A Wizard of Earthsea

The Earthsea Cycle, Book 1

De: Ursula K. Le Guin

Narrado por: Rob Inglis

"The shapeless mass of darkness split apart. It sundered, and a pale spindle of light gleamed between his open arms. In the oval of light there moved a human shape: a tall woman...beautiful, and sorrowful, and full of fear." - from A Wizard of Earthsea, first in a tetralogy that includes The Tombs of Atuan and The Farthest Shore, introduces the listener to Ged, the greatest sorcerer in all Earthsea, known also as Sparrowhawk. When Sparrowhawk casts a spell that saves his village from destruction at the hands of the invading Kargs, Ogion, the Mage of Re Albi, encourages the boy to apprentice himself in the art of wizardry. So, at the age of 13, the boy receives his true name - Ged - and gives himself over to the gentle tutelage of the Master Ogion. But impatient with the slowness of his studies and infatuated with glory, Ged embarks for the Island of Roke, where the highest arts of wizardry are taught. There, Ged's natural talents enable him to surpass his classmates in little time. But when his vanity prompts him to summon Elfarran, the fair lady of the Deed of Enlad, he unleashes a shapeless mass of darkness - the shadow.

©1968 Ursula K. Le Guin (P)1992 Recorded Books, LLC

I’m not usually into fantasy, but … WOW.

A Wizard of Earthsea was published in 1968. Read it and you’ll see that J. K. Rowling borrowed a *surprising* number of its key elements for her Harry Potter series. That said, this and the other Earthsea books struck me as covering a more inventive magical universe. The writing and dialogue are also much better.

It’s interesting to compare the magic in both series. Earthsea magic has less flash and more substance. Potter magic is flashy and occasionally illogical. You can also say the same things about their respective plots.

The Wizard of Earthsea is unconventional. For example, most of the characters are not handsome caucasians and the universe is not some variant of the England of the Middle Ages. Again, it’s interesting to compare this with the Potter series which is quite conventional. And while this book is progressive, the Potter books promote the last acceptable prejudice, that being the one against the overweight. Nice one, J.K.

Earthsea series is now my favourite sci-fi/fantasy series and I’d rank it second only to my favourite series of any type, the Hornblower books. That’s high praise.

After starting this book, I listened in every spare moment and promptly downloaded the next book as soon as I finished this one. I did the same with the second one. All the books are excellently narrated by Rob Inglis, btw.

I highly recommended this and the other two Earthsea books Audible carries. I only wish Audible had the last three books in series.

Perfect voice

Rob Inglis has the perfect voice for this book. He gives the story weight, gravity and power. I can't imagine anyone else reading it!

A Classic, Direct From Cassette.

What did you love best about A Wizard of Earthsea?

I was in elementary school when I first got the Tombs of Atuan on cassette from the library. A Wizard of Earthsea is an even better book, and I'm truly happy to have it to listen to whenever I want. As the main character grows, he learns to balance his desire for power with the need to use it responsibly, and to understand the consequences of his actions before taking them.

It's a very classic coming-of-age story and the setting is immense, rich and powerful.

Any additional comments?

This recording was not re-done for audible, it is the original Recorded Books cassette recording, including the directions to change cassettes every so often. That's rather jarring, because it's a good 30 seconds of gap here and there with the "please fast forward to the end of the cassette before loading the next one..... A Wizard of Earthsea, Cassette X"

I really wish they'd edited this better to remove those. Just a small touch that really would have made the book more enjoyable to listen to. The story itself is a classic, but for audio, the listening experience matters a lot. That definitely takes it down a notch.

A great work!

One of the great works of Fantasy by one of the finest authors of our time. A perennial favorite. Delightful.

Amazing

A fun and entertaining story, though I wish women were more than submissive maidservants in it.