Friday, September 23, 2011

Book Review: A Wizard of Earthsea

Whenver I go back and read a book, I'm often surprised both at the things I remember and at the things I forget. For example, I first read A Wizard of Earthsea when I was in grade school. When I returned from my mission [1], I read the series again because I couldn't remember much about them. This time around, reading it with Leann, there were still things I didn't remember. For example, I had forgotten the trip to Osskill and confrontation with the Stone of the Terrenon and its minions.

My verdict: Ursula LeGuin's world-building is impressive. She clearly put a lot of thought into the cultures of the different islands and how those cultures clashed, from time to time. She also put some consideration into the system of magic employed by her characters and does a good job of being consistent with that system. The growth of Ged as a character was both satisfying and believable (though Leann was dissatisfied with the ending). Even though this book was primarily written for children, I would recommend it to anyone.


Notes:

[1] For those who are unsure why Latter-day Saints (Mormons) go on missions, I recommend you visit here and here, where you can learn more about LDS beliefs concerning sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ. If you have more questions, ask and maybe I'll do a full post on the topic.

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