I've been meaning to read this series for years. I recently watched the animated movie "Tales from Earthsea" because Goro Miyazaki directed it. I love the Miyazaki family. I will watch anything by them. In the past, I watched "A Wizard of Earthsea" the mini-series. Needless to say, by jumping into "Tales from Earthsea" I was a little confused by the things that had transpired since the beginning. Finally, I caved. I decided to read the series.
As it turns out, the mini-series is fairly close to the book. It had been long enough since I saw it so that the book still surprised me and filled in the blanks. So, as usual, I'm going to split up my review into things I liked and things I didn't like.
Things I liked about this book:
Things I didn't like about this book:
Overall:
This book was quite enjoyable. I really like the creativity involved in the naming as well as the social structure. It was fun and I'm looking forward to getting some of my questions answered by reading the next few books.
As it turns out, the mini-series is fairly close to the book. It had been long enough since I saw it so that the book still surprised me and filled in the blanks. So, as usual, I'm going to split up my review into things I liked and things I didn't like.
Things I liked about this book:
- I really appreciated the amount of work that was required to become a wizard. Minimum of one year studying words and the true names of things?! Sign me up!! I love words :)
- I am absolutely in love with the idea of True Names. The gist of it is that everything has a true name and to know the true name of something is to have control over it. It really adds a new level to relationships.
- I like the people that Sparrowhawk encounters. They're not all good people, but they're not all bad. They're all very different. Some want something, some want nothing more than solitude. You learn the motives of some, but others are just a mystery.
Things I didn't like about this book:
- I just can't get behind the calling the main character by his true name. I guess I would have liked it more if his true name was withheld until the end of the story.
- I can understand if a book was written as a part of a series. There were a few times when I was instructed (by the third person omniscient narrator) to read the other books if I wanted to know more.
Overall:
This book was quite enjoyable. I really like the creativity involved in the naming as well as the social structure. It was fun and I'm looking forward to getting some of my questions answered by reading the next few books.
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