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A review by joeytitmouse
A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin
4.0
Pretty good, pretty good.
This is online oft compared to the other "Boy Wizard" series, but it is nothing like it at all.
The magic in this series is more Daoist, more illusory, and the world of Earthsea seems to echo philosophies of Idealism (not from ideal but from idea; eg our perception is more part of reality.
We got a boy, he finds out he's got an affinity for wizardry. So they send him to a wizard school. An incident at school follows him long after his graduation.
"Wizardry", here, isn't hocus pocus wave your wand and things happen magic; but rather contingent on understanding of Things. To know a thing's name is to have power over it. To make a rock look like a diamond is easy, you just ask it to. But when that's done it will return to rock. To change a rock, permanently, into a diamond; that changes its fundamental nature and thus all relationships it has to all other things.
Also real dragons. Pet dragons too.
Le Guin has created a beautiful archipelago brimming with distinct cultures, all connected by sea...
The Ghibli movie Tales from Earthsea brought me finally to this book. The movie is based on a later book set in the Earthsea world, much later than the events of this book. I'll also call out the movie for having very white characters.... it seems that's a rarity in Earthsea, we only meet 2 speaking roles + 1 barbarian horde of white people. Everyone else especially the hero had much darker skin.
UPDATE:: Ok. So I perused, not watched, there was a SciFi Miniseries based on this series. And wow. It is absolute crap in not only technical but story fidelity, and Le Guin hated it and has every right to, they did not consult her and it seems like no one in the production really gave a damn about the books, so if you saw those miniseries pls don't base the book on that. That's not your ordinary sour "book vs movie" rivalry. I like Lynch's Dune, with all its failings.
This is online oft compared to the other "Boy Wizard" series, but it is nothing like it at all.
The magic in this series is more Daoist, more illusory, and the world of Earthsea seems to echo philosophies of Idealism (not from ideal but from idea; eg our perception is more part of reality.
We got a boy, he finds out he's got an affinity for wizardry. So they send him to a wizard school. An incident at school follows him long after his graduation.
"Wizardry", here, isn't hocus pocus wave your wand and things happen magic; but rather contingent on understanding of Things. To know a thing's name is to have power over it. To make a rock look like a diamond is easy, you just ask it to. But when that's done it will return to rock. To change a rock, permanently, into a diamond; that changes its fundamental nature and thus all relationships it has to all other things.
Also real dragons. Pet dragons too.
Le Guin has created a beautiful archipelago brimming with distinct cultures, all connected by sea...
The Ghibli movie Tales from Earthsea brought me finally to this book. The movie is based on a later book set in the Earthsea world, much later than the events of this book. I'll also call out the movie for having very white characters.... it seems that's a rarity in Earthsea, we only meet 2 speaking roles + 1 barbarian horde of white people. Everyone else especially the hero had much darker skin.
UPDATE:: Ok. So I perused, not watched, there was a SciFi Miniseries based on this series. And wow. It is absolute crap in not only technical but story fidelity, and Le Guin hated it and has every right to, they did not consult her and it seems like no one in the production really gave a damn about the books, so if you saw those miniseries pls don't base the book on that. That's not your ordinary sour "book vs movie" rivalry. I like Lynch's Dune, with all its failings.