to our surroundings from the moment we are born until we die! That's awesome, somehow and indirectly a beautiful homage to the Levi Strauss' Structuralism or, perhaps more important, a beautiful homage to the Language itself.
My rating might have been much higher if I had read this earlier in my life. Now this book's interesting details seem like "more of the same" but I have a feeling they were much fresher at the time of publishing.
It's well known as a masterpiece of fantasy, but here are two things that aren't as well known.
1. Ged is black. Race was (and is) a big deal to Ursula K. Le Guin.
2. It's a great illustration of the principles of Taoism.
3. It's great as a standalone novel, but one of the best beginnings to a trilogy ever. (this is just my opinion)
I never knew the setup was from «Daphnis and Chloe».
One of the absolute classics of fantasy - this is a tremedous book written by a tremendous author. It has a rather unique feel to it that sets it apart from most any other piece of fantasy and really sets a tone that works brilliantly with the characters and story.
I remember reading this book years and years ago and disliking it for whatever reason, even though Evan loved it and read the whole series. I wanted to give it another chance now because I was pretty sure I didn't give it a fair shake at the time, and I've been in the mood for period fantasy lately. Luckily, this was an excellent read, and I look forward to the next book in the series. Now I just need to re-read The Great Gatsby to undo the work of junior English class...
