This is the first book in the Earthsea Cycle. It follows the adventures of a boy named Ged as he unleashes a dangerous magical enemy and then tries to defeat it.
My thoughts
This is technically a YA novel, but Ursula K. Le Guin's writing is sophisticated and neither the prose nor the plot is dumbed down for a young audience. The plot is actually fairly dark—Ged's arrogance leads him to attempt a spell that nearly kills him (and does kill one of his mentors). Humbled and wracked with guilt, Ged slowly recovers and becomes a full-fledged wizard. But he is pursued by the shadow he unleashed with his ill-advised spell and he knows he must eventually confront it and either defeat it or die trying.
It sounds exciting; unfortunately, it's not. There are lots of details of magewinds and maritime jargon and not enough adventure. It's a good thing it was less than 200 pages or I wouldn't have finished.
Bottom line
I really wanted to like it because the book's themes—friendship, coming of age, coming to terms with one's own limitations, the search for meaning in life—resonate with all audiences. But it was just too slow.
Fine print
A Wizard of Earthsea, by Ursula K. Le Guin
Genre: YA, science fiction
Photo from Goodreads
I bought this book at my library's used book sale.
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