Author: Ursula K. Le Guin
Review written 4/5/2025
I read this book as a part of my ongoing effort to get into fantasy. I've always struggled to connect to most Fantasy books I've read. I would always get fantasy book recommendations from my friends, but I never felt like I fully connected with them.
I've heard many good things about Ursula K Le Guin over the years so I decided to start reading her books with the first book in her famous Earthsea series. While I did enjoy the book overall, I did not connect with it enough for it to finally make me into a fantasy fan.
The book follows the young wizard Ged as he journeys across the archipelagic world of Earthsea. The story takes the form of an anchient myth, telling the tale of Ged from a distance, as if it is a campfire tale recollecting something that occurred many generations ago. In this way, the story feels much more reminicent of something like The Odyssey than it does any work of fantasy written in the last twenty years. The simple and elegant prose makes it seem like a perfect bedtime story for a young child. While I enjoyed this approach to storytelling in some ways, I do feel like the feeling of distance from the events of the story prevented me from really managing to get attatched to any of the characters.
Despite that, I certainly enjoyed the book more than most fantasy that I've attempted reading. The windwaker-adjacent world and the graceful prose were more than enough for me to enjoy my journey through the world of Earthsea. I am interested to check out the rest of the series, as well as Le Guin's science fiction work once I have the time, I think those definitely have more of a chance to really hook me than this one did.