A Wizard of Earthsea

A Wizard of Earthsea

Robbins cover of first edition
Author	Ursula K. Le Guin
Illustrator	Ruth Robbins
Country	United States
Language	English
Series	Earthsea Cycle
Genre	Fantasy novel, Bildungsroman
Published	1968 (Parnassus Press)
Pages	205 (first edition)
OCLC	1210
Preceded by	"The Rule of Names"
Followed by	The Tombs of Atuan

A Wizard of Earthsea is a young adult fantasy novel written by the American author Ursula K. Le Guin, first published by the small press Parnassus in 1968. The novel received highly positive reviews, initially as a work for children, and later among a general audience as well.

Set in the fictional archipelago of Earthsea, the story centers around a young mage named Ged, born in a village on the island Gont. Displaying great power while still a boy, he joins the school of wizardry, where his prickly nature drives him into conflict with one of his fellows. During a magical duel, Ged's spell goes awry and releases a shadow creature that attacks him. The novel follows his journey as he seeks to be free of the creature.

The book has often been described as a Bildungsroman or coming of age story, as it explores Ged's process of learning to cope with power and come to terms with death. The novel also carries Taoist themes about a fundamental balance in the universe of Earthsea, which wizards are supposed to maintain, closely tied to the idea that language and names have power to affect the material world and alter this balance. Although the structure of the story is similar to that of a traditional epic, critics also described it as subverting this genre in many ways, such as by making the protagonist dark-skinned, in comparison to more typical white-skinned heroes.

A Wizard of Earthsea is widely regarded as a classic of fantasy and young-adult literature and was one of the final recipients of the Lewis Carroll Shelf Award. The book was widely influential within the genre of fantasy; Margaret Atwood, for instance, called A Wizard of Earthsea one of the "wellsprings" of fantasy literature. Le Guin would later write five subsequent books that, together with A Wizard of Earthsea, are referred to as the Earthsea Cycle: The Tombs of Atuan (1971), The Farthest Shore (1972), Tehanu (1990), The Other Wind (2001), and Tales from Earthsea (2001). George Slusser has described the series as a "work of high style and imagination".