This post contains affiliate links. If you purchase a product or service by clicking a link that on this site I may receive a small commission. There is no additional charge to you! Thank You for supporting Books Beauty and Life! For more info check out my privacy policy and terms and conditions pages.
A Wizard of Earthsea Series: The Earth Cycle #1
by Ursula K. Le Guin
Find the Author: Website
Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
on 2012
Genres: Young Adult, Animals, General, Fantasy & Magic
Amazon / Book Depository / KABO / BookShop / BAM / BWBooks / Abebooks
Source: Purchased
A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. LeGuin is a Classic YA fantasy. It is the first in the series of The Earth Cycle.
A Wizard of Earthsea Summary
A Wizard of Earthsea is a coming of age tale of Ged. He learns young that he has magical powers by repeating a witch’s spell and making goats do what he wants them to do. Later when he goes to magic school, Ged feels he should be considered the best. He learns faster than his peers and he feels he is more powerful. But there is a rival school peer who is not buying into it. Ged tries to show off to his rival when the spell goes wrong and he unleashes an evil shadow. The shadow threatens to possess his body and powers to use them for evil. Ged then has to eat a big fat piece of humble pie because this is a lesson his teachers have
The rest of the book his Ged trying to defeat the shadow because what comes with great power comes even greater screw-ups and you gotta clean up your own mess. But its Ged traveling from place to place trying to defeat it.
I know that is not the most elegant summary but this is what I got from the story of A Wizard of Earthsea.
A Wizard of Earthsea Review
Characters
There were quite a few characters for such a short book. But I fell in love with Ogion, Ged’s second mage teacher. Ogion had some good dialog that just humbled you. Or humbled Ged. I love old wise characters that just put you in your place.
Ged is your classic arrogant mage with a ton of natural power who wants to be the best, like right now, but doesn’t have the real patience to learn to use his powers properly. So there are a few big lessons he has to learn the hard way. Then he spends a good chunk of his life fixing it.
Writing/Plot/ intrigue
I picked up this book because it is a classic and I figured, it was one of those rite of passage reads. I didn’t expect to love it, but I did. Being a classic the writing takes a little to get used to. I didn’t read it as fast as I normally would read a 182-page book. But once I got used to it, I totally got into the story. I think this is one of the most annotated books I own now.
Enjoyment
Totally enjoyed it. This book has a lot of good tropes rolled into one pretty short story. Friendship, betrayal, rivals, dragons, wise elders. If you’re in the mood for a great classic short story I would recommend A Wizard of Earthsea.
Have you read A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Leguin? What did you think let me know in the comments below?
Leave a Reply