A Wizard of Earthsea
1968 • 210 pages

Ratings465

Average rating3.9

15

“The hunger of a dragon is slow to wake, but hard to sate.”

What a wonderful journey! Mages, spells, dragons and much more. Coincidentally, this book was published the same year as Panshin's “Rite of Passage”, my previous read.

Being a reckless, powerful mage can lead to unexpected consequences: he will upset the balance of the world. But he will learn from his mistakes, he'll grow into a more cautious, wary wizard, one that will refuse even a promise of greater power and will face his own shadows for the sake of Equilibrium. There's a school of wizards where apprentices learn the Arts (e.g., summoning, healing, naming, patterning, binding, etc.), I wonder what potterheads think of this book...⠀

This was originally conceived as a bildungsroman for “older kids” but let's take labels out of the equation because the result is a timeless story just for everyone. Reading the Grand Mistress' fantasy was a gratifying experience. Her stories age very well and she had this amazing talent for worldbuildings, I think she specially excels at culture-building. I'm sure she has influenced a lot of writers over the years but I couldn't stop thinking about Rothfuss' The King Killer Chronicles, the “true name” of things and the power it gives you over them. I wish I knew the true name of my elder son because, guess what, he never listens to me! ⠀

M̶a̶s̶t̶e̶r̶f̶u̶l̶ Mistressful

August 16, 2021Report this review