Mir hat es gut gefallen, auch wenn es gegen Ende einige Längen hat. ( )

Overall.. not that impressed? The pacing was slow. The character development was obsessively told rather than shown, and the main driving force of the plot (a wizard chasing a shadow he loosed into the world) was simply not compelling because the reader can’t possibly know or guess what will happen, and the “enemy” is nameless, faceless, and uncharacterized, making almost all aspects of the book feel like deus ex machina. The reader knows nothing about the capacity of the wizard, the world/context beyond what he experiences firsthand, and the dangers. Overall, a book that limits it scope can be fine, if the scope it limits to is clear and compelling, but this just wasn’t for me. ( )

Fun to read “earlier” fantasy. Curious about the next one in the series. ( )

#693 in our old book database. Not rated.

This is the first in the series. Right now, Ged (the main character), is not in the best of moods. Things keep going wrong and he never feels like he belongs. But he makes progress in this book and I am looking forward to book #2. I want to see him come fully into his power. : )

And here are some of her thoughts from the afterward, which was awesome!

"The conventionality of the story and its originality, reflect its existence within and partial subversion of an accepted, recognized tradition, one I grew up with.

"...The principal characters were men. If the story was heroic, the hero was a white man; most dark-skinned people were inferior or evil. If there was a woman in the story, she was a passive object of desire and rescue (a beautiful blond princess); active women (dark, witches) usually caused destruction or tragedy. Anyway, the stories weren't about women. they were about men, what men did, and what was important to men.

"It's in this sense that A Wizard was perfectly conventional...

"In other ways my story didn't follow the tradition. Its subversive elements attracted little attention, no doubt because I was deliberately sneaky..." (p. Afterward p. 261-264)

I loved reading in the afterward that Le Guin doesn't want her heroes to win war and battles, not the ones that involve slaying other people in wars between countries. The wars here are more internal. And her main characters are not white! It's subtle, but they are dark skinned.

Nicely done Ursala!! Read the Afterward. ; ) ( )