Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula Le Guin

This is the first book in the Earthsea Trilogy by Ursula Le Guin.  It was selected by the National Endowment for the Arts as part of "The Big Read", a program designed to get people to pick up a book and get reading.

Years ago this book was made into a movie that's been on television numerous times.  It never really caught on with me and I don't know that I ever sat through the whole thing.  It was rather confusing and thus I was not inspired to read the book.  When I saw that it was included in "The Big Read" and that we had the book on the shelf already, I thought I would give it another go.

It if can be said about a book involving magic and wizards, this was much more realistic than Harry Potter and far more lively than Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell. 

On the Island of Gont, in the village of Ten Alders, a young boy named Duny gathers together tiny clues to the use of magic.  When his village is threatened with invasion he magically blankets the village in fog.  This draws him to the attention of the Wizard Ogion, who in turn becomes his teacher.  Duny, renamed Ged, is not satisfied with the pace of learning from Ogion and travels to Roke Island to pursue his studies at the wizard school located there.    And so the story goes....  I don't want to give anything further away, so you'll have to read the book yourself.

This is a coming of age story.  Ged needs to learn patience and the way of the world.  He also needs to learn about himself and how to combine his lust for power and knowledge with the will to use it properly.  He must learn how to deal with the shadow within him and not let it overwelm the light. 

I enjoyed the book form much more than the movie, though I do admit that images from the movie kept breaking into my mind at a number of points.  Oh well, I can't un-see what's already been.

This is my 5th book for the Read, Remember, Recommend Fiction Challenge hosted by Bibliobabe.com.