HomeGroupsTalkZeitgeist
This site uses cookies to deliver our services, improve performance, for analytics, and (if not signed in) for advertising. By using LibraryThing you acknowledge that you have read and understand our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Your use of the site and services is subject to these policies and terms.
Hide this

Results from Google Books

Click on a thumbnail to go to Google Books.

A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin
Loading...

A Wizard of Earthsea (1968)

by Ursula K. Le Guin

Other authors: See the other authors section.

Series: The Earthsea Cycle (1)

MembersReviewsPopularityAverage ratingConversations / Mentions
11,457266344 (4)1 / 734
Add to Your books
Add to wishlist
all members
▾Members
Recently added byrena75, deesbooknook78, rachelisreading, private library, AaronTalley, jeffdavis, roseskibowska, KatyBee, Miss_Sink
Legacy LibrariesTim Spalding
▾LibraryThing Recommendations
refresh
▾Member recommendations
  1. 191
    The Riddle-Master of Hed by Patricia A. McKillip (BeckyJP)
  2. 187
    The Fellowship of the Ring by J. R. R. Tolkien (Death_By_Papercut)
    Death_By_Papercut: Sword & Sorcery at it's finest.
  3. 100
    Sabriel by Garth Nix (wosret)
  4. 156
    Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (Book 1) by J. K. Rowling (wosret)
  5. 80
    The Once and Future King by T. H. White (MarcusH)
  6. 92
    The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien (Death_By_Papercut)
    Death_By_Papercut: Quality, epic fantasy.
  7. 71
    The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss (Konran, Jannes)
    Jannes: Rothfuss draws inspiration from many sources, but to me no influence is so evident as that from the Earthsea series by Ursula K. Le Guin.
  8. 40
    Gifts by Ursula K. Le Guin (sturlington)
  9. 40
    Abarat by Clive Barker (Death_By_Papercut)
  10. 40
    Seaward by Susan Cooper (spiphany)
  11. 30
    The Naming by Alison Croggon (ed.pendragon)
    ed.pendragon: The protagonist who starts from humble beginnings to become a powerful mage may be a cliche, but in both these series beginnings there is a carefully thought-out alterative world with sympathetic characters.
  12. 20
    Who Fears Death by Nnedi Okorafor (andomck)
  13. 20
    Saga, Vol. 1 by Brian K. Vaughan (andomck)
    andomck: Magic systems based on language . One is the secret names of things, the other is secrets itself.
  14. 20
    A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle (Anjali.Negi)
  15. 10
    The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman (andomck)
  16. 10
    Tales of Nevèrÿon by Samuel R. Delany (Anonymous user)
  17. 21
    The Magicians: A Novel by Lev Grossman (aulsmith)
    aulsmith: Two different schools of magic
  18. 23
    Eragon by Christopher Paolini (Othemts)
▾Lists
» 66 more
▾Will you like it?
Loading...

Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book.

▾Member reviews
English (259)  Spanish (2)  Dutch (2)  French (1)  Japanese (1)  All languages (265)
date ▼ | votes
Showing 1-5 of 259 (next | show all)
2019 reread:
I was inspired to reread this series by watching the TV adaptation which was well done except for the fact that the plot didn't match my memory of the books. As it turned out, that discrepancy was due partly to the fact that the adaptation melded all 3 books of the original trilogy and partly because they changed the plot significantly!

I listened to the audiobook edition narrated by Rob Inglis who did a good narration. I am pleased that rereading this book in my later life lived up to my memory of reading it as a teenager (not always the case). ( )
  leslie.98 | Jun 18, 2019 |
Having just read Elenium, it was hard not to read Sparrowhawk as Sparhawk... I did get quite attached to him however, once he stopped being a little brat that is. I have started the Tombs of Atuan, but so far it's a bit slow. Admittedly I am only a couple of chapters in, but I'm holding out hope that Sparrowhawk will show up and the whole thing will pickup! ( )
  Amelia1989 | Jun 10, 2019 |
It's a classic, but I think I would have liked this book much better if I'd read it ten years ago. ( )
  miri12 | May 31, 2019 |
I hadn't read this since I was a kid - this one is narrated by Harlan Ellison whose style was earnest and excitable (haven't read him in a long time either...) I'm planning to listen/read through the series again plus newer additions focusing on female characters to see Leguin's development as an amazing writer. I miss her. ( )
  cindywho | May 27, 2019 |
I'm sorry it took me so long to find this book! Looking forward to the rest of the series. ( )
  Jandrew74 | May 26, 2019 |
date ▼ | votes
Showing 1-5 of 259 (next | show all)
?
▾Published reviews
▾Other authors

» Add other authors (40 possible)

Author nameRoleType of authorWork?Status
Le Guin, Ursula K.—primary authorall editionsconfirmed
Archer, KarenNarratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Cases, MadeleineTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Dillon, LeoCover artistsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Dillon. DianeCover artistsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Ellison, HarlanNarratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Gilbert, Anne YvonneCover artistsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Harman, DominicCover artistsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Inglis, RobNarratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Mitchell, DavidIntroductionsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Paronis, MargotTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Rambelli, RobertaTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Rikman, KristiinaTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Robbins, RuthIllustratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Saunders, Mick—secondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
view history
▾Common Knowledge
You must log in to edit Common Knowledge data.
For more help see the Common Knowledge help page.
Series (with order)
The Earthsea Cycle (1)
Canonical title
A Wizard of Earthsea
Original title
A Wizard of Earthsea
Alternative titles
Information from the Polish Common Knowledge. Edit to localize it to your language.
Czarnoksiężnik z Archipelagu
Original publication date
1968-11
People/Characters
Ged (Sparrowhawk)
Jasper
Vetch (Estarriol)
Ogion
Archmage Nemmerle
Important places
Earthsea (fictional)
Gont
Roke
Iffish
Low Torning
Important events
Related movies
Gedo senki (2006 ∙ IMDb)
Earthsea (2004 ∙ IMDb)
Awards and honors
Boston Globe–Horn Book Award (1969.1|Fiction, 1969)
Gigamesh (Fantasía, Novela, 1984)
Lewis Carroll Shelf Award (1979)
A Horn Book Fanfare Best Book (1969)
ALA Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults (2003.03|Flights of Fantasy: Beyond Harry and Frodo, 2003)
Epigraph
Only in silence the word,
only in dark the light,
only in dying life:
bright the hawk's flight
on the empty sky.    
—The Creation of Éa
Dedication
To my brothers
Clifton, Ted, Karl
First words
The island of Gont, a single mountain that lifts its peak a mile above the storm-racked Northeast Sea, is a land famous for wizards.
Quotations
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.
It is very hard for evil to take hold of the unconsenting soul.
Last words
(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)
Disambiguation notice
Publisher's editors
Blurbers
Publisher series
Puffin Modern Classics
Puffin Story Books (477)
Prisma-boeken
Ace Science Fiction Specials, Series 1 (31)
Original language
English US
Canonical DDC/MDS
▾References

References to this work on external resources.

Wikipedia in English (6)

?
▾LibraryThing members' description
Book description
Haiku summary
▾Book descriptions

Amazon.com Amazon.com Review (ISBN 0553383043, Paperback)

Often compared to Tolkien's Middle-earth or Lewis's Narnia, Ursula K. Le Guin's Earthsea is a stunning fantasy world that grabs quickly at our hearts, pulling us deeply into its imaginary realms. Four books (A Wizard of Earthsea, The Tombs of Atuan, The Farthest Shore, and Tehanu) tell the whole Earthsea cycle--a tale about a reckless, awkward boy named Sparrowhawk who becomes a wizard's apprentice after the wizard reveals Sparrowhawk's true name. The boy comes to realize that his fate may be far more important than he ever dreamed possible. Le Guin challenges her readers to think about the power of language, how in the act of naming the world around us we actually create that world. Teens, especially, will be inspired by the way Le Guin allows her characters to evolve and grow into their own powers.

In this first book, A Wizard of Earthsea readers will witness Sparrowhawk's moving rite of passage--when he discovers his true name and becomes a young man. Great challenges await Sparrowhawk, including an almost deadly battle with a sinister creature, a monster that may be his own shadow.

(retrieved from Amazon Thu, 12 Mar 2015 18:13:23 -0400)

(see all 6 descriptions)

▾Library descriptions

A boy grows to manhood while attempting to subdue the evil he unleashed on the world as an apprentice to the Master Wizard.

» see all 4 descriptions

Quick Links

Amazon.com (direct)
Abebooks.com
Amazon Kindle (0 editions)
Audible (0 editions)
CD Audiobook (0 editions)
Project Gutenberg (0 editions)
Google Books — Loading...
WorldCat

Popular covers

Rating

Average: (4)
0.5 3
1 33
1.5 7
2 149
2.5 44
3 556
3.5 116
4 1109
4.5 123
5 1044

Penguin Australia

An edition of this book was published by Penguin Australia.

» Publisher information page

Recorded Books

An edition of this book was published by Recorded Books.

» Publisher information page

Is this you?

Become a LibraryThing Author.

 

About | Contact | Privacy/Terms | Help/FAQs | Blog | Store | APIs | TinyCat | Legacy Libraries | Early Reviewers | Common Knowledge | 135,571,083 books! | Top bar: Always visible
Copyright LibraryThing and/or members of LibraryThing, authors, publishers, libraries, cover designers, Amazon, Bol, Bruna, etc. | static: /