Ancient Geeks episode 83: A Wizard Of Earthsea by Ursula Le Guin

We begin our three-part coverage of Ursula K. Le Guin's classic fantasy series, starting with A Wizard Of Earthsea. It starts with a story arc that may sound familiar, a young magician finding his way in the world. But, as you'll hear, it's so much more than just another coming of age story with spells and dragons. Steven read the Earthsea Trilogy (it was only the three books then) when he was young. Tom just read them. Both of us have a lot of praise to heap on the first book in the series. It's the novel that wasn't supposed to be the start of a series, but it was. It's also the book that was conceived as "fantasy for teenagers," but is so much more grown up than that. (You'll hear a lot about how we feel about the YA label in this episode.) A world of islands! A world of magic! Dragons! Clashing pedagogic theories! Shady rock collectors! A dramatic chase across the world! It's all here.   Ancient Geeks is a podcast about two geeks of a certain age re-visiting their youth. We were there when things like science fiction, fantasy, Tolkien, Star Trek, Star Wars, D&D, Marvel and DC comics, Doctor Who, and many, many other threads of modern geek culture were still on the fringes of popular culture. We were geeks before it was chic! For feedback, contact [email protected]. You can also find us on Facebook, Reddit, and Bluesky. Check out the Ancient Geeks blog on Substack, where we post daily. And if you like what you hear, please tell a friend. Also, we always appreciate a review on the podcast platform of your choice. © 2026 Tom Grant and Steven Taylor