A Wizard of Earthsea is a fantasy novel written by American author Ursula K. Le Guin and first published by the small press Parnassus in 1968. It is regarded as a classic of children's literature and of fantasy, within which it is widely influential. The story is set in the fictional archipelago of Earthsea and centers on a young mage named Ged, born in a village on the island of Gont. He displays great power while still a boy and joins a school of wizardry, where his prickly nature drives him into conflict with a fellow student. During a magical duel, Ged's spell goes awry and releases a shadow creature that attacks him. The novel follows Ged's journey as he seeks to be free of the creature.
The book has often been described as a bildungsroman, or coming-of-age story, as it explores Ged's process of learning to cope with power and come to terms with death. The novel also carries Taoist themes about a fundamental balance in the universe of Earthsea, which wizards are supposed to maintain, closely tied to the idea that language and names have power to affect the material world and alter this balance. The structure of the story is similar to that of a traditional epic, although critics have also described it as subverting this genre in many ways, such as by making the protagonist dark-skinned in contrast to more typical white-skinned heroes.
A Wizard of Earthsea received highly positive reviews, initially as a work for children and later among a general audience. It won the Boston Globe–Horn Book Award in 1969 and was one of the final recipients of the Lewis Carroll Shelf Award in 1979. Margaret Atwood called it one of the "wellsprings" of fantasy literature.[3] Le Guin wrote five subsequent books that are collectively referred to as the Earthsea Cycle, together with A Wizard of Earthsea: The Tombs of Atuan (1971), The Farthest Shore (1972), Tehanu (1990), The Other Wind (2001), and Tales from Earthsea (2001). George Slusser described the series as a "work of high style and imagination",[4] while Amanda Craig said that A Wizard of Earthsea was "the most thrilling, wise, and beautiful children's novel ever".[5]
^Le Guin 1968, p. Title page.
^ abSlusser 1976, p. 59.
^Russell 2014.
^Slusser 1976, pp. 32–35.
^Craig 2003.
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Earthsea Cycle, also known as Earthsea, is a series of high fantasy books written by the American author Ursula K. Le Guin. Beginning with AWizard of...
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published as a book by Atheneum Books in 1971. It is the second book in the Earthsea series after AWizardofEarthsea (1969). The Tombs of Atuan was a Newbery...
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(among the Islands ofEarthsea, though this is not mentioned in the original story) contains a rustic village and a resident wizard, nicknamed "Underhill"...
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this story, the Earthsea realm, which was later made famous by AWizardofEarthsea, was first introduced. Along with the story "The Rule of Names", this...
2001) of the Earthsea cycle, all set in the fictional archipelago Earthsea. Tales from Earthsea won the annual Endeavour Award, for the best book by a writer...
Farthest Shore, 1972) Yevaud (AWizardofEarthsea, 1968) Orm Irian and Tehanu, each of whom was a dragon in human form who acted as a diplomat between her races...
higher in Locus's poll were The Lord of the Rings, A Game of Thrones, The Hobbit, AWizardofEarthsea and Nine Princes in Amber. Marshall, Richard (February...
feral children; in AWizardofEarthsea, Ged washes up on their island and is unable to communicate much with them, as they only know a few words in their...
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