A Wizard of Earthsea
(The Earthsea Cycle, Book 1)
Ursula K. LeGuin
Bantam
Fiction, Fantasy
****
DESCRIPTION: Earthsea is a world of ocean and island, sea and shore, where names and words have great power, dragons lurk at the fringes of civilization, and mages study ancient magicks in the old runes. Born into a poor village of goatherds, the boy known as Sparrowhawk is destined to be perhaps the greatest sorcerer known to man or dragon. Before he can learn control of his powers, his youthful pride leads him to unwittingly unleash a nameless shadow upon the world, a shadow that may destroy Earthsea if it ever catches him, for shadows such as this suck a wizard's life out and wear their skin like a shell, inflicting untold evil with their usurped powers. To catch the beast will be his greatest test... or his utter doom.
REVIEW: I actually had this on the line with an Okay rating strictly due to LeGuin's near-maddening writing style. Countless names of countless lands, islands, villages, inlets, seas, people, places, and things are heaped upon the reader amid a wash of prose that feels written to make itself seem grander than it is. LeGuin also states at the outset, and repeatedly throughout the book, that Sparrowhawk does indeed go on to bigger and bolder adventures, as though she felt the need to reassure audiences that however dark the story got it would, somehow, have a good ending. Once I adapted to that, the story itself isn't too bad. Sparrowhawk's tale is in some ways a typical coming-of- age fantasy story, but not a complete rehash of other works, and while I found Earthsea numbingly overwhelming, I could appreciate it as a relatively original creation and not just another quasi-European medieval-style world. I was intrigued enough to consider pursuing the series at least through the original trilogy. (I have an ulterior motive for reading this series now. Japan's Studio Ghibli has created an anime movie based on the Earthsea stories, and I want to be ready if/when it hits American shores.)
You might also enjoy:
The Lost Years of Merlin (T. A. Barron, YA Fiction - The boy who will become Merlin must learn to accept and master his unpredictable, powerful gifts)
The Stoneheart trilogy (Charlie Fletcher, YA Fiction - When an angry boy uses hands destined to create to destroy instead, he finds himself in the middle of the unseen war between London's gargoyles and statues)
The Coldfire trilogy (C. S. Friedman, Fiction - A native force on a colony world manifests one's deepest thoughts and emotions)
Dune (Frank Herbert, Fiction - The heir to an interstellar dynasty finds a greater destiny on the harsh desert planet Arrakis)
The Lives of Christopher Chant (Diana Wynne Jones, YA Fiction - A boy enjoys his rare gift of being able to visit other worlds in his dreams, but hates the responsibility that comes with it)
Patricia McKillip's books (Patricia McKillip, YA? Fiction - An author with a very lyrical writing style)
Wolf Brother (Michelle Paver, YA Fiction - In prehistoric times, an orphaned boy and his wolf cub companion pursue a dark force to the very ends of the earth)
The Circle of Magic quartet (Tamora Pierce, YA Fiction - Four children with potent gifts must learn to trust their magic and each other, not to mention themselves)
The Harry Potter series (J. K. Rowling, YA Fiction - As an orphaned boy learns of his magical heritage, he also learns of his destined duel with a dark wizard)
A College of Magics (Caroline Stevermer, YA Fiction - A teen heiress attends a school where magic is taught in an abstract manner)
The High House (James Stoddard, Fiction - A man returns to his childhood home, a massive world-encompassing structure, to face the dark force he unwittingly let loose within its walls)
The Lord of the Rings trilogy (J. R. R. Tolkien, Fiction - The classic epic tale of a desperate quest to save Middle-Earth from an old and deathless enemy)
The Young Merlin trilogy (Jane Yolen, YA Fiction - A wild-born boy learns of his magic and his destiny)
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The Tombs of Atuan
(The Earthsea Cycle, Book 2)
Ursula K. LeGuin
Bantam
Fiction, Fantasy
***
DESCRIPTION: When Tenar was but a girl, the dark priestesses from the Tombs of Atuan, servants of the Nameless Ones, the Twin Gods, and the Godking who rules the lands, took her away. Born on the eve of the death of the High Priestess, she must be the reincarnation of that one woman who has for eons served the Nameless Ones with blood sacrifices in the room of the Empty Throne and the dark labyrinth of rooms and dangers beneath. Now known as Arha, the Eaten One, she never thought to question her lonely life or her gods until the arrival of a strange, dark-skinned man from far across Earthsea, bearer of the evil, trickster forces called sorcery and seeking, among the forbidden passages of the subterranean labyrinth beneath the temples, half of a long-lost magical artefact. Duty orders his death, but freedom demands sparing his life. Which will she choose?
REVIEW: I don't consider it a good sign when I have to stop reading every five minutes for not being able to take the writing. Not only is Le Guin's style as inpenetrably full of grandiose puffery as the first volume in this trilogy, but she jumps to a completely new character in a completely new corner of Earthsea, and only halfway through does any hint of a connection to the first book begin to be established (other than passing mention of the Tombs and the artefact which I vaguely recalled from A Wizard of Earthsea.) We experience the entire story through Tenar/Arha's largely-brainwashed and somewhat selfish eyes, and while I wish I could say I found the experience fascinating I must instead confess that I found it rather dull. I had hoped to follow this series through at least the original trilogy, but after this I don't know if I can bring myself to slog through any more. Le Guin's universe may be original and reasonably well crafted, but her style just isn't my cup of cocoa, and if I haven't acquired a taste for it after two books I doubt I ever will.
You might also enjoy:
The Lost Years of Merlin (T. A. Barron, YA Fiction - The boy who will become Merlin must learn to accept and master his unpredictable, powerful gifts)
The Stoneheart trilogy (Charlie Fletcher, YA Fiction - When an angry boy uses hands destined to create to destroy instead, he finds himself in the middle of the unseen war between London's gargoyles and statues)
The Coldfire trilogy (C. S. Friedman, Fiction - A native force on a colony world manifests one's deepest thoughts and emotions)
Dune (Frank Herbert, Fiction - The heir to an interstellar dynasty finds a greater destiny on the harsh desert planet Arrakis)
The Lives of Christopher Chant (Diana Wynne Jones, YA Fiction - A boy enjoys his rare gift of being able to visit other worlds in his dreams, but hates the responsibility that comes with it)
Patricia McKillip's books (Patricia McKillip, YA? Fiction - An author with a very lyrical writing style)
Wolf Brother (Michelle Paver, YA Fiction - In prehistoric times, an orphaned boy and his wolf cub companion pursue a dark force to the very ends of the earth)
The Circle of Magic quartet (Tamora Pierce, YA Fiction - Four children with potent gifts must learn to trust their magic and each other, not to mention themselves)
The Harry Potter series (J. K. Rowling, YA Fiction - As an orphaned boy learns of his magical heritage, he also learns of his destined duel with a dark wizard)
A College of Magics (Caroline Stevermer, YA Fiction - A teen heiress attends a school where magic is taught in an abstract manner)
The High House (James Stoddard, Fiction - A man returns to his childhood home, a massive world-encompassing structure, to face the dark force he unwittingly let loose within its walls)
The Lord of the Rings trilogy (J. R. R. Tolkien, Fiction - The classic epic tale of a desperate quest to save Middle-Earth from an old and deathless enemy)
The Young Merlin trilogy (Jane Yolen, YA Fiction - A wild-born boy learns of his magic and his destiny)
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