Long before Harry Potter, a young boy on the backward island of Gont droves a marauding army away from his home with magical forces he barely understood. Thus begins the story of Ged, called Sparrowhawk, in Ursula LeGuin's world Earthsea. His journey to self-mastery takes him to the wizard's school on Roke, to the Dragon isle of Pendor and into the open sea. The next two books in the series take him farther still, but A Wizard of Earthsea is a complete book in itself.
In under two hundred pages, LeGuin tells story of triumph and tragedy, of power and loss, of arrogance that finally becomes acceptance. The book reads almost like a poem; LeGuin's spare style allows no wasted words.
This is a perfect book for young readers. Great ideas are expressed simply and the action is easy to follow. There is no graphic sex or violence, although there are some frightening and suspenseful scenes.
The old edition that I have owned from childhood has a cover beautifully illustrated by Ruth Robbins. The picture of a narrow island with covered with medieval towers, entwined by a dragon and threatened by huge waves, is, for me, the quintessential view of Earthsea.
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...More at Buy.com Marketplaces
Ursula K. Le Guin s first book of Earthsea--a treasured classic novel of wisdom and wizardry--introduces a boy who grows to manhood while attempting t...More at Buy.com Marketplaces
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