Earthsea: The First Four Books

An interesting read about the coming-of-age of a wizard in the group of islands known as Earthsea that was raised out of the ocean in the distant past by forces unknown. In this realm, magic and control of an item by magic comes by knowing the true name of the object. This also applies to the wizards; for to reveal to a fellow wizard your true name implies trust that your true name would not be used against you.

The story starts with a young boy who discovers a knack for magic. After learning a few simple spells, the boy manages to protect his village from marauders, which gets the attention of a powerful wizard who proceeds to tutor him. But when the boy's desire for magical knowledge grows faster than the wizard is willing to teach, he goes off to learn it from the school at the heart of magic in Earthsea.

There he learns magic and also discovers friends; and possibly make enemies. In his desire to prove himself, he casts a powerful spell that calls up an unknown entity from the dark, which scars him before being pushed away from the school. As he recovers, he learns the truth; the dark entity is still there, waiting for him to emerge and hungry to possess him.

When at last his training is finished, he goes out into the world and protects a region from attacking dragons. But it is only a diversion, for the dark force is there, waiting for him and the time would come when it would possess him, or he will conquer it.

As he encounters and escapes from the force, he gradually learns more about it but lacks one thing to overcome it: its name. Yet, it is only during the final confrontation with the force far from Earthsea itself, does he learn it and, in doing so, learn about himself.

A fascinating, light tale about growing up, making mistakes, learning and making friendships that make the book a nice read.

Lo he disfrutado muchísimo! Sobretodo a partir de la mitad. Creo que ahí es donde coge fuelle el conflicto principal y empieza a entenderse por dónde nos quiere llevar. No suelo leer fantasía, de entrada no me llama nada. Este libro fue un regalo y además había leído cosas muy buenas acerca de Ursula K. Le Guin, así que le di una oportunidad y fue una buena decisión. Bajo el marco de la fantasía, este libro es un coming of age (de mis cosas favoritas en literatura) y también, un poco, libro de viajes. Me ha alucinado la geografía de Terramar, su originalidad, el dibujo del mapa, las descripciones de los territorios y sus gentes. Los conceptos alrededor del conflicto principal del personaje, de la magia y los nombres, son muy buenas.

Por último, en esta edición hay un epílogo en el que la autora reflexiona sobre la escritura del libro y me parece, sinceramente, una tía de puta madre.

I first read a Wizard of Earthsea...well, I can't really remember when. All I know is I'd read it twice before I left primary school and each reading was in a different school year. The only other proper novel I can remember that being true of is Lord of the Rings...apparently I got a taste for high fantasy early. What was the appeal? Well, there was adventure, exploration, magic, dragons and a really complicated map at the front.

I've carried on reading it at intervals right up until the present. Most times I noticed something new in it. For instance, at some point I became aware of the different skin-colours of various characters and peoples. Latterly, interpretation of the novel took over from noticing details.

One interpretation I've noticed on Goodreads is that Ged, the protagonist, has to fight himself and only gains victory by accepting himself as he is. Whilst I feel there is some truth in this, I feel that it misses out a huge amount, much of which is important in the context of the series as a whole. In the novel itself, LeGuin states that Ged released the shadow of his own death. The final confrontation takes place on the shores of the realm where the dead reside. What Ged has to do is recognise that death is consequent on life and accept the fact of his own mortality - his death is part of himself and bears his name. Having done so, he is no longer haunted or hunted by that shadow. The book starts with a stanza containing the line "Only in dying life."

For a long time, I found it interesting that Ged is a victim of his own pride; he attempts to show his superiority and in doing so releases something evil into the world, something that harms him and others. This is an unusual idea in fantasy generally - more typically, evil is externalised and the motives of the evil-doer are not closely examined. This time round I noted strongly that this is not the whole story, either; Ged is, after-all, a victim of a conspiracy and he would not have known the summoning spell that caused so much trouble and suffering if this had not been the case. This is one of the (many) great strengths of LeGuin; rarely are things simply and easily encapsulated. Then there is the concept of Equilibrium - a Butterfly Effect of human action - what you do has consequences - do not act frivolously or for self-agrandisment, or out of pride or anger or fear. You could be dooming yourself - or the whole of Earthsea.

The prose is up to LeGuin's exceptionally high standard, perhaps best from the start up to Ged's arrival at Roke, perhaps weakest between Ged's second departure from Gont and his arrival at Iffish. The story is compelling through-out, never becoming too bogged down in accretion of character history as sometimes happens with LeGuin (e.g. in Gifts).

I truely love this book; Why? Well, there is adventure, exploration, magic, dragons and a really complicated map at the front. Exploration is something I love - I do some when opportunity and health allow. I don't have to be the first - exploring a city or climbing a mountain, it doesn't matter if millions have been there ahead of me. When I can't explore our world I can explore fictional ones and In A Wizard of Earthsea I can explore a whole world full of variety - no two islands are exactly the same, culturally. Each has something unique. There are other reasons - the complexity and profundity of the tale, the entirely convincing nature of Earthsea - can anybody tell me how to get there, since it is plainly a real place? - Oh, yes! Read the books again! The memories of reading it as a child and teen - the music I listened to as Ged sailed under a mage-wind in a boat made more of spells than timber and I love LeGuin for giving me a tale for children that is really a tale for everybody of any and all ages, so that it can keep me company throughout my days.

Bright the hawk's flight on the empty sky.