A Wizard of Earthsea (urspr publ 1968; utgåvan 1968)

I don't know how to review this. It is what it is and I've read nothing similar. But I enjoyed it and may read more. ( )

I remember reading this book years and years ago and disliking it for whatever reason, even though Evan loved it and read the whole series. I wanted to give it another chance now because I was pretty sure I didn't give it a fair shake at the time, and I've been in the mood for period fantasy lately. Luckily, this was an excellent read, and I look forward to the next book in the series. Now I just need to re-read The Great Gatsby to undo the work of junior English class... ( )

Ever since I read “The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas” in a college class, I knew LeGuin was different. Not just fantasy with a moral center, but fantasy that stares deep into your human weaknesses and asks you just what you plan to do about them. In “A Wizard Of Earthsea” I found my own frailties challenged in the open, but I also found healing.

Somewhere between the end of high school and the end of college, I lost the ability to read for pleasure. I was a voracious reader growing up, to the point where I’d get in trouble at school because I was reading under my desk instead of paying attention, but over the course of getting an English degree I grew to associate reading with deadlines, analysis, and resentment.

On top of that, the explosion of the fantasy genre in the last several years left me overwhelmed and alienated: where could I even start? What was I “supposed” to read? Which authors had the right politics, and which books were the most groundbreaking? It’s all an endless circle of responses to responses to responses, impossible to break into when you’re also trying to catch up on the books you are “supposed” to have read as an English degree holder.

So I gradually stopped reading. After graduating from college in 2013, I would read maybe two or three books a year, often rereading something I already knew I enjoyed. I didn’t even bother trying to catch up with fantasy, which used to be my favorite genre.

I picked up Earthsea on a whim, having resolved to read at least one book a month in 2019. I got more than I ever could have hoped for. The storytelling is vast and mythical, yet deeply human. It’s a wise, quiet story in which I could see the origins of some of my favorite fantasy writers (especially Tamora Pierce and Garth Nix), and reading it gave me a sense of forgiveness. I almost couldn’t remember what it felt like to enjoy fantasy without reservation and to look forward to reading more—I had to go back to basics, back to a book that was unselfconscious and unhurried and not trying to prove anything. I’m so glad I read “A Wizard of Earthsea” now, and I look forward to carrying it with me as I learn how to read all over again. ( )

This is pure pleasure to read, the best fantasy novel I've ever read and one I come back to repeatedly. Everything about it is perfect. ( )

I liked this a lot. I don't read a lot of fantasy, but this seemed a possible candidate for the next family read, and I enjoyed it thoroughly. I liked the notion of the power of names, and in general the story here felt just a little different from any other fantasy I've read. I'd like to read more of the series (and may) but my daughter, for whose benefit in part (along with my son's) I was reading this aloud, didn't like it that much, and I'll probably put other books ahead of this series in the queue. Still, a pleasant, quick surprise. ( )