(March 2, 2005) — Upon picking up A Wizard of Earthsea , you may think one of two things. First, Hey, wasn’t this a movie? And second, wow, this thing is really thin! A Wizard of Earthsea is a rather old book written by Ursula Le Guin. Based in a world of islands (hence Earth sea), you would find yourself expecting quite a lot from this book, given the writer’s reputation and the success of the movie. However, upon opening the book and attempting to ignore its dismally small size, you may find yourself disappointed. The concept of the story—a young man who finds out he is a wizard destined to be powerful and then finds he is haunted by the darkness within himself—is incredibly cliché and unimaginative. Then there is the writing style, which varies so greatly from the majesty of the movie that you find yourself wondering why the person who produced the movie didn’t rewrite the book, since they would have probably done a better job. The story is flat and too straightforward, especially for a fantasy, and the character is too typically set: an angry prideful young man whose pride is his undoing. The events are often painfully predictable and way too drawn out. After all, who would possibly guess that when trying to summon a dead spirit, the young wizard would instead summon an evil demon? Absolutely no one, of course! Then there is the horrible confusion of facts and events. As a person who saw the movie first, (because believe me, anyone who read the book first would never see the movie), I was confused by both the events and the actual naming of the main character. The boy—whose name in the book is Duny, and then Sparrowhawk, then Ged—completely differs in both name and character from the character in the movie. The book jumps from here to there regarding the main character’s personality and emotions, giving him the appearance of a manic-depressive man. Yet there is an odd quality to the book that makes you want to read the sequel. Unlike most books, which make you want to read the sequel because they are actually good, A Wizard of Earthsea makes you want to continue because you end up thinking that hey, if this book is so crappy and the movie is based on the first two books, then the second one must be better, right? You can’t help thinking that there must be a light at the end of the tunnel. In this case though, if you choose to read this book and then read on, just pray it’s not a train.