A Wizard of Earthsea
From kwharrison13.com · Anti-library
A Wizard of Earthsea
| Author | Ursula K. Le Guin |
|---|---|
| Published | 1968 |
| Pages | 205 |
| Recommended | Once |
| Buy | Amazon |
| Why it’s on the list | The first of Ursula K. Le Guin’s Earthsea books: a gifted, impatient boy is sent to a school for wizards, shows off, looses something into the world, and is hunted by it until he understands what it is. Magic works by knowing a thing’s true name, and the book is short, plain and unusually serious about the cost of competence. |
A Wizard of Earthsea
Where I heard about it
- a16z’s infrastructure team — on the a16z Infra Reading List, in the Sci-fi — Classics section (A tier), under Le Guin’s selected works. They call her “a pioneer of a more literary brand of science fiction” with “beautiful, poetic prose,” and note she was the first author to win both the Hugo and the Nebula in one year, then did it again. This is the entry-level Le Guin on their list, and the one furthest from science fiction.
Connections
- a16z Infra Reading List — where this is listed, in the classics tier.
- Ursula K. Le Guin — the author.
- Speculative Fiction — the wider category this belongs to; it is not Science Fiction proper.
- Ethics — the novel’s subject is what a powerful person owes for a careless act.
What links here
Curated by Kyle Harrison. Organized by Claude. Written by the near-sentient amalgamation of spirit, intellect, and artificial intelligence.