Rating: 
Summary: The Power of Achieving Knowledge through Language
Review: This book proved to be very unique in its individualistic way. The plot is about a person who was born with wizardian qualities and subsequently had to learn how to use this preternatural gift that was inherited through childbirth. The author, Ursula K. Le Guin, manifested the foundation of Ged's character as having the ability to become a great wizard and eventually led him to acquire knowledge of the Hardic tongue (language). Le Guin took a very clever idea and a synergistic journey by presenting both the combination and separation of the notion of psychological awareness of thought process through illusion, mystery, and language. This conveniently enabled the readership to view the personality of Ged precisely as Le Guin portrayed and presented him.
This book also signifies the importance of one mastering the skill and knowledge associated with his specific, identified, and chosen profession. This book further conveys that if one desires to gain power and become skillful in his craft, he must be committed and dedicated to his teachings, coupled with the willfulness to achieve a certain goal. Ged accomplished this when he went to the Isolated Tower and was released early due to his quick learning ability.
Notwithstanding, I view this book as sending a profound message, that, "in order to be a profectionist, regardless of what gift you may have acquired, there must be a great deal of devotion and sacrifice." Furthermore, the characterization of Ged and Jasper amplifies how a certain personality may not be compatible to another, allowing controversy and conflict to surface. Finally, I found this book to be quite interesting because of the author's ability to vividly express the correlation between reality and illusion, compiled with power and the desire to achieve knowledge through the art of language.
Rating: 
Summary: 1 down
Review: Yes ...1 star ...I'd give it less if I could ...this was a very tedious read ...I don't know who anybody is ...not even the main character ...just a series of events ...felt like a long prologue....Well ...I'm going to attempt the next book wish me luck... just cause ...not sure if I'll make all the way though...
Rating: 
Summary: Where's the beef!?
Review: Perhaps back in the 60s Tolkien fans were ready to devour any new fantasy novel. To my dismay, "a high fantasy classic" this is not. It certainly is a good template for it: moral lessons, good vs. evil, wizened wizards, and a young wizard on a grand quest. But there's not much more than that. There's too much prose and not enough character insight to uphold the already threadbare plot. The most comprehensive description of Earthsea is in the maps which are nice and all, but this is a book - not an atlas. Too short to be a real novel, it'd do better as a children's book. However, in this case size really doesn't matter. The Last Unicorn by Peter Beagle has the same template but unlike A Wizard of Earthsea, the unicorn's voyage is filled with peril through vivid lands accompanied by a colorful cast of characters in only 200 pages. Even today's current poptart, Harry Potter, has the bumbling Ron, quirky Dumbledore, and slimy Snape. LeGuin's wizards are all Arch-Changer this or Arch-Namer that - who seem ready to die at any moment. Rocks have more personality. The protaganist is Ged. Yep, Ged. Oh and he gets spiteful and thus must redeem himself. Thats all I know. Ogion tries but fails to be a Gandalf. The only moments of life shine through the dialogue and as soon as a glimpse of emotion appears... it vanishes. In spite of these faults, it's not so terrible; There is a sense of history and timelessness to the tale. The moral lessons ring loud and true. "That which gives us power to work magic, sets the the limits of that power... it if were not so, the wickedness of the powerful or the folly of the wise would long ago have sought to change what cannot be changed, and Equilibrium would fail." Lines like that make reading this book worth hacking through the bone dry parts. After reading LeGuin's speculative work - The Left Hand of Darkness and the Dispossessed, I found her intelligent & thought provoking but uninspired. So I was prepared for a more personal work through her fantasy in A Wizard of Earthsea. Sad to say, I was yet again let down.
Rating: 
Summary: Unoriginal
Review: The book tries hard to be something of a Lord of the Rings story, but it rarely succeeds. We are quickly told about Ged and in the first few chapters he has lived about 4 years of his life, we rarely get a second to breathe or really know anyone, but Ged. And we hardly understand him either. It is quite a tedious read and uninteresting from this perspective. There are a few attempts (well, quite a lot actually) to capture the reader's attention, but unfortunately that is just what they are, attempts. This book isn't awful, but it is just like any other Fantasy book or Trilogy and doesn't stand out like Tolkein or Rowling's books. Read it if you like, but I would reccomend something with a deeper storyline, more colorful and dynamic characters, and events that keep the reader's attention and entertains them. This book doesn't do that.
Rating: 
Summary: Riveting Novel with a Strange Sense (In Today's World)
Review: This book, being probably Le Guin's most famous fantasy novel, is also one of the strangest. It is different from Lewis' Narnia series and Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings" in that it sees to lack a coherent, unified theme throughout the course of the story. Le Guin takes us down side plots and round-about courses to reach the final destination. I found that it was similiar to V.S. Naipaul's halting, slow, and somewhat dull way of revealing his insights to the reader in many of his non-fiction books. However, like Naipaul, Le Guin is able to finally bring everything together. Very few details and side paths are frivolous; in fact, they reveal deep insights into the protaganist's inner character. The use of foreshadowing (Ged summoning the shade on Gont) and the use of raw, stripped-down writing is something to be admired in this day, when many books lack a true natural, organic feel. Le Guin's use of minor details (the bauble given to Ged by the strange Kargish woman on the abandoned island) set the stage for various other adventures of Ged. Also, Le Guin creates an elaborate world, the likes of which is only rivaled by Tolkien's Middle Earth. Le Guin truly created a masterpiece in "A Wizard of Earthsea" and, as such, should receive the praise for her works. However, a newer generation of readers and fantasy novels seems to have swept her writings away. Nevertheless, she ranks only second behind Tolkien in my personal fantasy favorites.
Rating:
Summary: FANTASY'S MOBY DICK
Review: Well, in a way. Just as Captain Ahab hunted the White Whale, so does Ged hunt the black shadow that he has loosed upon the world of Earthsea. Of course, this is all after we read about Ged's childhood on the island of Gont and how he went to Roke and became a wizard. One thing that really surprised me with this book was how poetic it was. There are literally dozens of sentences that have alliteration in them, making this work much more beautiful. And yet, I felt a little let down by the storyline. I guess I was expecting a little more action, such as expecting Ged to became the wizard in command of some army that must turn away the foes from some other island--but it's not so. That's not to say that the book is boring, though. It really is interesting, but just not excellent enough for a harsh critic like me to give it 5 stars.
Rating:
Summary: powerful, but some may not like it
Review: Well, it sems that this is one of those books you either love or hate. Personnally (and you may be able to tell from the rating!) I think that Ged, and the world Ursula Le Guin created is one of the best I have ever read. Tehanu was not the greatest, but the Wizard of Earthsea was a fantatastic story, showing the samll details, and the story was not an end-of-the-world type, just the posible end if Ged's world. Tolkien, Feist, Jordan etc follow the dramtic (ie. global) picture when writing, guin wrote a story from a more intimate perspective, and for that we can only applaud her vision. everyone who likes fantasy must read this!
Rating:
Summary: What do people see in this?
Review: What is this book? I recently finished all three books of the Earthsea trilogy (I always finish books, even when terrable)and having read so many posotive reviews was very dissapointed. This book flowed terrably, had nothing going on and although it did try hard to it had no depth. The world was cool, and so were some of the people inhabiting it. I have read a huge amount of fantasy and this doesn't compare. If you want a classic read Lord Foul's Bane. If you want somthing new try The One Kingdome (Sean Russel).
Rating:
Summary: This Book is Absolutely Terrible.
Review: I was supposed to read this book in English class as an assignment back in 7th grade. We started it, and it was terrible! Every single person in our class thought so. We wrote a petition to our teacher saying we shouldn't read it, and so later she told us that, if every single person came in the next day with a paragraph persuading her to let us not read it, she would make us read something else. The next day, twenty-four long paragraphs flooded to her desk, telling about how boring, far-fetched, confusing, and badly written it was. So we didn't have to read it. We still talk about our teacher's terrible choice in reading assignments today! So please, don't bother with this book if you want something that will keep you even remotely interested.
Rating:
Summary: Makes Potter look pathetic
Review: This series of books is phenomenal. Much like the popular Harry Potter books, they're written at a young-adult level. The difference, though, is that the plot, characters, and magic is much more dark and mature. I recommend the Earthsea books to everyone I can; you won't regret reading them. I think one or more also won the Nebula Award. Go get it!
|
