Lucas Blogs About A Wizard of Earthsea

Oh, there's a SCI-FI Channel miniseries adaptation, you say?

So, what's this book's deal?

Wait, you haven't heard of the Earthsea books?

Whatsea?

Well now I know you're just pulling my leg.

Yes, I have heard of the Earthsea cycle.

You're the worst, Hypothetical Reader.

I try.

Anyhow, A Wizard of Earthsea is the first book in Ursula K. Le Guin's Earthsea series of fantasy novels for young adults. This book follows the adventures of Ged (AKA, Duny or Sparrowhawk), the titular wizard, who first starts learning magic from his aunt as a child and is later apprenticed to Ogion, the wizard on Ged's home island of Gont. After Ged is manipulated into seeking out a powerful spell in Ogion's books, Ogion sends him to the island of Roke to study at the magic school there. In the course of his studies, Ged accidently sets loose an unnamed horror from beyond reality, leaving him with physical and emotional scars. And that's just the first four chapters.

Then I take it that this isn't one of those fantasy novels that meanders around getting to the plot?

Well, that's not quite true. While Le Guin manages to pack a fair number of events into a relatively short novel, she's rarely in a hurry as a writer. While the events of the plot flow well from one to the next, the novel does have an episodic feel. Not so much so that it threatens to turn into a short story collection, but in a way that gives the story a mythic feel.

Oh, like Lord of the Rings?

Hmm. Yes and no. Lord of the Rings feels very much like a story about the end of the age of myth. Sauron is defeated, the elves are sailing off to the West, and the Fellowship all return to their mundane lives (except for the ones who sail off with the elves). Which is fitting, given that Middle-Earth supposedly becomes just our plain old earth after 10,000 or so years. Earthsea doesn't seem to be moving towards that sort of conclusion. A Wizard of Earthsea feels almost Gilgameshian (in a good way) with Ged moving from one challenge to another, always growing and changing as he learns new things about himself and his power.

More of a Bildungsroman?

Something like that. After his education at Roke is completed (about halfway through the book), Ged travels across the archipelago. He battles dragons, flees the darkness he's unleashed, and reconnects with figures from his past. He ultimately comes to realize that the only way to free himself from the nameless shadow is to confront it.

A lesson many young people might benefit from.

Whatever, Hypothetical Reader. Anyway, like many other staples of young adult fantasy, there's plenty for an adult reader to enjoy. Le Guin masterfully doles out just enough context on the history, culture and magic of the archipelago to keep the story coherent while at the same time leaving just enough out to keep the reader wanting more. She also displays a firm grasp of character arc, tracing Ged from a curious boy eager to show off his new talent, to an ambitious student eager to prove he belongs at the school on Roke, to a chastened recluse eager to hide from his past, to . . . well, you'll have to read the book to find out. I mean, I guess if you've read other fantasy novels the ending isn't so surprising. But the journey is fun.

Oh! I like things that are fun.

Then you might enjoy A Wizard of Earthsea.

So a recommendation?

A recommendation. Though, I will say that's not so much a page-turner.

Oh?

But I mean that in a good way. I think I've made it clear that the book is somewhat more meditative than some other fantasy books you could name.

Is this a pacing complaint?

More an observation. Due to the book's meditative nature, the pacing is deliberate. Combined with the book's episodic structure makes it somewhat easier to read it in little chunks here and there rather than just tear through in one or two sittings. That said, while it is sometimes easy to put down, it always called me back. I guess I really mean that the chapters don't so much end with cliffhangers as they do with natural stopping points (which would probably make this a good book to read as a bedtime story).

I gotcha. So still a recommendation?

Definitely still a recommendation.

A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin, Bantam Books mass market paperback edition, 2004, 190-ish pages (I gave away this copy when I bought the omnibus), pairs well with hard tack and contemplation

Links:

Here's Ursula K. Le Guin's website, if you're into that kinda thing.

Apparently someone bought the rights to stream the execrable Sci-Fi Channel Earthsea miniseries on YouTube. I'm sorry for sharing this link.