Prompts Filled: (2) A bildungsroman
Tags: Ged (a.k.a. Sparrowhawk, Duny), Fantasy, Adventure, Magic, Wizards, Magic School, Coming of Age, Bildungsroman, Quests, Dragons, Seafaring, Sailing, Boats, Rivalries, Animal Death
On the isle of Gont, a boy named Duny shows a great aptitude for magic. After he uses his magic to save his village, and the larger island of Gont, from raiders, he becomes an apprentice to Gont’s resident wizard, Ogion. Ogion gives Duny his true name, Ged, and Ged moves to Ogion’s home and studies magic. But Ogion lives a quiet life and emphasizes patience and restraint, and Ged is young, impatient, and arrogant. Ogion recommends him to the School on the isle of Roke, where he can study under other wizards and learn alongside students his own age.
Ged makes friends on Roke, but he also makes rivals and enemies. On the night of a seasonal festival, his rival Jasper challenges him to raise the dead. Ged, arrogant and proud, attempts to do so, and he opens a rift into the realm of the dead and out of it comes a shadow that attacks him and flees. His teachers warn him that the evil creature will pursue him for the rest of his life and try to possess him.
And so Ged must go on a journey to defeat the shadow he unleashed upon the world and restore balance.
Sparked Joy: 3/5 I am so glad I read this at last. As a foundational fantasy text, it was about damn time I read it. Though much of it seemed cliché to me, I recognize that that’s only because it originated many of those clichés, including magic school and boy wizards. (And apparently also the idea that names hold power? I think that actually originated in faerie folklore, though.)
Something I Learned: I feel like I should have learned a lot about sailing and seafaring, because Ged does so much of it, but I can’t recall a specific piece of knowledge that would help me if I were stranded on a desert island and needed to make a boat or raft to escape.
Something I’m Inspired to Do: I know Le Guin hated it, but I kind of want to watch the Studio Ghibli film…
A Wizard of Earthsea was published in 1968. Here is Ursula K. Le Guin’s website. Support your local bookstore if you can, or visit your local library!
El's Reading Journal 