Fantasy

A Wizard of Earthsea

A Wizard of Earthsea

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  • Create Date：2021-08-09 04:20:59
  • Update Date：2025-09-07
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  • Author：Ursula K. Le Guin
  • ISBN：B002H05F9C
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Summary

Ged， the greatest sorcerer in all Earthsea， was called Sparrowhawk in his reckless youth。

Hungry for power and knowledge， Sparrowhawk 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。

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Reviews

Piper Harris ，

Loved the setting and diversity， the freshness of the idea。 But found the writing style a little difficult and maybe a bit too much happened for me to keep up with

Eafiu ，

Ged is what happens when a bimbo with too much power is let loose upon a world。

Isabelle ，

First of Ursula K Le Guin's full stories that I've read and an exciting and interesting one it was indeed。 Slightly unfortuantely I knew the bones of the plot before I read it and so I didn't get to fully experience the story for the first time whilst reading， however it was a great start to the series and I'm excited to continue with them （and more of Le Guin's stories！） First of Ursula K Le Guin's full stories that I've read and an exciting and interesting one it was indeed。 Slightly unfortuantely I knew the bones of the plot before I read it and so I didn't get to fully experience the story for the first time whilst reading， however it was a great start to the series and I'm excited to continue with them （and more of Le Guin's stories！） 。。。more

Alexander LaBarbera ，

I don't think anything about this book is particularly bad。 Having come from A Game of Thrones， this book felt too simple for my liking。 That being said， A Wizard of Earthsea is a genre classic and built the foundations for contemporary fantasy。 A Wizard of Earths walked so fantasy could fly。 I don't think anything about this book is particularly bad。 Having come from A Game of Thrones， this book felt too simple for my liking。 That being said， A Wizard of Earthsea is a genre classic and built the foundations for contemporary fantasy。 A Wizard of Earths walked so fantasy could fly。 。。。more

RJA Lackenbauer ，

This was an exceptionally written book。 The personalities of the characters were so profound and un ordinary。 This book brought a whole new part of fantasy into light。 The one thing I found unsatisfying was the action。 It was non-existent。 The story build up to these battles and fights， then they disappointed you。 I would add more action sequences and go more in-depth in those parts， if I were to re-write this story

Mike Giammaria ，

The Ends of the EarthThe story of a young man and his friend and how far they had to go to encounter what was troubling the young man。 Where ever you go， there you are。

Pranav ，

the world building in this my GOD it’s exquisiteeeeee。 i’m ngl i got a little lost around the climax but that was kinda on me because i was thinking about other things。 it’s so hard to really capture my experience w this book but it feels like a fantasy book written for its fantasy world if that makes sense？？？ the book was written in a very lore-like sense and in that way it didn’t pander to me at all as someone who isnt of that world。 plus i think a lot of YA fantasy tends to have very similar the world building in this my GOD it’s exquisiteeeeee。 i’m ngl i got a little lost around the climax but that was kinda on me because i was thinking about other things。 it’s so hard to really capture my experience w this book but it feels like a fantasy book written for its fantasy world if that makes sense？？？ the book was written in a very lore-like sense and in that way it didn’t pander to me at all as someone who isnt of that world。 plus i think a lot of YA fantasy tends to have very similar prose and style these days。 this felt refreshing and like a return to form 。。。more

Darcy ，

Wasn’t sure what to expect from a book written for young adults in the 60/70s - first few chapters put my mind at ease as it read more or less like any contemporary fantasy book。 But the plot is dreadfully boring and the characters extremely shallow。 The story of ged is similar to kvothe in name of the wind but feels like a really bad first draft of that story （obviously wizard comes first and may have been groundbreaking for it’s time - but that does not make it a pleasant read today， more like Wasn’t sure what to expect from a book written for young adults in the 60/70s - first few chapters put my mind at ease as it read more or less like any contemporary fantasy book。 But the plot is dreadfully boring and the characters extremely shallow。 The story of ged is similar to kvothe in name of the wind but feels like a really bad first draft of that story （obviously wizard comes first and may have been groundbreaking for it’s time - but that does not make it a pleasant read today， more like a historical relic） 。。。more

Squermish the Book Cat ，

I read - or had this read to me - as a child and for some reason never came back to it。 I can't help thinking I must have been terrified by the Shadow， so maybe that was why！What a joy of rediscovery this was。 From epic themes to personal stories， this is a very sophisticated novel for children， yet is a fluid and exciting read。I wish I'd come back to this 35 years ago。 I read - or had this read to me - as a child and for some reason never came back to it。 I can't help thinking I must have been terrified by the Shadow， so maybe that was why！What a joy of rediscovery this was。 From epic themes to personal stories， this is a very sophisticated novel for children， yet is a fluid and exciting read。I wish I'd come back to this 35 years ago。 。。。more

Perico ，

"Alguien puede saber a dónde va， mas nunca podrá saberlo sino regresa y vuelve a su origen， y atesora ese origen。 Si no quiere ser una rama desgajada que va y viene y se hunde a merced de la corriente， entonces tendrá que ser el torrente mismo， todo él desde el movimiento hasta la desembocadura en las aguas del mar"Sin lugar a dudas， algo ha cambiado dentro de mí al leer esto。 Los compartimentos de mi mente se han reorganizado y transfigurado。En Terramar no hay guerras ni orgías hormonales de de "Alguien puede saber a dónde va， mas nunca podrá saberlo sino regresa y vuelve a su origen， y atesora ese origen。 Si no quiere ser una rama desgajada que va y viene y se hunde a merced de la corriente， entonces tendrá que ser el torrente mismo， todo él desde el movimiento hasta la desembocadura en las aguas del mar"Sin lugar a dudas， algo ha cambiado dentro de mí al leer esto。 Los compartimentos de mi mente se han reorganizado y transfigurado。En Terramar no hay guerras ni orgías hormonales de descuartización mecánica de monstruos， diablos o demonios， cosa detestable pero común en los libros de fantasía y en nuestros medios visuales。 En Terramar las batallas son contra uno mismo y sus monstruos interiores。 El viaje sensorial a través de las descripciones líricas de Le Guin es profundamente cautivador。 La sensibilidad es tan palpable que cuando el corazón del lector no es remolcado por las aguas de Terramar con tanta facilidad como Ged a bordo del Miralejos， está descubriendo la pérdida y el sufrimiento que le lleva a la victoria。 El tipo de victoria que no es el final de una batalla sino el comienzo de una vida。 。。。more

Katy Lovejoy ，

I liked parts of it

Imane ，

I ended up enjoying it a lot more than I expected， probably because it led me towards shores that I did not see coming。 The best part might be the afterword tho。。。 Ursula K。 Le Guin said fuck battles of good versus evil this is a story about hubris， downfall， and reconciliation with who you are。 On the downside， I thought the role of women was quite limited and very archetypal but I'm glad that Le Guin later fully recognised it and went on to improve the Earthsea literary universe with a lot mor I ended up enjoying it a lot more than I expected， probably because it led me towards shores that I did not see coming。 The best part might be the afterword tho。。。 Ursula K。 Le Guin said fuck battles of good versus evil this is a story about hubris， downfall， and reconciliation with who you are。 On the downside， I thought the role of women was quite limited and very archetypal but I'm glad that Le Guin later fully recognised it and went on to improve the Earthsea literary universe with a lot more nuance whereas female characters were concerned。 Overall， I found Le Guin's mastery over words continuously improving while retaining that comforting quality， where literary beauty isn't perfected to the point of being sterile。 As strange as it sounds， I found the progression of the story very organic， and the themes explored in A Wizard of Earthsea - balance， ambition， pride， humility - engaging and thoughtful。 Looking forward to reading further installments and continuing to make my way through the LGLU （Le Guin Literary Universe）！ 。。。more

Janus ，

2

Yalım Yılmaz ，

Wish I had this book when I was 12-16 yo

Justine ，

I Loved this book！ Ursula Le Guin has become one of my favourite authors from reading this book i haven't been able to get enough of her work since。 Her creations have such depth and space that you feel the breath and time that the characters experience， the unformed words and wisdom in the silence。 The magic she touches upon in these books is a true magic of balance and equilibrium， it is transformative to one that takes the lessons she offers up。 I Loved this book！ Ursula Le Guin has become one of my favourite authors from reading this book i haven't been able to get enough of her work since。 Her creations have such depth and space that you feel the breath and time that the characters experience， the unformed words and wisdom in the silence。 The magic she touches upon in these books is a true magic of balance and equilibrium， it is transformative to one that takes the lessons she offers up。 。。。more

Liz C ，

Sorry， not for me - this reads like a parable where the characters are kept at a distance and in broad strokes because it all happened a long long time ago。 If you enjoyed the writing style of "The Alchemist" by Paolo Coehlo - you'd like this。 I didn't。 Sorry， not for me - this reads like a parable where the characters are kept at a distance and in broad strokes because it all happened a long long time ago。 If you enjoyed the writing style of "The Alchemist" by Paolo Coehlo - you'd like this。 I didn't。 。。。more

Afton ，

A Wizard of Earthsea is an underrated classic fantasy。 Quick to read and wonderfully imaginative， it definitely deserves more attention then it gets。

Zach ，

Absolutely devoured A Wizard of Earthsea， and will be coming back for more。 I know it’s YA Fantasy Fiction， but it is generally well-written and intriguing throughout， and the fact of the matter is I thoroughly enjoyed it。

Yuliya ，

This is the most difficult book I ever had to rate。I hated every moment of reading it for it arose no emotions in me aside boredom。 I have not read any other book with the main character， Ged， so undeveloped that I knew next to nothing about him through the whole story。 There is no description， no thoughts and minimal interaction of this character with others。 At no point I cared about Ged or what will happen to him next。Only when I finished the story I understood the moral of it。 Ged is nobody This is the most difficult book I ever had to rate。I hated every moment of reading it for it arose no emotions in me aside boredom。 I have not read any other book with the main character， Ged， so undeveloped that I knew next to nothing about him through the whole story。 There is no description， no thoughts and minimal interaction of this character with others。 At no point I cared about Ged or what will happen to him next。Only when I finished the story I understood the moral of it。 Ged is nobody and yet， he is everyone I know including myself。 It does not matter how he looks like and what he thinks except that we all share something in common: the shadow， something regretful we created out of ignorance。 I do not regret reading it after all。 It was worth that "I understand why Le Guin wrote it this way" moment。 。。。more

Kaitlin Marian ，

The storyline itself was good， and the writing was mostly good too。 It just got a bit too tedious at times， and I found my attention wandering at some points… I can’t quite nail down whether I enjoyed the book or not。 I didn’t not enjoy it。 But it didn’t quite scratch my itch this time round which is a shame as it came highly recommended by my partner who loved this book and found it thoroughly engaging。

Iain T ，

Recommended to readers who want to dip their toe in the fantasy genre （it's under 200 pages）。 No world-building here just a straight forward hero's journey。 I'm not sure it's deserving of cult status though。 I define cult as something that's excellent and that a small group of people appreciate， the novel is too everyman in its approach for that。 Recommended to readers who want to dip their toe in the fantasy genre （it's under 200 pages）。 No world-building here just a straight forward hero's journey。 I'm not sure it's deserving of cult status though。 I define cult as something that's excellent and that a small group of people appreciate， the novel is too everyman in its approach for that。 。。。more

Noah Schmitz ，

I havent felt like a kid while reading for a decade， but this book took me right back。

Bookish Beckish ，

It's a really fun story， with dragons。 If you are a dragon loving reader like myself， anything with dragons is getting an extra star just for having dragons。 This is a good story。 I liked it。 It's not my favorite dragon tale。。。but it works It's a really fun story， with dragons。 If you are a dragon loving reader like myself， anything with dragons is getting an extra star just for having dragons。 This is a good story。 I liked it。 It's not my favorite dragon tale。。。but it works 。。。more

Kat Chilvers ，

I didn't know what to expect when I finally got around to reading the work of Ursula K。 Le Guin but she is a beloved author to some of my beloved authors so I knew that I had to read her work at some point。Duny is a small boy living on a small island with an interest in big magic。 A Wizard of Earthsea follows Duny on this unique coming-of-age story。Three things struck me most when I finished this book - one， the well-crafted theme of identity （which is kinda my jam）; two， the characters and thre I didn't know what to expect when I finally got around to reading the work of Ursula K。 Le Guin but she is a beloved author to some of my beloved authors so I knew that I had to read her work at some point。Duny is a small boy living on a small island with an interest in big magic。 A Wizard of Earthsea follows Duny on this unique coming-of-age story。Three things struck me most when I finished this book - one， the well-crafted theme of identity （which is kinda my jam）; two， the characters and three， the writing style。I am not the first to say that it was definitely unique for a writer in the 1960s to have so much diversity in their fantasy novel （a genre that still fails at representation in the 21st century）。 Not only is the protagonist described as having "nut-brown skin" but most characters we come across in Earthsea are POC。 I recommend reading some interviews of hers if you want to learn more about this literary pioneer。As for the way it is written， the best way I can describe it is that this is how I'd imagine fairytales would be written if adults were the intended audience。 The stories are fast-paced， concise yet enchanting。 Years are condensed into sentences and the narration is told as if Le Guin is documenting heroic tales from long ago。 I'd highly recommend it to anyone wanting something different or any fans of fantasy。 。。。more

Helen ，

Great book and fairly quick read。 Good for all ages with a great message！

Omerly Mendoza ，

"Eso no requiere una guerra sino una búsqueda y un descubrimiento。 La búsqueda lo conduce a través de peligros mortales， pérdidas y sufrimiento。 El descubrimiento le trae la victoria， esa clase de victoria que no es el final de una batalla sino el comienzo de una vida。" 4★Ursula K。 Le Guin me ha atrapado con su maravillosa forma de escribir。 Cabe decir que esta autora llegó en el momento preciso a mi vida。Un mago en Terramar nos cuenta la historia de Ged， y su travesía para convertirse en un "Eso no requiere una guerra sino una búsqueda y un descubrimiento。 La búsqueda lo conduce a través de peligros mortales， pérdidas y sufrimiento。 El descubrimiento le trae la victoria， esa clase de victoria que no es el final de una batalla sino el comienzo de una vida。" 4★Ursula K。 Le Guin me ha atrapado con su maravillosa forma de escribir。 Cabe decir que esta autora llegó en el momento preciso a mi vida。Un mago en Terramar nos cuenta la historia de Ged， y su travesía para convertirse en un mago。 Así de simple。 El libro gira entorno al crecimiento de Ged， y debo destacar que ha sido increíble， me ha impresionado el desarrollo del personaje en tan pocas páginas。 Ursula nos presenta un mundo fantástico， que tiene todos los elementos característicos que enamoran en los libros de fantasía。 No puedo esperar por seguir mi travesía con esta saga， y probablemente otros libros de la autora。 。。。more

Love， Zaida ，

Probablemente 3'5 ⭐️ Probablemente 3'5 ⭐️ 。。。more

David Campey ，

Fantastic read， lyrical storytelling and a deeply woven straightforward story of light and shadow told in 1968 before the worlds of modern fantasy had been charted。

Noor Al-Shanti ，

Reading the afterword of this book cemented a realization that I had already made a while ago: I love to read Ursula K。 LeGuin， but I mostly love reading her non-fiction essays/thoughts about writing more than her actual fiction。 （Check out my review of The Disposessed here。） That afterword， where she explains what she was thinking when she wrote the book and discusses the ideas behind it， was much more interesting to me than the actual book。 I respect what she was trying to do with this book an Reading the afterword of this book cemented a realization that I had already made a while ago: I love to read Ursula K。 LeGuin， but I mostly love reading her non-fiction essays/thoughts about writing more than her actual fiction。 （Check out my review of The Disposessed here。） That afterword， where she explains what she was thinking when she wrote the book and discusses the ideas behind it， was much more interesting to me than the actual book。 I respect what she was trying to do with this book and I found myself enjoying small sections of her writing， but overall the distant tone in which this book was written kind of hindered from engaging with all these great ideas in a meaningful way。 In a coming of age story like this that was supposed to be about the main character understanding himself it really would have helped to get to know his thoughts first-hand， but LeGuin never really tells us what he's thinking。 Instead， she tells us the names of all kinds of Islands and towns and cities and places that he never goes to or cares about。 There's very little connection to the places he does go to。 That's not to say there was nothing to enjoy here。 There were a few stand out sections for me。 - The first chapter works really， really well as a short story - the beginning of a great Wizard's journey。 - There was a very brief section where Ged started to make friends with a boatbuilder and I got super excited but then that brief part of the story was over and he moved on。 - And then around 3/4 of the way through Ged visited his friend from school， Vetch， and that section in the little house with Vetch's siblings was like a little ray of sunshine。 There was dialogue！ He was interacting with and making connections with these people。 Of course this， too， didn't last long and we were forced to slog through his endless chase after the uninteresting and not very scary shadow creature。 These sections are good， and they kept me from giving up on the book， but if only the rest of the book had been written in this way， with these kinds of connections， it would have been an amazing book。 I mentioned that I enjoy U。 K。 LeGuin's ideas and her nonfiction writings， including the afterword to this novel， so I'd like to talk about some of these ideas here， because I do think they're worth exploring。 She says in the afterword that she was trying to very subtly do some different things with this book and some of these do come through clearly for me and I appreciate the effort and the worthiness of the goal。 First of all， the hero in this story - just like pretty much every else around him except two bad guys - is a person of colour。 Ged， along with various other characters are described clearly as Black， copper-toned， etc， etc so that it's very hard to deny the fact that they are people of colour。 It says a lot about the publishing industry and culture in which she was writing that Ged was consistently portrayed as White in the covers for years， edition after edition， and she mentions this in her afterword。 So I do appreciate this very purposeful decision on her part。 She also mentions briefly something about women， and how at the time when she wrote it women either didn't exist in fantasy or were shown as damsels in distress or something。 She says that her story stayed perfectly conventional in this aspect。 There are no female students on the Island of Roke where the Great Wizards go to learn their arts。 The magic of people like Ged's aunt is always described as lesser magic and they are described as using it in an ignorant way for unworthy day to day pursuits。 There's one powerful female character shown in the book， but she's evil。 And LeGuin acknowledges that she didn't try to do anything different or new here， she stuck to the script。 I do think that the elements were there in her world-building that she could have used to go against those stereotypical depictions， for example the power of that girl who spoke to Ged of other types of magic the Wizards on Roke ignored or the fact that， while they were outwardly scoffed at those witches in the villages did actual better the lives of the people around them， but LeGuin chose not to follow through on the potential that was there。 She also mentions something in the afterword that actually was a little bit subtle: the absence of war or soldiers or militarism in the book。 It was an adventure story focused on one character's journey to find himself， so the story didn't need it， but let's be honest the unnecessary gore and violence that fills other coming of age stories forces us to admit that she did do something different here。 （I will note， though， that I found Ged's unquestioned killing of all those dragons kind of sad， especially since he ended up only needing to threaten their father with his name and that solved the entire problem so why kill those small dragons at all in the first place？！）This is not some battle-filled quest to overcome some physical evil。 It was supposed to be Ged's quest to understand himself and face that shadow he had unleashed on the world and such。 Basically， to come to terms with the dark， shadowy aspects of himself。 LeGuin was trying to do something different and break away from the confines of the genre， but also to break away from the expectations and ways of thinking of her own society。 She was a thinker （which is why I really do enjoy reading the essays on her website and would recommend them） and she was trying to do something very purposeful with her fiction。 She was trying to explore a different way。 To present and represent different ways of thinking。 You can see it very clearly in the magic system in this book。 It focuses on names。 Knowing the name of something literally gives the Wizards power over it。 The people in her world place a huge importance on the true names of things and， because a true name holds such power， they hide their true name and only share it with the people they trust the most。 There's also a lot said about balance and equilibrium in the book and how the Wizards， when they do something with their magic， need to be careful not to upset this balance and need to understand its consequences。 She put a lot of thought and effort into trying to portray and represent different ways of thinking， but in a way I don't think she was really able to break out of the ways of thinking of her own society， because despite all this stuff about names and balance and despite Ged purposefully being written as a non-White character I still see a lot of the Western individualism in his story。 I don't think any other culture could have produced a character who so easily casts off his old name - the one his parents gave him - and goes on his adventure and casts off all thought and memory of his family。 He's not trying to run from them。 He doesn't have a very troubled past he's trying to forget。 He just literally never thinks of them again。 He thinks of his first Wizard master Ogion fondly several times， and realizes how much he learned and could have learned from Ogion， but nowhere in his whole adventure does he think of， remember， or wonder about his family。 Not only is this extremely weird （and literally impossible） in any non-Western culture， it also doesn't really fit with the whole "names are important" magic system。 If names are important， then the name that he carried for his entire childhood should be important too， shouldn't it？ If names and words are so important then surely the names and words he grew up with should probably cross his mind at some point in his life and he should wonder how his father or brothers or some kid he played with is doing， right？ He should remember something someone told him at some point in the first 13 years of his life and think about whether it was true or not？ Surely， in this quest that was ultimately about coming to terms with himself， his experiences in the formative years of his life would be important？ Overall， this classic fantasy tale made me think， which is great， and I do respect a lot of the things LeGuin was trying to do with the story， but I think she could have achieved that goal much more effectively if she had had a little more balance between the distant and close perspectives and allowed us to see and hear and feel the world and Ged's struggle through his own senses。 I really don't know what rating to give this book so I'll just settle for a 3。 Do I recommend it？ Probably only to other fantasy authors， to be honest。 It definitely got me thinking about how to effectively get a point across， and what's the best balance between showing and telling and all that and it made me really want to dive back into my own writing。 。。。more

Tom ，

No big shocker here， but a bit too childish， but not enough whimsy to push it into Howl’s Moving Castle territory。

Reference

google book https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q=A Wizard of Earthsea

hathitrust digital library https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/ls?q1=A Wizard of Earthsea&field1=ocr&a=srchls&ft=ft&lmt=ft

The British Library https://bll01.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/search?query=any,contains,A Wizard of Earthsea&tab=LibraryCatalog&search_scope=Not_BL_Suppress&vid=44BL_INST:BLL01&lang=en&offset=0