Duny was a young boy living with his father in Gont, one of the larger islands of the archipelago or Earthsea. Duny discovered his talent for magic and his aunt, the village witch, teached him what she knew about magic and plants. However his aunt was simply a rural witch and his powers exceeded hers.
Duny’s talent for magic attracted the wise mage Ogion, who offered to train him. In a rite of passage to adulthood Ogion gave Duny his true name, Ged. The true name should be kept secret, as a magician could control a person by it, and so Ged was known as Sparrowhawk.
As Sparrowhawk grew a powerful and restless young man, he and Ogion decided that it was best for him to go to study in the renowned school for wizards in the island of Roke. At school, during a dispute with some colleagues, he used his huge power and unleashed a dark creature from another world. He managed to survive the confrontation, but the creature got loose and the Archmage, head of the school, died in the confrontation.
Sparrowhawk was wracked with guilt, and even though he recovered from the physical pain, a psychological pain tormented him. He knew the creature still hunted him, and that their fate lied together.
A Wizard of Earthsea is a delightful work of epic fantasy. Everything is well balanced. Every character and every event takes its time and place in the story, without overstretching. For instance, the passage of Ged through school has many similarities with Harry Potter, but it didn’t took 7 books to pass. The characters, even minor characters, are well developed with human qualities and flaws, and gain the right measure of the reader’s sympathy.
Something I really enjoyed about this book was the angst Ged felt after the release of the creature in Earthsea. The story could easily become lame, but it didn’t. The pathos had always something unnatural about it…
A Wizard of Earthsea (1968) is the first book of the Earthsea series. Although there are some hints and connections to other books of the series, the story stands by itself. A Wizard of Earthsea won the Lewis Carroll Shelf Award in 1979.
Here it is! The new book. I love your kind of books… they are all so interesting… I must confess… I’ve never seen a person from other country write such a good english!
I feel that I should talk to you… this is my e-mail: k.eish.a@hotmail.com
If you want to add me on messenger or write me an e-mail… feel free!
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[...] Tombs of Atuan is the second book of the Earthsea series. It is connected to the previous book, A Wizard of Earthsea, by the character of Ged (the trespasser), but the story stands by [...]
[...] going mad. In the Assembly of the highest mages of the school, the Archmage (Sparrohawk/Ged from A Wizard of Earthsea and The Tombs of Atuan) decided to go himself in search for the reason of the disturbances in [...]