jacey | Booklog 5/2018 - Ursula LeGuin: A Wizard of Earthsea

Prompted by Ursula LeGuin's passing I decided to re-read that much loved book for (probably) the first time in thirty years. It wasn't quite like reading it for the first time because I knew how Ged's struggle against the shadow would end, but I had forgotten a lot of the Journey and how the shadow came to be created in the first place. I first read this in my early twenties and took it as I found it – a great adventure filled with magic. Reading it again I realised how clever the worldbuilding is. Every inch of Earthsea lives. It's a tribute to Ms LeGuin that even when not on the page, you know that the characters are still living their lives. It's a rainbow world. Ged his red-brown. His friend Vetch is black brown. It begins with the boy who is to become Sparrowhawk/Ged (true names hold power and are never revealed except to the best of friends) who leaves his village on Gont to become a wizard's apprentice, and from there he travels to Roke to a serious school for wizards (as unlike Hogwarts as any school could be). Ged is a fabulous character, fully rounded with strengths and flaws. Trying to run before he can walk, he makes a mistake and eventually has to deal with it in his own way. It's a book about balance, responsibility and friendship. He starts out as a “wild, a thriving weed, a tall, quick boy, loud and proud and full of temper,” and grows not only in talent but in wisdom, too. If you haven't read it, read it. If you haven't read it recently, it's worth another look.