A Wizard of Earthsea is the first book in the Earthsea Cycle series by Ursula K. Le Guin.

Ged is the greatest sorcerer in all of Earthsea, and in his youth he was called “Sparrowhawk.” Sparrowhawk was reckless, full of pride, and desired power and knowledge. His pride led him to make a great mistake, compromising a balance that sorcerers must always try to maintain.  A Wizard of Earthsea is Ged’s tale of everything he must do in order to fix his mistake and right the balance.

A Wizard of Earthsea begins a bit slowly, but once it picks up it is more interesting. In my opinion, the best part of the book is how complete and thoroughly described the world of Earthsea is. The world of Earthsea is full of legends and songs that add to the richness of the story. Furthermore, the theme of balance throughout the book is really interesting, with the contrasts of silence and sound, light and darkness, and life and death informing the story. The author also did a great job of tying all the threads from the different parts of the story together in the end. 

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoyed J. R. R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings trilogy, since the same quest-theme is present in both these series. Also, if you enjoyed the writing style of this book, then I would recommend Inkheart by Cornelia Funke since I found the authors’ writing styles similar.