Wednesday, February 13, 2008
A Wizard of Earthsea
by Ursula K. Le Guin
This is the tale of the coming of age of Ged, the greatest wizrd of Earthsea. Earthsea, or at least the part of it in which this story is set, is a place of hundreds of islands, clustered about. It's a place of magic, where wizards ply their trade alongside carpenters, masons and fishermen. In this volume, we see how young Ged discovers his innate mystical abilty and is instructed first by his aunt, a local witch, then the hermit wizard, Ogion, and finally at the great school for wizards on the isle of Roke. While there, he foolishly makes a grave mistake and the rest of the book recounts his attempt to rectify his mistake. I was a bit reminded of Harry Potter as I read the book. But the setting and culture of Earthsea came across as so much richer and believable than the world of Hogwarts. (Not to dis J.K. Rowling's fine work.) If magic, if words and people of supernatural power, really existed, I would suspect that the world would look much like the place that Ms. Le Guin has crafted. Ged, also, is a complex and fascinating character. This book is definitely worth checking out.
LibraryThing link
This is the tale of the coming of age of Ged, the greatest wizrd of Earthsea. Earthsea, or at least the part of it in which this story is set, is a place of hundreds of islands, clustered about. It's a place of magic, where wizards ply their trade alongside carpenters, masons and fishermen. In this volume, we see how young Ged discovers his innate mystical abilty and is instructed first by his aunt, a local witch, then the hermit wizard, Ogion, and finally at the great school for wizards on the isle of Roke. While there, he foolishly makes a grave mistake and the rest of the book recounts his attempt to rectify his mistake. I was a bit reminded of Harry Potter as I read the book. But the setting and culture of Earthsea came across as so much richer and believable than the world of Hogwarts. (Not to dis J.K. Rowling's fine work.) If magic, if words and people of supernatural power, really existed, I would suspect that the world would look much like the place that Ms. Le Guin has crafted. Ged, also, is a complex and fascinating character. This book is definitely worth checking out.
LibraryThing link
Labels: CheckItOut
// posted by John @ 9:33 PM 
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