Author: Ursula K. Le Guin
Themes: Power, duty, consequences
Quote: “To light a candle is to cast a shadow...”
Review:
I felt kind of like this story was a gentile deconstruction of fantasy tropes. Like a lot of fantasy stories primarily concern the coming-of-age of a character, but I feel like Ms Le Guin has a lot to say about how personal growth actually happens in real life. In a lot of fantasy stories the focus is on a conflict, most of the time stemming from an external force that's getting in the way of the main character getting what she or he wants. This story, though, is all about consequences.
One of the most poignant parts of the book for me is when the main character gets shipwrecked on this island (this whole magical land is a series of island nations, but this particular island is really small, most of it is underwater a lot of the time, and it's super isolated) where he meets this raggedy-looking elderly couple who don't speak his language. Initially they're distrustful of him, but ultimately the wizard and the elderly couple try to help each other. Afterward the elderly woman shows our MC a beautiful, old fancy dress that was made for a small girl. And he finally understands that these people were once royalty (like a prince and a princess) and because of war they were marooned on this island as small children and they've lived out their whole lives in almost complete isolation.
Similarly, we never see what specifically The Wizard did to create *SPOILER ALERT* his shadow-self. *END SPOILER*
We get the impression that he doesn't really know either; it's just kind of the manifestation of all the horrible things he would grow up to do someday, and it's come back to haunt him in the present by going around doing awful things to people.
I feel like this character could have really easily been just written as a villain and I really respect that that never happens, and that we are asked to identify with this type of person: a generally decent-hearted individual, but also someone who's so focused on his own goals in life that he doesn't always think about the potential consequences of his actions. And we come to respect him, not because he's talented, or smart (like Ravenclaw-type personality), or even because we see him become truly wise...but rather it's because when he sees that he's done something wrong he'll got at such great lengths to set it right.
Notes:
I listened to this story on audiobook narrated by a guy named Harlan Ellison, I felt like his narration style was really expressive and it kept me interested in what was happening. The story does have a bit of action, but most of it is concerned with the main characters internal journey and transition, I think it might have been hard for me to get into unless I understood that whole mindset going into it. But Mr Ellison's voice just takes you there.
Rating: 4/5 stars. Would totally read again, especially if Ellison was narrating.
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