UB Libraries Book Group discussion

Be sure to start reading our next book for December ...

Welcome to the December discussion of "A Wizard of Earthsea" by Ursula K. Le Guin.
I would like to start the discussion with everyone's reaction to the book.
What did people like?
What did people think of the style of the book?
Has anyone read the following books in the Earthsea series?
Becky

This was my first by Ursula Le Guin, though I have wanted to read her for a while. This is not usually my favorite genre, though I'm not sure if it's science fiction or fantasy or what. I really liked it and it grabbed me pretty much from the start.

I just did a quick search on the Wizard of Earthsea and there seem to be a lot of stories/collections.

Does anyone know how many titles (or stories) are in this series? I like the characters Ged and Vetch and obviously more is to come!

Hey All -- just joined the group. Coincidentally, I had this book in my "to read" stack at home so when I saw it was your pick for the month I moved it to the top. This is also my first Le Guin. The book I have is a trilogy of the first three stories; there are apparently six books in the series with a couple additional short stories scattered about. I liked it to begin with but think it is growing on me even more as I read the other books. I found it immediately interesting but almost a bit slow to develop. I think I am just more used to a Harry Potter-ish style where they are almost written more for screen development; lots of action, lots of dialogue. This I found slower and it felt more reflective or thoughtful somehow. So much of the fantasy stuff I've read has seemed more fanciful; I liked that the magic employed here was more elemental and used for things like healthy livestock and true sailing boats. I also liked the sense of balance required in the world where every action had sometimes unforeseen consequences to maintain the balance. I'm going to continue reading her work. Very enjoyable.

Welcome Kathy! Thank you for answering Ellen's question. I was drawn in quickly as well. I found the style very literary. Much more words and at a higher level of word/thought perhaps. Not sure if this is really as teen friendly as the author meant to be. Though as I was a teen when I read it, I don't remember finding it too difficult.
I remember my son balking at reading a book in 4th grade (9 years old) that had the word "indigenous" on the first page. It was a Ann McCaffrey book about dragons. I thought he would love it. Sadly he didn't read it. He did take off reading voraciously after reading the Harry Potter series, by the way.

Not sure if anyone else has any more comments.
Happy Holidays everyone!
Becky burke

Ditto from me on the happy holidays! Thank you, Becky, for leading the discussion.

Next up, Wolf Hall -- it's a thick one :-)