A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula Le Guin {book review}

The first book of Earthsea is a tale of wizards, dragons and terrifying shadows.

The island of Gont is a land famous for wizards. Of these, some say the greatest - and surely the greatest voyager - is the man called Sparrowhawk. As a reckless, awkward boy, he discovered the great power that was in him - with terrifying consequences. Tempted by pride to try spells beyond his means, Sparrowhawk lets loose an evil shadow-beast in his land. Only he can destroy it, and the quest leads him to the farthest corner of Earthsea.

I have owned this book for well over a year. The first time I tried to read it I couldn't. It is written so different from what I was used too I easily got confused and gave up after the first 3 chapters. However recently I've found myself with nothing to read. Searching the shelves at the local charity shops and grocery stores for something to grab my attention and nothing did. We are having the windows in the house re-placed which caused us to move everything around. Good for an early spring cleaning and for looking through ones books! This one was sitting in the pile of yet to read. Without thinking I started to read it, right in the middle of sorting and I was hooked. It's an enchanting coming of age story. People in other reviews are comparing it to the likes of Harry Potter and such, but it's way before Harry's time therefore it can't compare. A young boy discovers he has magical ability in a world where it is excepted, he goes off to school and learns the skills to be a wizard. While in school he does something foolish and after school the real life lessons are learned. I like it. I can't wait to read the other three. I have them all in one book.

I don't like series because I don't know if or when they will end and I don't have the time to commit or funds to a series. However a trilogy or saga is different. I know it's 3 or 4 books and expect it to have a beginning, middle, and end. Different then a series.

This reads like old school science fiction. If you like fantasy and sci-fi I would recommend it to you! I would also recommend it to you if you like coming of age and adventure stories!!
x LiSa