A Wizard of Earthsea

by Ursula K. Le Guin

• A Wizard of Earthsea, Audio Literature; ISBN: 1574534211; 2001
• A Wizard of Earthsea, Econo-Clad Books; ISBN: 0881037559; Library Binding, October 1999
• A Wizard of Earthsea, BBC Pubns; ISBN 0563389168; Audio Cassette Abridged edition, January 1997
• A Wizard of Earthsea, Puffin; ISBN 0140364609; 256 pages; Jun 01 1994
• A Wizard of Earthsea, Puffin, paperback, ISBN 0-14-030477-0, 1992
• A Wizard of Earthsea, Roc UK, paperback, ISBN 0-14-015776-X, 1991
• A Wizard of Earthsea, Atheneum; ISBN 0689317204; 197 pages; School & Library Binding, Reprint July 1991
• A Wizard of Earthsea, Bantam Spectra, paperback, ISBN 0-553-26250-5, 1991
• A Wizard of Earthsea, Gollancz, hardcover, ISBN 0-575-00717-6, 1989
• A Wizard of Earthsea, Lythway Large Print, hardcover, ISBN 0-7451-0337-5. 1986
• A Wizard of Earthsea, Bantam Spectra; ISBN 0553262505; 182 pages; Reissue edition May 01 1984
• A Wizard of Earthsea, Bantam, 8th printing, ISBN 0-553-11609-6, 1977 (image)
• A Wizard of Earthsea, Puffin; ISBN 0140304770; 208 pages; Published Mar 01 1971
• A Wizard of Earthsea, Parnassus Press, Berkeley 1968

International Editions:

• A szigetvilág varázslója, Móra, Budapest, 1989, in Hungarian
• Trollkarlen från Övärlden ("The Wizard from Islandworld"), Rabén & Sjögren, Stockholm 1978
• Maameren Velho, in Finnish
  

A Wizard of Earthsea is also included in The Earthsea Trilogy and The Earthsea Quartet editions.

A Wizard of Earthsea is the first book in the Earthsea Series.

Plot summary

When our story begins, we meet the title character as a boy called Duny.He lives a simple life on the island of Gont. He soon picks up the basics of village magic - how to make animals come to him, or controlling the mists. As he was often seen with the birds of prey flying over him the other children called him Sparrowhawk. After using his magic to save the village from an invasion he recieves his true name, which he will use as a wizard: Ged. He sails off to become a wizard at the academy on the island of Roke, where he quickly learns a good deal of magic.

The real troubles begin when Sparrowhawk (or Ged) is challenged by Jasper, another boy on Roke. Ged attempts to summon the spirit of the long-dead lady Elfarran, but in the process he inadvertedly unleashes an "shadow" into the world. Ged is saved by Emmerle, the Archmage of the island. But the shadow is still free, trying to get to Ged and enter him. This would make Ged a gebbeth - a puppet doing the will of the shadow. So Ged starts running away from his shadow, travelling from island to island. In the end, he realizes he must turn around, and face the shadow instead of trying to escape it...

Thanks to A. Hoskins who pointed out the errors in an earlier plot summary.

Reviews

See the Earthsea Quartet page.

Awards

A Wizard of Earthsea won The Boston Globe-Hornbook Award for juvenile fiction (1968).

Inspired

Have a look at Rizwan Virk's script for a screen adaption of A Wizard of Earthsea in the inspired section.