And with water, and boats, and dragons, “thin-winged and spiny-backed”. There are more Earthsea novels and more adventures, including The Tombs of Atuan, The Farthest Shore, and Tehanu, all filled with Le Guin’s particular form of magic, which involves giving things their true names. (Sounds familiar? Le Guin told the Guardian that JK Rowling “could have been more generous” in acknowledging the 1968 novel.) While there, his pride tempts him into the summoning of a “shadow”, a beast that he will try to escape for the rest of the novel, and which thing of darkness he will only overcome by acknowledging as his own. Ged is whisked away by a great mage, Ogion, and studies at a school for wizardry. One of her earliest works, this novel is set in the world of Earthsea, an archipelago of islands, and follows the coming of age of the young wizard, Ged, from the island of Gont. “From the towns in its high valleys and the ports on its dark narrow bays many a Gontishman has gone forth to serve the Lords of the Archipelago in their cities as wizard or mage, or, looking for adventure, to wander working magic from isle to isle of all Earthsea,” begins Ursula K Le Guin, in her ringingly clear register.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |