****** - Verified Buyer
4.5
Ged is a brown skinned wizard, and I cannot help but celebrate this. His friend is black, he is brown, and most of the bad guys are blond people. The Viking like destroyers, and the upper class antagonist ( like in harry potter, yes) The Earthsea books are a spiritual journey. I am always renewed by my visit with Ged. For me, as I try also to undo past mistakes, or finally simply accept my story, and my place, and weave into the spells of today a forgiveness not only of myself, but of all things, I know there is a magic in all we do. For it is in the telling of the story we belong, to live out loud, to meet dragons in their own domain, follow dying friends into the land of death, even at our own peril, and return with terrible effort back up that hill. Lots of poetry in t hese books, great lessons. for kids in ethics, and wonderful imaginary threads to weave a magical world of our own.... The Earthsea series stimulate the imagination of all ages, I recommend it for people 10 through ... 100. When The wizard Ged creates, through vanity, aloneness, insecurity, a. rip. in the fabric of the world, a shadow enters, one only Ged can finally put to rest. It is a mistake of childhood, folly that follows him through his life in many small ways ... and so many of us can related to this story, especially if we are inclined to see magic in the inexplicable order of things around us. He must leave what. would have been a life of acclaim and respect - one he seemed destined for - and set out into the. dangerous world of 'the archipelago' and find this thing he fears most. It is a story of courage, of fear, of power, and the acceptance of ones self. The world Ursula Le Guin creates is just enough to linger in, the high mountains and cold streams, the empty roads where Gebbith can catch up with you and the castles with spells that hide the door from no one except the one who really wants to get out of there.. The lessons taught by the Earthsea series have fed me all my. long life. I was Walking with Ged over the wall that divides life and eath, and into the dry land. Every detail of her fantasy world is delicious. In this final story, the dragons lose their speech - and they were the first to have it. The world we have all taken for granted is losing something and we cannot exactly say what it is...but we recognize the signs. Hopelessness, a dulling of senses... The last jouney of Ged reminds him - and us - that our deeds and actions are never far from us, and cruelty - for any reason - can exact a terrible price in return. The world is saved and set right, yes. But many die, and much is lost forever. Le Guin describes the dignity of a thing. She takes her time with the boat and the sea, for the mage who must perform these tedious actions enjoys the power of doing, with his hands. We magicians, we like to dig in the dirt sometimes. Sure, Yes, the teenaged wizard in this book was created. long before Harry Potter and the stories do share a queer among of details.. Enough to say that Rowlings lifted afew of her ideas from Le Guin. but no matter..we are talking about the Earthsea books, and they are a higher level, seeking to teach and not simply entertain. I would tell you though that ... the shadow that Harry Potter. realizes is himself, thats the same story here. And that the school of wizardry, from the fountain in the middle to the types of classes taught - that's here too. But, its magical and wonderous here. Rowlings makes hers... cotton candy.
