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3.89 AVERAGE
3.89 AVERAGE
This is a re-reading. I suggested my partner read this book I loved from my youth. She was not engaged, so I went back to see why.
I enjoyed it once again - Im not sure if it seemed as magical as I remembered, but the writing is lovely and the story, slow and with no wars so far, was refreshing.
SO many of the current wave of fantasy are lazy and just have a massive endless war that sees endless death and mayhem until the hero of one gender or another comes into their power at the last minute and wins the war. This is subtler and the battles smaller but engrossing story telling.
I enjoyed it this time round too.
I enjoyed it once again - Im not sure if it seemed as magical as I remembered, but the writing is lovely and the story, slow and with no wars so far, was refreshing.
SO many of the current wave of fantasy are lazy and just have a massive endless war that sees endless death and mayhem until the hero of one gender or another comes into their power at the last minute and wins the war. This is subtler and the battles smaller but engrossing story telling.
I enjoyed it this time round too.
adventurous
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
To change this rock into a jewel, you must change its true name. And to do that, my son, even to so small a scrap of the world, is to change the world. It can be done. Indeed it can be done. It is the art of the Master Changer, and you will learn it, when you are ready to learn it. But you must not change one thing, one pebble, one grain of sand, until you know what good and evil will follow on that act. The world is in balance.
adventurous
reflective
slow-paced
While I do wish I had encountered this book while growing up, even now I can‘t help but give it 5 stars. As Le Guin herself states in the afterword, this book was at once familiar in its usage of old fantasy tropes yet at the same went so far beyond that.
The story is still epic in scale, yet the cast is much smaller than would be expected. No wars stand at the center of the plot, but instead the main character‘s growth and self discovery. Le Guin makes her observations about the different characters with clear-eyedness and poetry. She writes like an anthropologist in that she withholds prejudice for different cultures, skin colors etc., seeing merit in all of them. She in fact manages to turn a surface level story of the battle between light and darkness into a rich study of grays.
The same skilled observations are made for the world and magic system. Descriptions are beautiful, yet not overly flowery. Instead there is a certain understatedness that gives the imagination more than enough to make the world feel alive, while never detracting from the actual action going on. Rather, certain omissions and unexplained terms indicate that the world has more secrets hidden everywhere, just waiting to be discovered by the reader.
The Wizard is understated while still feeling grand. It is beautifully crafted by a true master of the genre and will invite the reader to revisit Earthsea time and time again, be it through the other Earthsea books or inevitable rereads.
This is rightfully considered a classic I would recommend to anyone not fully scared away by a bit of magic.
The story is still epic in scale, yet the cast is much smaller than would be expected. No wars stand at the center of the plot, but instead the main character‘s growth and self discovery. Le Guin makes her observations about the different characters with clear-eyedness and poetry. She writes like an anthropologist in that she withholds prejudice for different cultures, skin colors etc., seeing merit in all of them. She in fact manages to turn a surface level story of the battle between light and darkness into a rich study of grays.
The same skilled observations are made for the world and magic system. Descriptions are beautiful, yet not overly flowery. Instead there is a certain understatedness that gives the imagination more than enough to make the world feel alive, while never detracting from the actual action going on. Rather, certain omissions and unexplained terms indicate that the world has more secrets hidden everywhere, just waiting to be discovered by the reader.
The Wizard is understated while still feeling grand. It is beautifully crafted by a true master of the genre and will invite the reader to revisit Earthsea time and time again, be it through the other Earthsea books or inevitable rereads.
This is rightfully considered a classic I would recommend to anyone not fully scared away by a bit of magic.
adventurous
hopeful
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
inspiring
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes