Earthsea Wizard

Author: Ursula K. Le Guin
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-07-01
Features: The Boston Globe–Horn Book Award is an American children's literature award established by the Boston Globe and the Horn Book magazine in 1967. It is a highly prestigious children's literature award in the United States. The award is selected annually and includes both Gold and Silver categories. Winning works must expand children's imagination, encourage deep reflection on the unknown, and fully demonstrate the role of books in cultural expression. To date, the award has been selected for over thirty years, and the winning books have had a broad impact on the American children's book industry. The fantasy novel series "Earthsea Cycle," which is as renowned as The Lord of the Rings, has won the highest science fiction award, the Nebula Award. The first book in the "Earthsea Cycle," A Wizard of Earthsea, won the 1968 Boston Globe–Horn Book Award and held the top spot on Amazon's fantasy bestseller list for a long period. The novel A Wizard of Earthsea is filled with philosophical reflections. Le Guin brings us a spiritual insight, one that transcends the grand scenes and overwhelming power. In Le Guin's view, magic is not omnipotent. Danger surrounds magic, just as dark shadows surround light. Magic is not a game played for entertainment or performance. Every spell and piece of magic serves a purpose—either for good or for evil. You must never change something arbitrarily, a stone, a grain of sand, unless you know what benefits and consequences that action will bring. The world is balanced, and it remains in balance. A wizard's power to transform and summon could shake the world's balance. None of us can deny that there is a dark and shadowy part within us. A person fears and retreats because they are afraid of confronting that part of themselves, thus hesitating and holding back. But if you have the courage to face your own darkness, there is nothing to fear, nothing to avoid. This kind of courage and spirit are precious. It is precisely because of this spirit that Ged overcame the Shadow and achieved a whole self, an fearless self.