A Wizard of Earthsea

I think the idea behind this story is a great one. A young wizard struggles to learn more and his pride causes him to make a huge mistake which he spends a lot of his life trying to fix and coming to terms with. However, the way the story is written seemed a bit bland to me. I didn't feel an arch in the story and when he came face to face with his problem it was very anticlimactic for me. The whole story just seemed a bit monotone to me.

Besides that I do think it has some great messages, it just needed to be more climactic for me.

wicked good. read it again so I could remember how wicked good it is. fantasy meets eastern philisophy meets wicked smart writing!

This is known far and wide as one of the best high fantasy novels of all time, and it probably does live up to that claim. It's gorgeously written, lyrical, eloquent, and the author is adept at making her characters real without having the reader dwell in their every waking thought; that said, it didn't catch my interest enough to go pick up the other books in the series. Or maybe it's just not for me right now. Either way, it's seriously well written.

DNF - Page 43

Why?

‘Ged followed, sullen and sore-hearted, knowing he had behaved like a fool, and blaming Jasper for it.'

Also too little dialogue to go along with their pages and pages of description.

Put simply, bored and hate the main character.

First audio book.

The afterward is a must read.

A refreshing take on the genre. Prose is a bit stilted from time to time, and a bit slow to start.

Oh gosh, it was lovely. I was transported into the world on page one and did not leave until I finished the book (who am I kidding - I'm still there). How very glad I am that there are more books of Earthsea.

This was mostly good, just not entirely my type of fantasy. It engaged me through the book but didn’t make me want to jump to read more.

Also I was very sad the otak died 😭

4☆

I've never read an Earthsea book, and I knew nothing about the world except that it was fantasy. I didn't even know the name, “Ged.” I'd heard in many places how respected Le Guin is, but reading Earthsea was something I just would get around to one day.

Well, I got my library card and began using the Libby app. I've been reading ebooks on my tablet instead of my phone, and it's much more enjoyable. And that's how I put a hold on A Wizard of Earthsea. I knew of the book, and it was there, and when it became available, I read it.

Well, what a surprise and a delight. It's a fantastical book following a young man as he becomes a wizard. However, he's arrogant and proud, believing in his own greatness. This nearly ruins him, and then he must right his wrongs and discover how he can be that wizard.

The book is short, so I don't want to share too many details. Learning about the world of Earthsea should be done by the book itself. It's a quick, smooth read. The writing pulls you along as though you were listening to someone tell a great story at a party. You don't want them to stop. You need to know what happens.

Le Guin's style made me think not only of Lord of the Rings but also Narnia. It felt like a mix to me. It's a fantasical history of sorts, and it's so pleasant and enjoyable to experience. I can't wait to read the next one.

https://tinyleafbooks.wordpress.com/

pretty gud

subverts some tropes (mostly racial and story-wise) but not others (women)

Earthsee is the fantasy book equivalent of a long, contemplative movie, where few words are spoken, and the camera lingers for what is maybe a second too long for comfort. And, God, how I love those fucking movies.

I do not understand the hype around this book. I was bored to tears.

This was boring. So much traveling and needing of names to be known. I felt like not much happens between the moment the book's conflict occurs and when it reaches the climax.

I'm not sure how I ended up in a fantasy book club, and whether or not I'll stay in the club, but I was a good and social book clubber and read this. It reaffirmed my affinity for most other genres. I don't really understand or care about fantasy, so I won't rate this book. It reminded me of Moby Dick in that we spent a long time on a boat to get to one important point: that we must confront and accept our darkness to be whole humans and therefore live for ourselves, “never in the service of ruin, or pain, or hatred, or the dark.”
I did discover the magic of listening to slow or plodding audiobooks at 1.25 speed, so something good came of this :)

While fantasy is not my favourite style, I thought I should read this one, given the author (one of my favourites). And she does it again, masterfully steering away from “us” against “them” as very few can.

4 stars as a middle grade book!

Short and sweet, but its a bit boring on account of its age. The narration is extremely direct and leaves little to the imagination. The themes are blindingly clear. Characters are mostly leaden.

Magic was cool but also not. Mechanics mostly unexplained but the air of mystery was good.

I feel bad giving it a 3 star when it was quite enjoyable and I'm about to start the next one but yeah, it's not a 4 star.

Reviewing all my books for 2022 book bingo! Read this for the shapeshifter square.

A classic for good reason. I had been meaning to read Le Guin for some time and this was the perfect excuse to finally do so. It's hard to believe this book is so old because it really does read as contemporary fantasy to me. I only wish it had been longer, as I think there were parts of the plot that deserved more attention.

« A Wizard of Earthsea » est le premier roman du cycle Earthsea d'Ursula K. Le Guin (traduit en cycle de Terremer en français, me semble-t-il).

Derrière un récit d'apprentissage en apparence très classique en fantasy se cache en réalité un texte poétique, plus profond et original qu'il n'y paraît à première vue. Je me suis laissé emporter par les aventures et les rencontres de son jeune héros, sans totalement comprendre ce qui me plaisait tant. La post-face de l'autrice est à ce titre très éclairante : elle y explique l'origine de ce roman et ce qu'elle a voulu en faire. Pour moi, l'objectif est clairement atteint.

Je vais enchaîner directement avec le deuxième tome du cycle, en espérant qu'il me plaise autant que celui-ci.

This book's plot and characters were kinda flat to me, like a very basic experience with both of them. But I really liked Le Guin's prose at times, and the worldbuilding is really cool. I hear Tombs of Atuan is much better, so I'm curious to see where I'll land with that one.

4.25/5

This book took me on a nice little journey exploring a world both internally (through Ged's character) and externally. I liked the story, it was an interesting plot but the writing was a bit difficult for me to get into. I found myself skimming through certain paragraphs to get to the more ‘exciting' scenes which weren't too many.

I believe this book could be considered middle-grade and I would recommend it to those wishing to read a clean, high-fantasy story.

such a nice quick read. I loved the story line even thought it was a bit confusing at first and the magic system is very cool

Wanna read the next oned now!