Monday, July 15, 2013

Book Review: A Wizard of Earthsea

A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula Le Guin is an old school fantasy novel.  It is a short, fairly quick read.  At least for me it was.  I liked the old school style, though.  It wasn't too fast paced.  Le Guin paced the novel a little slower than most books today are which I appreciated because it allowed her to develop the characters and world in subtle details that I think can be missed. 

The first half of the book is the story of Ged’s childhood and how he ended up becoming a wizard.  Ged is the one to be impatient and rush.  Ogion, his master, is more patient and takes his time.  While this is a pretty average pairing of over excitable student and wise master, the way Le Guin approached it was refreshing to me.

The second half of the story covers what happens when Ged is out on his own.  He has to clean up a figurative mess he made while at the school for wizards because he was in such a hurry to prove himself.  There are some powerful lessons in this second half if one chooses to look for them.


Overall, I enjoyed the book quite a bit.

2 comments: