A review by studiomikarts
A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Finally, a new-to-me fantasy book that didn't disappoint! Recently I'd been on a losing streak with my fantasy picks, whether they were older and highly recommended (like the works of Diana Wynne Jones) or brand-new gambles that I'd never heard of. This series is one that's been on my radar since the Studio Ghibli adaptation, but as that film didn't have the best reception, I was skeptical of the source material (especially combined with the unrelated disappointments in my other book choices). I finally gave this book a shot after my sister highly recommended it to me. I will definitely continue to trust her opinion, as this ended up being the exact sort of book that I love!

Here are some passages that really touched me:

Vetch had been three years at the School, and soon would be made sorcerer; he thought no more of performing the lesser arts of magic than a bird thinks of flying. Yet a greater, unlearned skill he possessed, which was the art of kindness. That night, and always from then on, he offered and gave Ged friendship, a sure and open friendship which Ged could not help but return. 

From that time forth he believed that the wise man is one who never sets himself apart from other living things, whether they have speech or not, and in later years he strove long to learn what can be learned, in silence, from the eyes of animals, the flight of birds, the great slow gestures of trees. 

He knew now, and the knowledge was hard, that his task had never been to undo what he had done, but to finish what he had begun.

I did have a few gripes, like the absence of female protagonists (there literally are none, only supporting characters, and only three that I can recall, out of a supporting cast many times that number) and the strange way that the narrator switched from show to tell relatively often (though that did increase the story's pace significantly). The biggest negative was the rampant animal exploitation. It's not pleasant at all to read about seal skin, and fur coats, and dried fish, and just imagining all the death and horror these animals faced, in a story that uses their suffering only as the world's seasoning.

The negatives were still not enough to take away any stars from my rating nor to prevent me from picking up the next novel, however. I'm looking forward to seeing what tale it has to tell!
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