The Wizard of Earthsea Comments
Earthsea Cycle (Ursula Le Guin)
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.
This is a coming of age story; leaps and bounds above the usual run of the mill boy-becomes-wizard-and-saves-world. With prose so good that you will want to lick the pages, and a story equally as enthralling, you will do no wrong buying this series. Lovers of Tolkien's Middle Earth will find themselves right at home in Guin's Earthsea. This is epic fantasy, but it's one of the best series out there. These books won a Nebula and Hugo award. This is the types of book you can read over and over, then some more. Touching, beautiful, at times sad, the Earthsea saga is one of the great masterpieces of fantasy literature.
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Series listed by chronological order, from left to right. Click book image to see details. The first three four books follow the life of Ged. The fifth is a compilation of short stories set in the Earthsea world. The sixth (The Other Wind) returns to the story of Ged and concludes the cycle.
I really wanted to like this series, especially when we had to read it as part of a course on Ursula Le Guin during my MA program, but as much as I tried I couldn't get into it. I love fantasy (in fact I'm doing my PhD in fantasy) but for some reason Earthsea feels very bland to me, especially when compared to LotR, and even when compared to older fantasies. Out of the four novels, I must say I liked 'The Tombs of Atuan' and 'Tehanu' best, but even those were boring at parts. For me, I find the narration too passive and expository (too much tell, not enough show), which makes it difficult to feel invested. In LotR the descriptive narration goes almost in tandem with the characters' travels, making it essential, but in Earthsea it seems separate from them (incidental), halting the action completely. At least, this is how I felt reading it. I really wish I could have enjoyed it :/
As much as i wanted to get into those books after reading all the praises, after reading the 2 first ones I was so bored I couldn't keep on. I found the story incredibly bland and light with nothing after nothing happening, like it was written by an unimaginative pre-teen. I'm sure it was great 45 years ago when it came out and there was nothing else, but it doesn't hold a candle to what has been done in the past 20-30 years.
I brought a compilation of the first four books of the Earthsea cycle, and was enthralled with all of them. Le Guin's storyteling is bested only by her writing ability. And with each book feeling stylisticly different to the last, there should be something here for everyone who is a fan of the genre.
And a quick defense. I have read some bad reviews of Tehanu, the last book in the earthsea quartet, but, whilst not my favourite of the books by any means, it shows a whole new angle on earthsea from the eyes of Tenar, and serves as a good epilouge to the preceding three books, in wrapping up the tale of Ged. Highly recommended
As much as I love Jim Butcher and Garth Nix and almost everyone else in the entire list, it seems sacrilegious to leave Le Guin out of the top 25.
so many writers have stories that have a great beginning and a fantastic middle, but they dont know how to end their stories. they often leave many issues unresolved or they just find a cheap and easy way of putting everything together for the ending. Wizard of Earthsea is not like that. I love this book not just for its symbolism and great prose, but for the effect the ending has on me. it was the perfect ending. it was magical, beautiful and it astounds me. it's what made reading a book worth it---the ending 
As Evan wrote, this series is a work of art truly worthy of the term "literature." I read this when I was very young and have almost no memory of the story, yet I can recall a feeling of enchantment, like a small boat on a quiet, endless sea.
This is something very special.
I only really cared for 1 and 3 but both are fantastic. The dialogue is amazing
I got the earthsea quartet a couple of months back, and I believe its among the best post-modern literature out there. Its not your usual fantasy fare. Its something later generations have forgot about, though. And that is a shame. Its definitely better than wheel of time and chronicles of thomas covenant in terms of artistic and literary achievement (and thomas covenant is something I really loved reading)
Fuck you Sinclair, you know this book was awesome. oh an i love you 
I hated it 
I loved it.
generally fantasy authors are "fantasy authors". that is what they do and all they write. their ability to render characters and weave a compelling story lag behind what is considered literature. le guin is different. she is an author of sublime skills who happens to write some fantasy. her lyrical prose flows effortlessly and is the work of a true craftsman. this series is truely one of the few fantasy series that can be termed literature. how does this differ from most fantasy (or even most books)? most books are written with a focus on telling the story. some do this very well, eg george r. martin. but, the literal level of the story, or plot, is only one layer. for a book to be great it must be more than a story: the literal events of the story must have echos in the universal. very few fantasy novels acheive this. LOTR is one and the earthsea trilogy is another.
I made it through the first book, not too bad. The second book on the other hand is very slow at the beginning and I don't know how it ends because I couldn't hold on for that long.
What makes me want to read this is when he said " With prose so good that you will want to lick the pages". That sounds awesome lol.
It is my most favourite book of all time!!!
I STRONGLY recommend this to readers of all ages. Many fantasy books these days are about the story, and less so about the writing. The writing in Earthsea is almost better than the story itself, which is hard to be, as its lyrical qualities almost make it more like poetry than prose. The struggles and desires of the characters are true enough that it takes no effort to imagine that they are real.
Simply put, this is a series one should not miss!