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A Wizard of Earthsea

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A Wizard of Earthsea is the first of a series of books written by Ursula K. Le Guin and set in her fantasy archipelago of Earthsea.

Plot Synopsis

In the novel, a young man, Sparrowhawk, comes of age on his home island of Gont. He discovers that he has the inborn aptitude to practice magic, is given his true, secret name (Ged), and is apprenticed to the wizard Ogion.

Sparrowhawk then travels to the school of wizardry on Roke Island, masters his craft easily, and, in his hubris, summons a spirit of darkness that scars him and leaves him for dead.

After a painful and slow recovery, Sparrowhawk is sent out into the world as a wizard. He fights a dragon, and then resolves to track down the foe he has released and destroy or banish it. The last part of the book details his quest and its outcome.

Analysis

Written as a coming of age story, the book was written with an eye for a young adult audience (and won The Boston Globe-Hornbook Award for juvenile fiction in 1968).

LeGuin is famous for her science fiction and fantasy works; over her career she has received about an award a year[1], among them a total of ten of the most prestigious of them all, the Hugo and Nebula awards.

Harry Potter has brought the general public to children's fantasy; as such it is unavoidable that this major work, published decades before J. K. Rowling's famous children's series, would be compared to it.

Being a story about a young wizard at a school of magic, the book (along with The Worst Witch) is interesting as a precursor to the Harry Potter books. Also, in both series, there is an intimate connection between language and the practice of wizardry. Sparrowhawk derives his power from knowing the true names of things in the ancient language of the dragons, which forces its human speakers to tell the truth, while Harry casts spells by learning wording which sounds suspiciously like Latin.

There are, however, substantial stylistic differences. A Wizard of Earthsea is serious high fantasy, not the tongue-in-cheek, punning low fantasy of Harry Potter. Also, important parts of A Wizard of Earthsea take place before and after Ged's time as a student, and the later Earthsea books are not set at the school.

Le Guin has said that the book was in part a response to the image of wizards as ancient and wise, and to her wondering where they come from.

External links:

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