Wednesday, September 24, 2008

A Wizard of Earthsea

Although I tried (and failed) to read it as a teenager, A Wizard of Earthsea was a setting concept, at least, that I quite liked. The idea of a massive, convoluted system of islands, lumped together in the middle of a vast and supposedly unending ocean all around it was pretty intriguing.

But, like I said, I couldn't really get into the book. Over the intervening twenty so odd years, I've become slightly embarrassed by the fact that this slim little trilogy (each book less than 200 pages long) that's considered a classic by so many fantasy readers, has eluded me, so I finally broke down, got it from the library and read the first volume. Just finished it an hour or so ago.

Honestly, though, it felt more like a duty than something I enjoyed. I'll probably read the next one or two also, just to say that I have, and because they're short, but I didn't really like it that much.

Still enjoy the setting idea, though. One of these days I'll make my own Islands in an Endless Sea setting, and give a nod to Ursula LeGuin as the inspiration for the basic idea. I seriously doubt I'll add any other borrowings from Earthsea beyond that, though.

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