Ged, a young boy and the protagonist of the story, comes to know he has magic powers. With unexplored potential and uncontrolled prowess, he saves his village from bandits. A powerful wizard notices him and contemplates what he might potentially become. The wizard then sends Ged to the magic school to learn from other master wizards. There, Ged starts to pursue and study many disciplines of magic. He makes friends and foes in his time in the school as well.
Now if this story sounds familiar to you — Yes, you guessed right. Both Harry Potter and The Kingkiller Chronicles were indeed influenced by this very tale by Ursula K. Le Guin. This is the first magic school-oriented high-fantasy narrative.
Also, if you have seen that horrible animation film by Ghibli Studio of the same name (the only bad film in their repertoire I believe) — forget everything about that. The book is far superior and that film was an insult.
This book might be a little different than the books I usually put in this series but technically, it is a classic and unlike most fantasy books, it heavily leans towards literature. On top of that, Ursula K. Le Guin has a unanimous reputation as a literary figure anyway. And no one should care about this awkward little introduction.
I should also come out and say, I don't like YA fiction at all, may it be romance or fantasy (is there a difference after all?). Not because I'll be in my early 30's when mother earth finishes her annual journey. I actually love and enjoy reading children's literature a lot! They fascinated me as a child and they keep doing the same now.
No, what I have against YA Fantasy is that—they are unpolished, cringy. They lack any real substance. The prose is dull and too colloquial and more often, the writers don't possess emotional and intellectual maturity. I understand these books are targetted towards teens and that's fine. But they weren't always so horrible, less accessible to all ages. However, I do not frown upon anyone who reads them, not am I advising them to stop. I just don't like those books personally. That's all.
I have ranted on YA because you can roughly consider Earthsea as YA (but the good kind 😛), based on what YA is supposed to be. This series is originally thought to be as children's literature but Ursula herself called them "Speculative Fiction." Like Tolkien's Hobbit, Earthsea too gained popularity among all ages, from toddlers to ancient souls with time.
The way Ursula tells the story reminds me of how my grandmother used to tell me bedside stories of prince and princess putting me on her lap when she was alive. Protagonists in these stories do the undoable, go beyond their limits, commit the deeds no one ever thought was possible. Fable-like. These fables usually have moral lessons underneath them. In Earthsea too, there are subtexts within each explosion of greed, ambition, and egotism.
Earthsea follows the "Heroes Journey" trope—a term coined by Joseph Campbell. i: e: Hobbit, Lord of the rings, Homer's Tales, and many more fall into this. Look it up, you will be surprised how writers carefully inserted this method in the stories. It's not bad (just overused) and clearly worked all this time.
Despite that and being children's literature, Earthsea's writing style isn't as simplistic as you'd expect in children's books. Ursula often played with structures of a sentence. Tossed around bits and pieces of clauses here and there. Incorporated many words that aren't commonly used. The way she ends sentences with verbs caught my attention. They often become a bit flowery as a result. Also, her imagery is quite vivid. Let me except a bit from the book —
“He peered ahead into the dark cleft, and left and right up the great, cavern-pocked, boulder-tumbled slopes where trees crouched with their roots half in air.”
“The haven now was sunk from sight and Lookfar’s painted eyes, wave-drenched, looked ahead on seas ever wider and more desolate.”
This is the common tone and language of the book. And if you're not paying attention, you won't get far.
I read a fair bit of modern high-fantasy books and writers describe each plot and situation and nuances in detail. These books often cross 1000 pages mark. You can forget this prqctice when it comes to Earthsea (Spoiler alert, she isn't from this era!). Where she makes a few months pass by with a single line, modern writers would invent daily activities, obstacles and made the characters pass those obstacles to fill up more pages. So Earthsea books are small with lesser worldbuilding.
But it isn't absent either. There are creation myths of Earthsea world. Many different cultures, peoples, lores. Internal customs of the magic society. How the magic system works. There are dragons and other magical creatures too. So, don't let the book size fool you. I got deeply emerged into this.
I'd say, Ursula knew instead when to expand and when not to.
A Wizard of Earthsea wasn't solely fuelling my childlike exaltation, my love for literature was also satiated. Ursula became one of the best writers I have read so far as well. I have yet to read her other series and solo works, but I can see myself picking them up in the future.
Thanks for stopping by and reading the blog! :)
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Now I know why you don't like YA. 😁
Those lines were a bit hard to digest. I had to read it again.
It reads like poetry, doesn't it? 😄
I really loved reading the book.
Yes. It reminds me of the poems of those famous classic poet. Makes my braincells jump! Like, "Wait, whaat? Ugh! I need to read it again." 😆
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