Breakaway Books

Authored by Ursula Le Guin; Published 1968; Fantasy

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ / 🏖️🏖️

A Wizard of Earthsea has all the hallmarks of a magical coming-of-age story, with lessons in the price of magic and the perils of possessing power without character, along with a school for young mages and adventures through dragon-filled isles. But the key thing to know is that A Wizard of Earthsea is among the first to exhibit these hallmarks.

In A Wizard of Earthsea, the young wizard Ged is heralded as extraordinarily gifted, foretold to become among the greatest sorcerers in the entire world. As he begins to learns the first charms of illusion and transformation, his pride pushes him to confront an older student and accidentally bring forth an evil shadow into the world. Humbled, he finishes his studies and goes to serve the people of a small island, all the while conscious of the fact that he must rid the world of the shadow he set upon it. 

I’m a big Harry Potter fan. It feels like the story of my generation. In spite of my fervent love for the world of Hogwarts, I think that I would have my child read this novel before starting in on the Harry Potter saga. The reason is simple–Earthsea lacks the high-octane dopamine hits of quidditch and the House Cup and the straightforward villainry of Voldemort and the Death Eaters. A child could become easily bored by Earthsea if he is expecting the jolly, colorful and mostly light-hearted Hogwarts. This novel still has fantastical features (see: dragons), but far fewer bells and whistles. And, as long as we’re talking about it as a book for kids, the lessons it teaches are seriously good ones. Ged, although lauded as possessing a preternatural gift for the generations, is so proud that he messes up hugely, and what’s more, he then has to fix it. He learns humility, and he learns responsibility, and we can only hope that our kids learn the same.

The magic in this world has two main principles that seem to underlie it: All magic has a cost, and knowing the true name of an object, or a person, or an animal, brings immense power. It is this second principle that I find most interesting, and specifically, its outworkings in the novel. Most people do not share their true names with any except for an intimate few, such as a spouse or a best friend. Does this not share a resemblance with the real world? Isn’t it true that we don’t share who we really are? That we protect ourselves by showing only a little of who we are, or even a completely artificial persona? The idea that knowing the true name of another being puts that being in a position of extreme vulnerability is quite a deep one to introduce to children, and I can’t help but admire it. 

A Wizard of Earthsea is a great introduction to the fantastical world of wizardry for kids, and it’s a good book to help parents think more deeply as well.