Read All About It: A Wizard of Earthsea

This is my very first foray into the world of Ursula K. Le Guin's novels of Earthsea.  It was...interesting, to say the least.  From what I can tell, this novel functions as the foundations for the series, setting up future tales with small tastes of what its protagonist will accomplish in the future by showing what happened in his past to put him on a certain path.

This novel is not for those who want light fantasy.  These stories are dark, robust, and somewhat confusing.  Ged is a troubled protagonist, his masters mysterious and wise.  There is no shortage of opaque wisdom and advice, plus a dashing of dark magic, uncontrollable magic, and just the right amount of light.

 Duny is a small boy in a small village, who discovers he has a talent for magic after watching a distant relative call a goat, and then attempting to do so for himself.  Eventually, he earns himself a name and a master--now called Ged, the boy is a young man, devouring all lessons set before him.  Soon, he sets off to study on the island of Roke, under more masters.  

Ged is not a patient man, and outstrips his own abilities, calling into being something dark--something that threatens the existence of his world.  Now, he is thrust out to meet it, with only a wizard staff and his lessons behind him.  His journey is rough, and there is no guarantee, or even hope, he will survive.

This was a peculiar novel for me.  I enjoyed it, yes, but I felt that it had some drawbacks to match its few positives, and it left a strange feeling in my mind.  I am glad I did not come to this book until now--I am an adult, and can take a step back and look at the fantasy that I read with a more critical eye.  I do not know how I would have absorbed this book as a child.  It is deep and sensitive, but will never truly fit into the mold of a traditional fantasy novel, and I am not sure how it would have shaped the course of my reading over time.

Another thing: in the first half of the novel, I mostly wanted to smack Ged upside the back of the head and tell him to listen to his elders, which made me realize that the character growth was all that more impressive as we neared the end of Ged's first journey.  I also wished that Ged was gay, or at least interested in something other than being the strongest wizard of all time.  Ged's character is kind of one-dimensional until he accepts his fate to fight against the evil he somehow brought into his world, and the only emotions we get from him before that are anger and embarrassment.  Not the best foundation.

Ged's teachers are old men, and old men without low motives.  His singular friend adds another, much needed, perspective to his journey.  There are only two women I would call worthwhile characters.  

In other words, it could have been better.  I hope it does get better.  Eventually, I'll get my hands on the rest of the series!  Until we get there, keep any eye out for any dragons.  They're not as friendly as you'd wish.