Published: January 1968
Pages: 183
Series: Earthsea Cycle #1
Summary
Hungry for power and knowledge, Sparrowhawk tampered with long-held secrets and loosed a terrible shadow upon the world. This is the tale of his testing, how he mastered the mighty words of power, tamed an ancient dragon, and crossed death’s threshold to restore the balance.
My thoughts
I got given this book as a gift earlier this year. I’ve never had the chance to read Ursula’s work so I was really happy to get my hands on this one! It is a huge book, and it wasn’t until I finished this story that I realised the book was a collection of short stories.
“To light a candle is to cast a shadow.”
The writing is what grabbed me and why I will be devouring this whole book. It is so compelling from the world building to the emotions and thoughts that Sparrowhawk is dealing with. From that a small boy to the man he becomes, this book has a very strong start and it does not let up.
This is a simple, classic, coming-of-age fantasy filled with heart!
From that time forth he believed that the wise man is one who never sets himself apart from other living things, whether they have speech or not, and in later years he strove long to learn what can be learned, in silence, from the eyes of animals, the flight of birds, the great slow gestures of trees.
The conflict of this book is not your usual battle of magic and swords, the ultimate boss battle. This is a different twist that focusses on Sparrowhawks internal struggle of his own dark side, the demons that echo in his thoughts and feeling. Coming to terms and understanding his heart in a story that is about growth.
I loved the magic system of the power being in names. We’ve seen this concept in more modern books, most famously probably being The Name of the Wind – another book I enjoyed and have reviewed on this blog. What I liked most was that there is give and take. There are strong repercussions with this magic if not used responsibly and there are limitations. Nothing more frustrating than when magic is limitless and characters are super powerful – is it just me that gets annoyed by that?
There is a deep connection of this magic to the history of words which reminded me of the essence that was Babel. Another brilliant book I loved. But with Ursula the focus is more on balance, for if something is done to throw off the balance of the world, there are consequences.
He knew now, and the knowledge was hard, that his task had never been to undo what he had done, but to finish what he had begun.
I briefly need to mention dragons because they are in this story too. Smart, greedy dragons, I totally had Smaug in my head when the dragon appeared. That was a lot of fun. Also really compelling writing to see how Sparrowhawk deals with the dragons and slowly throughout this book he builds upon himself, he starts to change. It’s not an overnight thing, which would never be believable, but instead we move alongside him and we start to see the shift in behaviour.
The writing is really lyrical and I rather liked the symbolism behind much of the writing. Books that make you pause and think and great books in my mind. It was a very enjoyable read for such little pages!
“Yet a greater, unlearned skill he possessed, which was the art of kindness.”
Would I recommend?
Yes, if you love old-school, classic fantasy and you haven’t read this yet, you need to. It’s short but its packed with great characters, evocative writing and a wonderfully simple plot with so much meaning. I will be reading so much more of her work in the near future!