Product Description

A superb four-part fantasy, comparable with the work of Tolkien and C.S. Lewis, the Earthsea books follow the fortunes of the wizard Ged from his childhood to an age where magic is giving way to evil. As a young dragonlord, Ged, whose use-name is Sparrowhawk, is sent to the island of Roke to learn the true way of magic. A natural magician, Ged becomes an Archmage and helps the High Priestess Tenar escape from the labyrinth of darkness. But as the years pass, true magic and ancient ways are forced to submit to the powers of evil and death …

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2707 in Books
• Published on: 1993-06-24
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 704 pages

Review
Earthsea is a magical world, full of enchantment. The Wizard of Earthsea must fight off the forces of evil and darkness in their various shapes before, 'done with doing', he flies off on his dragon to 'the farthest shore'. These prize-winning stories are brilliantly crafted, richly imagined and engaging. (Kirkus UK)

Customer Reviews

Help your ten year old turn into the sort of adult you'd like them to be
Ignore the lurid cover - this is not empty sword and sorcery but a journey through key philosophical battlefronts that never interferes with a ripping good story for children.

Amazingly clever and beautifully written in economical prose - it's only years later that most children realize how unique Le Guin's books are in forming their ideas about the world.

How powerful is language? What could be the dark side of the promise of afterlife? What are the risks of demonstrating adolescent prowess?

The polar opposite to the CS Lewis Narnia stories, this is cold water poured on the Sunday school campfire.

See if you can spot the subsequent imitators like JK Rowling.

One hundred stars for the Earthsea Trilogy
It has been stated before me, but I dare repeat this loud and clear: The Earthsea Trilogy is something unsurpassable. (I mean TRILOGY, it's not a mistake.) I was fortunate enough to read it, when it WAS a trilogy. And I daresay it is definitely not a book for children. For you can find lots of essential truths there (on the other hand, you can also find them in fairy tales, sometimes). Acknowledging and naming one's light and dark self in order to be whole, staying silent in order to hear, and many many other things you learn (sometimes - in a hard way) when you are young. The second part - the most beautiful love story I ever read (the word never mentioned). And going away forever, nobody knows where, instead of dying, if you are great enough (so it seemed when it WAS a trilogy!) Imagine this, a picture from reality, 20 something years ago: me, a student, translating "A Wizard of Eartsea" for my not-English speaking friends, and 5 other students sitting in a student's residence room and listening - every single evening!

And there's a worm in the apple, and only 4 stars remaining out of 100: I'd be much more happy, if Tehanu were never written. I'll try to do something about my temper at the moment and just say NOTHING about it.

Darkness, Wizards and Dragons
This is the first in a series of books. There are 4 novels in the series and two collections of short stories. It follows the life and career of Ged a young man from the Island of Gont. Le Guin has created a very unique world, a world that is mostly water and each nation is a collection of islands. This book is also one of a few that has children's teens and adult editions in print.

Ged apprentices to the local Wizard on God, and is eventually sent to the school for wizards on Havnor. There in anger during a fight with other youths he releases a dark shadow, an evil. The Masters of the school appear and banish it from the island. However this shadow and Ged are now tied together in a very unique way.

After leaving the school Ged becomes haunted by the shadow he has released. He tries to return to the protection of Havnor but cannot return to the island the magic protecting the island will not let him approach. So he decides to head south.

The shadow is getting closer and closer to him, and he must discern it's true name or else he will not be able to defeat it. Can he solve the puzzle, will he wrestle with his shadow and win or will he succumb to the evil he has let loose.

This is a book I first read back in highschool. Then a few years back had to read it for an English literature course at the University of Waterloo I was about a third of the way through it when I realized I had read it before and that is when I found our that the story continued. Since then the two collections of short stories have been published in this world.

Le Guin deals with some big questions of life in this book. Such questions as:

Who am I?
Do I have a role or purpose in life?
Can I defeat the darkness within me?
Can good conquer over evil?
Why am I here?
Can I make a difference?

This book will be a good read for anyone who has ever struggled with some of these questions. Or who wants to use a novel to help them grow to have a deeper understanding of themselves.