Ged, the greatest sorcerer in all Earthsea, was called Sparrowhawk in his reckless youth.
Hungry for power and knowledge, Sparrowhawk tampered with long-held secrets and loosed a terrible shadow upon the world. This is the tale of his testing, how he mastered the mighty words of power, tamed an ancient dragon, and crossed death’s threshold to restore the balance.
The magic in this story is all about summoning the actual names of beings (as in the Rumpelstiltskin fairy tale), since saying something’s real name is like reaching its very essence, its power to be what it is. However, the pure magic in this book is Ursula K. Le Guin’s dry yet rhythmic prose: it conjures up in the mind ghost-like vistas of a timeless twilight, of an inexhaustible wind blowing over the waves, of an endless cloud cover overcasting the ocean, rarely pierced by blinding sunbeams.
The book does not have the sprawling and elaborate breadth of Tolkien’s works, but it does not have the childish mannersims of Rowling’s Harry Potter series. There is no singular antagonist in the vein of Voldemort or Sauron; Ged is fighting against a primeval evil just called the “Shadow”. But deep down, Ged’s true antagonist is his own inner self.
An excellent read, and paced beautifully.