Product Description

This tale of wizards and dragons features the character of Sparrowhawk. Tempted by pride to try spells beyond his powers, Sparrowhawk lets loose an evil shadow-beast. Only he can destroy it and so he begins a quest which leads him to all corners of Earthsea. This is the first book in a quartet.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #19757 in Books
• Published on: 2000-08-31
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 205 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
Often compared to Tolkien's Middle-Earth or Lewis's Narnia, Ursula K. Le Guin's Earthsea is a stunning fantasy world that grabs quickly at our hearts, pulling us deeply into its imaginary realms. Four books (A Wizard of Earthsea, The Tombs of Atuan, The Farthest Shore and Tehanu) tell the whole Earthsea cycle--a tale about a reckless, awkward boy named Sparrowhawk who becomes a wizard's apprentice after the wizard reveals Sparrowhawk's true name. The boy comes to realize that his fate may be far more important than he ever dreamed possible. Le Guin challenges her readers to think about the power of language, how in the act of naming the world around us we actually create that world. Teens, especially, will be inspired by the way Le Guin allows her characters to evolve and grow into their own powers.

In this first book, A Wizard of Earthsea readers will witness Sparrowhawk's moving rite of passage--when he discovers his true name and becomes a young man. Great challenges await Sparrowhawk, including an almost deadly battle with a sinister creature, a monster that may be his own shadow.

About the Author
Ursula Le Guin was born in Berkley, California, in 1929, daughter of the writer Theodora Krober and the anthropologist Alfred Krober. Her published work includes twenty-one novels, eleven volumes of short stories, three collections of essays, twelve books for children, six volumes of poetry and four of translation. Among her novels are the The Left Hand of Darkness and The Dispossessed, both winners of the Nebula and Hugo awards, Always Coming Home, winner of the 1985 Kafka Award, and Four Ways to Forgiveness. In 2009 she won her sixth Nebula award for Powers. Penguin/Puffin published the first volume of the Earthsea books, A Wizard of Earthsea, in 1971. The Earthsea books have been translated into many languages around the world and are global bestsellers.

Customer Reviews

Great
Born on an island renowned for its wizards, young Ged finds himself drawn to wizardry. Astonishingly, it all seems to come naturally, and he soon outstrips the witch who is teaching him the art. Arrogant and willful, he goes off to Roke Island to study under the greatest master wizards. His pride proves his undoing when, in an attempt to show his superiority to a rival, he summons up a shadow creature powerful beyond human understanding. Ged finishes his studies, and then must begin his career, knowing that somewhere out there the shadow is waiting for him.

Being such an old story, I did not expect to enjoy this story too much. I was very pleasantly surprised to find that the story was entertaining and quite absorbing. I was fascinated to see what the nature of the shadow was, and what Ged needed to do to overcome it. I have not read any of Ursula Le Guin’s books before, but I intend to now. I recommend this book to any fantasy reader.

Masterpiece of magic and growing up
A Wizard of Earthsea ranks alongside Narnia and Middle-earth as a masterpiece of other world fantasy for children. Of course, this claim is made fairly frequently and for every new fantasy writer - but A Wizard of Earthsea has stood the test of time.
Set in a world far more detailed and fully realised than Philip Pullman's or JK Rowling's, this is a powerful tale of a child - Ged - growing up to be a wizard and having to meet the consequences of a single catastrophic failure in adolescence.

The scope is enormous. It wakes feelings of majesty, power, compassion, fear, terror, joy, frustration and freedom. Dragons' lair, the sea, countless islands, twisting streets, tiny villages, the weather and the world of the dead are some of the settings.
The story, the imagination and the author's voice never falter. This is in many respects a perfect work - the same thing that Tolkien achieved in the Hobbit but failed to achieve in the Lord of the Rings, and Lewis achieved with the first six Narnia books but failed in the Last Battle.
A must read - even if you don't like fantasy.

A beautifully-crafted piece of fantasy
I first read this book as a child, but have since read it and the other 3 books in the series time and again. Far from finding the character portrayal cold and distant, I idenitified very strongly with the main character Ged and found him a sympathetic and realistic character.

The story essentially develops from a horrific blunder that Ged makes through his own arrogance and pride, and his subsequent travels and trials are his attempt to atone for the wrong he has done. Le Guin is an incredibly talented writer and her descriptions of the places in the book enable you to visualise them perfectly. She also conjurs up a very real feeling of evil in the dark forces that Ged must deal with in order to heal himself. There are enough dragons and magic to keep me happy too! I love her idea that magic is not something to be used whenever you fancy, that a balance must be maintained and again this is something Ged must learn to become fully mature.

Comparisons with Tolkien are erroneous. Le Guin can stand on her own and is incomparable.

This is not just a book for kids - I suggest you read this and every other book Le Guin has ever written!