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Summary: There's More to Earthsea than the Trilogy
Review: Reading the Earthsea Trilogy was one of the highlights of my childhood. Discovering that it had become the Earthsea Quartet and now Quintet is one of the highlights of life today. Why it's still being featured as a trilogy when there are two further books to be read, I don't understand!Le Guin is the daughter of anthropologists and through all her fiction there is a deep, ingrained understanding of societies work and how they are built and evolve (or disintegrate). It's very interesting to see how her own interests have matured and deepened over the decades of writing this series - the latest Earthsea Title - The Other Wind is a fabulous rendition of concerns about gender/sexism/prejudice and the very nature of things. BUT that's for the grown ups, what really matters is that underneath all her incisive intelligence Ursula Le Guin tells a gripping, exciting and devastating series of stories that come at one in a rush of tight telling and delicately realised plots. She is simply one of the greatest writers for older children - or anyone! So start with the Wizard himself, then read on and on....
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Summary: Better than Tolkien
Review: It has been at least a decade since I read either LeGuin or Tolkien. LeGuin because I have not had the time; Tolkien because I did not want to be bored out of my wits yet again. But from memory alone, I know that LeGuin's writing is in a word: Fantastic. Her command of English prose is absolute genius. I can still remember the haunting beauty of those words in A Wizard of Earthsea that gave each thing its true name, as if all of us, on this earth, had such a name as well. And I still remember the scene in The Farthest Shore on which the reader casts his eyes: dragons floating in the distant air, reflecting the gold of the sun from their wings, onto the water. That image haunts one's memory, because LeGuin gives us something rare not only in fantasy, but in all of literature -- the shared imagination : so vivid that we cannot help but retain those images in indelible memory. Though I read her novels as a teenager, I also read Shakespeare and Tolstoy, and Joyce and Homer. It strikes me as rather insipid to plug her novels into the genre of juvenile literature while somehow vaunting Tolkien's as for the sophisticated and mature. I really beg to differ. LeGuin's Earthsea is far richer, far more imaginative, far more convincing, and dare I say, just darn more interesting, than the world of Tolkien's pen (I won't say imagination). And that Joyce's Ulysses should be about a young Stephen Dedalus becoming his nation's poet has never caused that novel to be called a book of Bildungsroman. Please! Her novels, if we must be plain, are about the search for self, which is not a meager task accomplished between the ages of 11 and 20 -- but a lifelong endeavor. Earthsea is about discovery, of a new and fantastic, beautiful world, and of oneself, as deep, as turbulent, as entangled and mesmerizing as the realm of her imagination. Is this not what we hope for from any piece of art? Understanding of the world, and understanding of the worlds within.
And simply because LeGuin's novels are terse and stylistically written in the meter of lore and legend, does not render it in any way inferior to the prose of Tolkien. In fact, many an intelligent reader would gladly do without the droning repetition and pedantic, overwrought elaborations of Lord of the Rings. Quantity does not equal genius. In fact, the true poet is one who says the most with least words. One only has to read a single Shakespeare play to realize that.
So once and for all, let us give Ms. LeGuin her due honor, and stop comparing her to a writer such as Tolkien, who truly is much less than her equal. Ms. LeGuin is by my estimation one of the greatest fantasy novelists, and possibly THE Greatest, ever to have taken up the pen. She writes fantasy not to create a world for its own sake (as might be said of some others), but to bring that world of the imagination into the realm of the possible, the credible, the believable -- so much that we would believe in spite of ourselves, and we only wish we could will this imagined world into being a part of our own.
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Summary: A Wizard of Earthsea - Ian Guidash
Review: I thought A Wizard of Earthsea was a great book. It was THE fantasy book to read. It was full of magic, action,and friendship. The theme of the story was that you shoudn't be arrogant. I'd recommend this book to anyone, ecspecially people who like fantasy.
(If you think you're intrested in reading it, check out my overview)
A Wizard of Earthsea was about a boy named Ged. At birth, he was gifted with extraordinary powers. At the age of 13, he crossed into manhood and was taken as the prentice of the Wizard Ogion. Ged decided that he would rather go to a school of wizardry, so he went to school on the island of Roke. After about a year on Roke, Ged challenged an older boy to a duel. Thinking that he could surpass what the others said he couldn't do, Ged attempted to raise a spirit from the dead. In doing so, he failed and loosened a "shadow" of neither the realm of the living nor realm of the dead. It is now Ged's duty to rid the world of it--before it rids the world of him.
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Summary: Experience The Magical World Of Earthsea
Review: "A Wizard of Earthsea" is the first of a trilogy set in the World of Earthsea long ago, during a time when dragons, wizards and magic were not uncommon, nor yet extinct. The island of Gont, located in the stormy Northeast Sea, is a land famous for its wizards. Gont's most famous native son was Ged, called Sparrowhawk, who in his day became both dragonlord and Archmage. His life is told in the "Deed of Ged," in many other stories and songs, and in this book.
Duny, a boy from the village of Ten Alders, was fascinated by his aunt's small "women's" magic. She was the local witch, no dark sorceress, but someone of use to the townspeople with her herbs and simple spells. The boy seemed to have a natural inclination for magic, and his aunt taught him a variety of tricks. His innate skills were put to a test when hordes of vicious Kargs invaded his homeland. His quick thinking allowed him to tap into his limited repertoire and come up with a spell to enshroud the village and its inhabitants in fog. Thus they were invisible to the enemy and almost everyone was saved. Word of the deed spread until Ogion the Silent, the great mage of Re Albi who tamed an earthquake, finally heard of Duny. Ogion comes for the boy on his thirteenth birthday and gives him his "true name," which is Ged. And Ged takes the use-name (nickname) of Sparrowhawk. Very few in this world know a person's true name, "because who knows a man's true name, holds that man's life in his keeping."
Ged travels with Ogion to Re Albi as his apprentice, learning to read and write the Six Hundred Runes of Hardic and proves to be an adept student. He finds he has developed a power which allows him to call animals. However, Ged is tempted by magic clearly forbidden to one so inexperienced, and makes a terrible mistake. From this incident, Ged and Ogion learn that he has become too powerful at too young an age and is not able to control the magic within. The boy decides to leave his beloved mentor and travel to Roke Island and the School (for sorcery). Here he studies under the Archmage Nemmerle, Warder of Roke and the nine Masters of Roke. He finds that a wizard's life is spent learning the true name of things in the old tongue. Power to a mage must be kept in balance. Every action has a reaction. Again, training goes extremely well for Ged until pride and willfulness cause him to step over the line again, and foolishly use power which he not yet mastered. This time the consequences are truly horrific and will have a lasting effect on his life.
Ged must move on, past this trauma to body and spirit, and continue to seek wisdom while he prepares to confront his monsters. He must also serve as sorcerer to the people he made a contract with. His adventures along the way are thrilling, as is the novel's extraordinary climax. This is a phenomenal book!
Although this novel, and the entire trilogy, have been classified as children's books, I don't know whether I totally agree with the label or classification. The plots may well be appreciated by children and adults alike, but the prose, the very language used to form the riveting storylines, is as rich and flavorful as dark Belgian chocolate. I had to stop several times to read descriptive passages aloud, to listen to the music of the narrative. The author paints a universe of landscapes with words, and they're as vivid in the mind's eye as seeing the real thing. The narrative voice is bard-like, as if relating a legend of long ago. Ms. LeGuin's exposure to Native American legends as well as Norse mythology is evident in her writing. She is the daughter of anthropologists and throughout her fiction there seems to be a deep understanding of how societies work, how they are built and evolve. Ursula Le Guin is an artist, pure and simple, as well as a magical writer.
JANA
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Summary: Fantastic, but she's no Tolkien or Lewis
Review: Here is a book where I can recognize the literary excellence, the sparse but aesthetic prose, and the overall quality of the story but totally reject the worldview presented. LeGuin's world is one where magic operates in the occultic sense. Her fantasy writings are often grouped with the works of Tolkien and C. S. Lewis, and while it is true that they are all "fantasy" writings, whereas Tolkien and Lewis were writing from a Christian worldview, LeGuin is writing from a decidedly pagan one. What she means by "wizard" and what Tolkien means by "wizard," for example, are as different as night from day. The story itself, however, is top-notch. The "Wizard of Earthsea" of the title is an extremely flawed and self-conflicted character. In the end you find that the major plotline essentially boils down to a great struggle the protagonist has between the different parts of his nature. I always thought that the endless glut of fantasy novels that have been churned out over the past half-century owe their existence to the popularity and influence of Tolkien. I see now that this is partly true, but much of their existence is owed to LeGuin as well. This is unfortunate. If modern Christianity had a writer of speculative fiction who could produce works as potent and popular as those of Lewis and Tolkien, it would help to counteract the pagan influence of modern fantasy novels, most of which follow LeGuin instead of Tolkien in this regard.
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Summary: leaves you wanting more!
Review: What a great fantasy work this is. Its one of the few fantasy books i have enjoyed as i don't read fantasy. The characters are excellent and without pages and pages of useless detail. Its short (i read it in 4 hours) but great. To bad the sci-fi adaptation was sssssssssooooooooo awefull!!!
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Summary: Top Notch Fantasy, And A Whole Lot More
Review: Among other things, I am a great fan of fantasy, and among my favorite books are those in the Dragonlance series, Tolkien's Lord of the Rings and various other Middle Earth tales, and other such books. This book, A Wizard of Earthsea, however, stands apart from the rest, and by far outshines all those save, perhaps, Tolkien's, compared to which it is on an at least equal footing.
Perhaps most importantly, this by no means should be considered merely a "young adult" book, or even a simple "adventure/fantasy" book. This a tale which explores some rather deep aspects of the human psyche, and when read closely is not a work to be taken lightly, much as Tolkien's works explore deep aspects of spirituality.
Set in a fantasy world that seems to resemble more the ancient world of the Hebrews, Hittites, and other such peoples than the more common medievalesque setting, Le Guin uses a style reminiscent in tone and atmosphere of the Viking Sagas to tell the tale of Sparrowhawk, or Ged as his "true" name is (in this book words have substantial power, as people of many ancient civilizations believed - in this case in particular, your true name is the word that allows others to have power over you). Specifically, this tale covers the parts of his life from early childhood to early adulthood (it is continued in the next three books of the Earthsea cycle).
It begins with Sparrowhawk's childhood on the Island of Gont, and like the stars of many tales from the ancient world, he has a rather special, bordering on "miraculous," childhood. Even as an untrained youth he has noticeable power, and it is substantial enough to aid in the rescue of his village from foreign invaders.
Sparrowhawk then goes on, through various twists and turns of plot, to become apprentice to a mage named Ogion, who, to use the words of history/politics in the world of magic, walks softly and carries a big stick. Impatient, however, to learn slowly but surely, he goes on to learn at an island called Roke, on which there is a school for Wizards (where he meets, among others, my favorite character, the Otak).
It is at this school where the plot really takes off, for it is here that, through a series of unfortunate but necessary events, Ged, who's power surpasses his judgement and is made dangerous by his youthful pride, releases a shadow upon the world. From here, much time is spent on his part running from the shadow, and thus he begins a series of adventures, including a showdown with a family of dragons. Eventually, though, Ged realizes he must confront the shadow, and it is his quest for the shadow that forms the climax of this tale, which I will not say anything more about.
Underpinning all of this is a wonderful synthesis of concepts from antiquity, mythology, psychology, and philosophy, and teaches several valuable lessons. One is the notion of not disturbing an abstract entity called the Equilibrium, which can be applied to our current lives in many ways, including (though certainly not limited to) care for, if not conservation of, the environment. Another is self-acceptance and the sense of self-efficacy, and more so spiritual/psychological fulfillment, which comes from that.
In short, this is by far and away my favorite book, and I highly recommend it to anyone looking for either a simply good read or a philosophical treatise.
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Summary: The old authors are still the best
Review: Modern fantasy writers should take a day and reread Mrs. Le Guin's novel with the hopes of gaining perspective on what makes a good fantasy novel. In about 30% of the length of most new novels, the author builds a world rich in detail and history, and still manages to keep the story driven by the characters, and not by the world itself.
The central character goes through a six-year span of his life in this book, from the age of his naming to when he's nineteen and a full-fledged wizard. During that time he studies and grows and faces his most inner demons. The author fleshes out that inner turmoil that every teenager goes through and turns it into a great adventure of self-discovery. This would have made an even more fantastic read when I was in high school.
The book is definitely a fantasy, but in the classic sense. Magic and such is not he backbone of this book. It is more of a backdrop.
I recommend this book to all adults and young adults who have 5-6 hours to immerse themselves in a world of fantasy adventure and friendship.
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Summary: great standalone book, start of a very good series
Review: With the recent Sci- Fi Channel miniseries, there is bound to be renewed interest in LeGuin's classic first book in her Earthsea series, as there should be. This remains a classic fantasy for good reason. The world within which the characters move is fully developed, having a sense of past, present and future as well as a sense of a larger "there there", as opposed to some fantasies that feel like a Hollywood stage set, as if nothing exists beyond the narrow social/geographical worlds the characters move through. Such is not the case with Earthsea. One feels it is real from the start and the ensuing books in the series only deepen that feeling with regard to its social and political structures, its people, its mythic past.
The characters are equally strong, especially Ged, the young boy who grows to adulthood in true coming-of-age fashion--through pain, loss, self-destruction, and eventual slow growth of wisdom. The depiction of his younger years as he first learns of his wizardly power and potential, apprentices to a single wizard then rejects that slow, dull path in order to attend the more exciting wizardry school (do not think Harry Potter here, style, tone, and environment are quite different) is right on. He is impatient, cocky, self-sure, quick to anger, impulsive, moody. In short, he is an adolescent. As such he has no time for the slow pace of his masters, for their constant warnings about the "balance" (the universe is in constant equilibrium and one change someplace effects another change, for good or ill, somewhere else) and its restrictions on use of power. The idea of the balance is the more you know, the less likely you are to act. Ged, in impetuous and realistic fashion sees it as the more you know, the more you can act.
As one might expect, his blithe self-confidence sets him up for a major fall, as he accidentally opens a portal, allowing an unknown "shadow" to enter the world. Roughly the first half of the book leads up to this event, the second half follows what happens afterward, as Ged is hunted by the evil he has let into the world, an evil that can cause great harm unless he does something about it. Along the way, he slowly grows in wisdom (the steps toward adulthood are gradual but nicely marked), helped along by his former tutor whom he rejected for his dull passivity and his closest friend from the wizard's school at Roke, Vetch.
The end, without giving details away, is simply perfect in its resolution, in its tone, and in its complexity. Don't expect simplistic happy ending or heroic battles against overwhelming odds; this is a personal journey, a personal victory, though it has larger repercussions.
The book succeeds in pretty much all it does. Its world creation is rich and full and three-dimensional. Its characters are sharply detailed, realistic, complex beings. Its plot exciting, its language vivid (sometimes classified as young adult--I'm not sure why--it does not talk down to a perceived younger audience, in terms of complexity of language or philosophy). And in the best test of a good book, it leaves the reader wanting much more; luckily LeGuin provides with several more books in the series. Very highly recommended.
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Summary: An enjoyable book for you to be swept away in fantasy!
Review: I love the Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings series and this book seemed to have a mixture of them both. If you love to read of magic, adventure, mystery and triumph you will like (maybe even love) this book. I can't wait to start reading the Book 2 in the cycle!
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