A Wizard of Earthsea

The Earthsea Cycle, Book 1

De: Ursula K. Le Guin

Narrado por: Rob Inglis

Winner of the Boston Globe–Horn Book Award

Winner of the Lewis Carroll Shelf Award

One of TIME's 100 Best Fantasy Books of All Time

Ged was the greatest sorcerer in Earthsea, but in his youth he was the reckless Sparrowhawk. In his hunger for power and knowledge, he tampered with long held secrets and loosed a terrible shadow upon the world. This is the tumultuous tale of his testing, how he mastered the mighty words of power, tamed an ancient dragon, and crossed death's threshold to restore the balance.

"The magic of Earthsea is primal; the lessons of Earthsea remain as potent, as wise, and as necessary as anyone could dream."—Neil Gaiman

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

ripped from a cassette

great story, but on a pure digital copy, I was surprised to hear the words "you have reached the end of side A, please fast forward all the way to the end before starting sude B" in the middle of the audio book. that should have been edited out, and it bothered me all the way through the story.

A Nice Story

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

I spent the first half of this book waiting for character development - it was only when I realised that I wasn't going to get any that I actually started to enjoy the story.

What did you like best about this story?

I appreciated the simplicity of this tale. I will be coming back to this series when I have children old enough to appreciate it as a bed time story.

Which scene was your favorite?

I don't want to spoil anything, suffice to say my favourite scene involved a dragon.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

If this were made in to a movie I would go and see it. I think it would be difficult to fit everything in to one movie as the story covers so many small adventures without really delving into anything with much detail.

Any additional comments?

This is the sort of story I would read to my kids at bed time because it's just that, a story. There isn't much in the way of a complicated plot, in depth characters or intricate character relationships - it's just a nice story.

I would have enjoyed this a lot more knowing what I was getting in to.

Not for me

I gave up halfway through. I love fantasy, but dislike stories with completely unlikable protagonists. I don't need a MarySue, but some likeable characteristics are a must. He had none. Narrator was fine.

A classic for a reason

I've read several of Ursula Le Guin's short stories but this was my first experience with her longer fiction, and I'm delighted to say that her capacity for compelling storytelling and immersive worldbuilding are maintained at novel length. While it shows some influence from Tolkien, in certain thematic elements and even in some place names, like the best fantasy writing A Wizard of Earthsea is neither knockoff nor copycat. Its world is rich and unique, and implies vast histories and further stories waiting to be told just at the edges of the main character's vision.

Sparrowhawk is not the most complex protagonist in fantasy literature, but his actions and motivations are immediately familiar and relatable. He simply wants to learn, to improve, and to impress his rivals, but in doing so he unleashes a terrifying power that he barely understands. The story that subsequently emerges is one of external and internal discovery, as our hero uses compassion and intelligence rather than brute strength to defeat evil forces and improve the lives of the people he meets.

Plus, do you like boats? This book has got a crazy lot of boats in it, if that's your thing.

A Wizard of Earthsea is nice and short (gets its point across and doesn't overstay its welcome) so it's good for a long flight or a road trip. Featuring yet another wonderful voice performance by Rob Inglis. I can't recommend this classic highly enough.

DECENT BOOK HERE

I ordered this due to a recommendation from a friend. It was not bad and also was not what I would call good either