Lindsey's Library

Critique

At first the story is a little hard to get into since it reads much more like a mythological tale told from a bird’s-eye view rather than a cohesive story that moves toward a climax and resolution. Soon, though, this becomes an endearing quality to the writing, as if you’re reading the history of this powerful wizard that many of Earthsea would know in lore. It’s much like reading The Silmarillion by Tolkein, which is the history of Middle Earth, or historical myth lore from various world cultures. In that way, you feel like you’re part of Earthsea, reading about your own history and heroes of legend.

On a more micro level, the text has more depth than a typical fantasy novel. Ged’s journey to adulthood is both dark and complicated, and in the end, he must embrace the evil in himself in order to overcome it, which is an interesting philosophical commentary. I find myself waxing with LeGuin about whether or not recognizing and embracing the evils within ourselves enables us to overcome them rather than being consumed by them. Our own journeys may not be as tangible as Ged’s, but who knows?

At this point this main quartet involving Ged has become somewhat of a classic set within the fantasy fiction genre, and it’s a nice fireside read. I recommend it to all readers, but the main audience will be fantasy buffs 12+.

The other books in this series are The Tombs of Atuan (book 2), The Farthest Shore (book 3), Tehanu (book 4), Tales from Earthsea (book 5), and The Other Wind (book 6).