Wizard of Earthsea

By Ursula K. Le Guin, Ruth Robbins

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Average Rating: (See all 5 reviews) Format: Paperback, 192 pages Other Information: Illustrated Published In: United States, January 1982 Other Editions: Paperback, USA $24.99 View Quantity Available: 353 Ships within 6-10 days Add to Cart Please wait, the system is processing. Ged was the greatest sorcerer in all Earthsea, but once he was called Sparrowhawk, a reckless youth, hungry for power and knowledge, who 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. About the Author Ursula Kroeber Le Guin was born in 1929; her parents were the anthropologist Alfred Kroeber and the writer Theodora Kroeber. She writes both poetry and prose, including realistic fiction, science fiction, fantasy, young children's books, books for young adults, screenplays, essays, verbal texts for musicians, and voicetexts for performance or recording. She has published five books of poetry, seventeen novels, over a hundred short stories (collected in eight volumes), two collections of essays, eleven books for children, and two volumes of translation. Several of Le Guin's major titles have remained continuously in print for over thirty years. Her best known fantasy works, the first four Books of Earthsea, have sold millions of copies in America and England, and have been translated into sixteen languages. Three of Le Guin's books have been finalists for the American Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize, and among the many honors her writing has received are the National Book Award, five Hugo Awards, five Nebula awards, the Kafka award, a Pushcart Prize, the Howard Vursell award of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and the L.A. Times Robert Kirsch Award. Links Ursula K. Le Guin's Web site Read an excerpt Publisher: Spectra Books ISBN: 0553262505 EAN: 9780553262506 Dimensions: 17.48 x 11.23 x 1.45 centimeters (0.10 kg)

The first in the classic Earthsea series, this follows the story of Ged, fated to be one of the greatest wizards of Earthsea, from his earliest childhood as a wild, unkempt boy with a natural talent for magic, to his subsequent tutelage by the mage Ogion, to his traveling to the wizard’s island of Roke, where he polished his craft and inadvertently set loose a Gebbeth; a shadow-monster bent on destruction that scars Ged and escapes. Ged journeys to rectify the evil that he unleashed, as well as learning truths about himself.

This is a wonderful book, very powerfully written with vivid descriptions and strong, human characters. The world of Earthsea is also very intricately designed, as is the magical system that Ged is trained under; the power that real names hold is especially fascinating, and has been copied numerous times by inferior fantasy writers. The language used is very beautiful and adds a lot of dimension to the story, which moves along at a very good pace and certainly keeps you gripped until the end. A true fantasy classic and one of the few that deserves to be mentioned in the same breath as Tolkien; very highly recommended.

This book is another epic work by the master of high fantasy Ursula Le Guin and tells the tale of a boy chosen and taught the secrets of the warp and weft of life and his quest for mastery of the world through the mastery of himself. In the style of Tolkien this is a masterfully crafted book that will grip the reader from start to finish

Easily the best of this series of books. A Wizard of Earthsea is the story of a young boy named Ged, who becomes a wizard.

Earthsea is a world of island archipelagoes, so a lot of boating and shipping goes on. Everything has a public name and a secret name, as knowing the names of things can give them power.

Ged, or Sparrowhawk must master magic, fight demons, and work out what his role is in life.

I read this as a child and have re-read it many times as an adult. It's not as simple as good and evil but more about balance and un-balance. Everything we do has consequences. As a young man Ged lets free forces of destruction through pride and then must learn how to control himself and face his own demons.

Read this and you will get the rest in the series. A fantasy classic that probably inspired J.K. Rowling, with a young nobody who discovers his gifts of wizardry and goes off to become a great wizard if fate will let him.