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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
14,952356332 (3.98)2 / 788
Ged was the greatest sorcerer in all Earthsea, but once he was called Sparrowhawk, a reckless youth, hungry for power and knowledge, who tampered with long-held secrets and loosed a terrible shadow upon the world. This is the 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.… (more)
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1960s (90)
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» See also 788 mentions

English (345)  Spanish (3)  Dutch (2)  French (1)  Japanese (1)  Slovak (1)  Italian (1)  All languages (354)
Showing 1-5 of 345 (next | show all)
A good, slightly old fashioned, fantasy book. First in a series, but does stand alone. Lends itself to Ghibli, although their version is not the same. ( )
  calenmarwen | May 29, 2023 |
“To hear, one must be silent."

I had not read this before, when I was young. To read it just now at 60, it makes me feel so wonderfully young. There is freshness and Zen wisdom condensed so beautifully in these pages. ( )
  MLShaw | Apr 14, 2023 |
Le Guin was already famous as an adult science fiction and fantasy writer when her publisher asked her to consider a young adult novel. This is the result, and led to several novels about Earthsea, a complicated collection of islands in the world sea, that the inhabitants consider all of the world. We meet the hero, Ged, as an orphan in a small, backward town on an island a the edge of the archipelago. He finds his powers when he hides the villagers in a magical fog during a raid, and is adopted by Ogion, the wizard of the island. Ged is impatient and ambitious, and Ogion sends him to a school for wizards. He develops a hatred for an older, arrogant boy, challenges him to a forbidden magical duel, and unleashes a shadow of death in the world. The rest of the book is his quest, ultimately successful, to rid himself and the world of this shadow. The characters are deep, and the world building is elaborate, and I plan on continuing in the series.
Copyright in 1968; this edition has an afterword written by Le Guin in 2012 ( )
  neurodrew | Apr 7, 2023 |
One of the best books I've ever read. Easily on par with the fantasy works of Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, and Gaiman. ( )
1 vote John_the_Other_One | Mar 12, 2023 |
well written and engaging, but I don't understand the ending :/ ( )
  endolith | Mar 1, 2023 |
Showing 1-5 of 345 (next | show all)

» 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
Edwards, LesCover 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
Pergameno, SandroForewordsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Rambelli, RobertaTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Rikman, KristiinaTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Robbins, RuthIllustratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Saunders, Micksecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
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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
It is very hard for evil to take hold of the unconsenting soul.
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.
Last words
(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)
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Wikipedia in English (6)

Ged was the greatest sorcerer in all Earthsea, but once he was called Sparrowhawk, a reckless youth, hungry for power and knowledge, who tampered with long-held secrets and loosed a terrible shadow upon the world. This is the 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.

No library descriptions found.

Book description
Το νησί Γκοντ, ένα μοναχικό βουνό που η κορυφή του υψώνεται ένα μίλη πάνω από τη φουρτουνιασμένη Βορειοανατολική Θάλασσα, είναι ένας τόπος φημισμένος για τους μάγους του. Από τις πόλεις στα οροπέδιά του κι από τα λιμάνια στους σκοτεινούς, στενούς του κόλπους, πολλοί Γκοντιανοί έφυγαν για να υπηρετήσουν τους Άρχοντες του Αρχιπελάγους, στις πόλεις τους σαν μάγοι ή μάγιστροι, ή για ν' αναζητήσουν την περιπέτεια σαν περιπλανώμενοι γητευτές από νησί σε νησί σε όλη τη Γαιοθάλασσα.
Από αυτούς λέγεται ότι ο μεγαλύτερος, σίγουρα ο πιο πολυταξιδεμένος, ήταν ο άντρας που τον έλεγαν Κίρκο, που στις μέρες του έγινε και Άρχοντας των Δράκων και Αρχιμάγιστρος. Τη ζωή του αφηγούνται τα "Κατορθώματα του Γκεντ" και πολλά τραγούδια, αλλά τούτη εδώ δεν είναι μια ιστορία για την εποχή που δεν είχε γίνει ακόμα διάσημος, πριν γραφτούν τα τραγούδια.
Haiku summary
Sparrowhawk or Ged
A nameless shadow follows
Waiting for a name
(Benona)

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