A Wizard of Earthsea by: Ursula Le Guin

A Wizard of Earthsea
Ursula k. LeGuin
Various Editions
Various Publishers

This is the first in a series of books. There are 4 novels in the series and two collections of short stories. It follows the life and career of Ged a young man from the Island of Gont. Le Guin has created a very unique world, a world that is mostly water and each nation is a collection of islands. This book is also one of a few that has different editions published for children, teens and adults editions in print. T

Ged apprentices to the local Wizard on God, and is eventually sent to the school for wizards on Roke. There in anger during a fight with other youths he releases a dark shadow, an evil. The Masters of the school appear and banish it from the island. However this shadow and Ged are now tied together in a very unique way.

After leaving the school Ged becomes haunted by the shadow he has released. He tries to return to the protection of Havnor but cannot return to the island the magic protecting the island will not let him approach. So he decides to head south.

The shadow is getting closer and closer to him, and he must discern it’s true name or else he will not be able to defeat it. Can he solve the puzzle, will he wrestle with his shadow and win or will he succumb to the evil he has let loose.

This is a book I first read back in highschool. Then a few years back had to read it for an English literature course at the University of Waterloo I was about a third of the way through it when I realized I had read it before and that is when I found our that the story continues. Since then the two collections of short stories have been published in this world.

Le Guin deals with some big questions of life in this book. Such questions as:

Who am I?
Do I have a role or purpose in life?
Can I defeat the darkness within me?
Can good conquer over evil?
Why am I here?
Can I make a difference?

This book will be a good read for anyone who has ever struggled with some of these questions. Or who wants to use a novel to help them grow to have a deeper understanding of themselves.

Reading Notes on this book:

This book brings to mind many images and many of the books I have read. Also the themes that play so often in my mind and my own life.

Like in A Wrinkle in Time the power of naming and unnaming or X-ing. Also the gift of our real name that we are given. As well the importance of friendship especially Vetch's sticking with Ged on the long journey.

Also the old maxim "Every man must face his own devil." Ged in anger and pride released his own evil, through growth time and humility he conquered his own evil to become whole and balanced again.


The Last theme is the importance of balance in the universe and that all we do has affects beyond us. Either for good or for bad. Either these effects are on others, things, the environment or even the cosmic battle of good and evil.

The Books of Earthsea:

A Wizard of Earthsea - 1968
The Tombs of Atuan - 1971
The Farthest Shore - 1972 (Winner of the National Book Award)
Tehanu: The Last Book of Earthsea - 1990 (Winner of the Nebula Award)
Tales from Earthsea - 2001
The Other Wind - 2001

The Short Stories of Earthsea:

The Word of Unbinding - 1964
The Rule of Names - 1964
Dragonfly - 1997
Darkrose and Diamond - 1999
The Finder - 2001
The Bones of the Earth - 2001
On The High Marsh - 2001

Chronology:

The Word of Unbinding
The Finder
Darkrose and Diamon
The Rule of Names
The Bones of the Earth
A Wizard of Earthsea
The Tombs of Atuan
On the High Marsh
The Farthest Shore
Tehanu
Dragonfly
The Other Wind

Note: The short story "Dragonfly" from Tales from Earthsea is intended to fit in between Tehanu and The Other Wind and, according to Le Guin, is "an important bridge in the series as a whole".

Also check out this great Earthsea site. It should be noted as well that these books have editions in Children's (9-12) Teen, Sci-Fi and adult fiction, It appeals to a very wide audience.

The Giver, Gathering Blue & Messenger by: Lois Lowry

Lois Lowry is one of those unique authors who has won the John Newbery Medal for children’s literature twice. Once for the first book in this trilogy and once for a book about the Holocaust called Number the Stars. (Just as an aside only one other author has ever done that Madeleine L’Engle who I would also recommend highly.) I would begin by recommending any of her books; they are all worth the time and the effort. This trilogy is set in a post apocalyptic world. The first two books each focus on different community’s who have recovered from the devastation differently, both have strengths and both have weaknesses. And a young boy must heal them both and the land if either is to survive.

The Giver
Lois Lowry
Laurel-Leaf Books
ISBN:0440219078

Jonas is a young boy who lives in a community with a lot of technology and many rules about it. He has only seen an airplane twice for planes were not suppose to over fly villages, it was against the rules. Children of the same age are raised together and each December they move up a grade, when the reach the age of twelve they are selected for occupational training Jonas in talking to his friend states about selections: “Jonas Shrugged. It didn’t worry him, how could someone not fit in? The Community was so meticulously ordered, the choices so carefully made.” However all the other Twelve’s were assigned and Jonas was skipped then at the end of the ceremony it was announced that he had been selected he was chosen to become the ‘receiver of memory.’ He was to learn all the history and story of the people and become an advisor to the council that ruled the village. It only happened every so many generations and only 1 keeper of memories was installed in each village. Jonas and his family take in an infant who is not maturing and growing quickly enough. The child is given a year extension, when the child is marked to me replaced (abandoned and killed). Jonas takes the child and runs away. Through the winter Jonas knows he will not make it and pours all the memories he has learnt into the child. But can he save the child? What will happen to him and his community? Jonas thought his world was perfect, that the elders had everything under control, that there would never be war again. But also a world without choices. Till he is given the knowledge of the past the choice to save a child or let it die?

Gathering Blue
Lois Lowry
Laurel-Leaf Books
ISBN:0440229499

Kira, is an orphan and she has a twisted leg, she lives in a village with very little technology and one that casts aside those who do not contribute. The weak, injured, and helpless are abandoned. However things are starting to turn around for Kira, she has been spared by the all powerful Council of Guardians, for she has a gift she is a weaver and can die cloths in ways no other in the community can. As an artisan she is installed in the palatial Council Edifice and spends the whole year working her trade, her primary task is to care for the Robe of Remembrance that tell’s the story of this community. But with her privilege comes expectations that she will do the council biddings. She befriends a young boy and his ragged dog, Matty ‘The Fiercest of the Fierce’. Matt tells Kira about another village where people are not cast aside, where they share their food. Matt brings her a gift the color blue, and a blind man that is her father. She is torn between staying and leaving the life she knows, and the truths she can find out what will happen.

Messenger
Lois Lowry
Thomas Allen & Son
ISBN:0618404414

Matt has returned he is with Kira’s father and living in the new community from beyond yonder. This village is guided by love and compassion, and guided by the ‘Leader’ a seer arrived in this village one winter night many years ago on a sleigh with an older boy who did not survive the journey. The Seer can see the future and can often see for people what might be for his people. Matty is almost at the age where he will be named, he is hoping to be named ‘Messenger’ for he takes message both in the village and to other villages which many can not do. But things are changing, the village is becoming hostile, starting to turn people away and the woods are becoming ferial and people are dieing. Can the Leader save the village, can the world be healed, what will happen to Kira, her father and Matty?

These three books will challenge you, after reading The Giver the first time I was overwhelmed and it haunted me for a long time. I went back and have reread it many many times. All three books raise questions about community, love, friendship, and care for other people. They also show dark paths that we as a people can go down, and how it can devastate all around us when we make the wrong choices for the wrong reasons.

10,000 Hits and Counting

10,000


Thanks So Much!


Sometime today we passed 10,000 hits on this blog since I added a stat counter back in October. Thanks for coming and checking it out, and for coming back and reading.

Yours Steven

Just Wondering

Greetings again friends and readers:

I have been pondering some questions lately. I was wondering why people come and read this blog? I am averaging about 100 hits a day and over 200 page views. I also post all of my reviews on Amazon.com and here is a link to my profile on Amazon ad also the list of all of my reviews I have over 1300 helpful votes on that site and under 10 unhelpful. So I was wondering what do you think? Are there specific books you would like to see me reviewing? Here’s a list of all the books I have read for the last decade, is there something specific you would want to see reviewed? Let me know. Or if you disagree with a review let me know I am open to other opinions and dialogue on my writings.

Peace and Strength!
Yours, learning to be
Steven R. McEvoy

"There is no such thing as coincidence, just the illusion of coincidence!
... There is no certainty, only opportunity!
... This is the most important moment in your life... Commit to it!
... I, like god, do not play with dice and do not believe in coincidence!"

-V in V for Vendetta

In Conversation With God by: Francis Fernandez

In Conversation With God
Francis Fernandez Carvajal
7 Volume Set
Scepter Press
ISBN: 0906138191

This is an amazing Catholic meditation and daily reflection series. The seven volumes have daily readings for each day of the church year as well as volume 6 & 7 being special Feast Days. The readings draw heavily upon the writings of Josemaria Escriva the founder of Opus Dei, Pope John Paul II, and the daily readings from the common liturgy for that day. The Sundays have three sets of readings depending on if we are in year A, B, or C in the church readings. These devotions are all about 6 pages long and divided into 3 sections. They can be read all as a lump or part in the morning, midday and evening. I find that with every day there is so much meat in these devotions that I am already planning on reading them again next year.

"We have a duty to rest. Resting in order to serve God and other people better.
We should learn to rest. If we can avoid becoming totally exhausted we should not fail to do so. God wants us to look after our health, and to know how to recover our strength. It is part of the fifth commandment. We need to rest in order to be fit, to restore lost energy, and so that our work may be all the more effective. Above all, we need it so as to serve God and other people better."
Francis Fernandez
In Conversation With God Volume #3 p.217

"For this reason asking advice about reading is an important part of the virtue of prudence, very especially if it is a question of theological or philosophical books, which can radically affect our formation and even our faith itself. How important it is to be right about books! It is still more important to consult our spiritual director about books specifically destined to aid the formation of our soul."
Francis Fernandez
In Conversation With God - Volume #3 p.117

Are but two samplings of what I have already copied out into my journal this year. There is a complete subject, and biblical reference index in volume 7, unfortunately the earlier volumes indexes only go as far as that volume #. The indexes are subject, and reference quoted by church Fathers, Popes and Saints. These books will draw anyone deeper into a faith and a life of action based upon that faith.

Books edited by Francis Fernandez Carvajal:

Year of Faith Treasury: Prayer 

Year of Faith Treasury: Holy Communion 

Year of Faith Treasury: The Roman Pontiff 

Year of Faith Treasury: The Sacrament of Confession 

Year of Faith Treasury: The Virtue of Faith

Year of Faith Treasury: The Virtue of Fortitude 

In Conversation with God:

Volume #1 Advent and Christmastide

Volume #2 Lent and Eastertide

Volume #3 Ordinary Time Weeks 1-12

Volume #4 Ordinary Time Weeks 13-23

Volume #5 Ordinary Time Weeks 24-34

Volume #6 Special Feasts January-June

Volume #7 Special Feats July -December

Complete Set 7 Volumes

In Conversation with God eBooks:
Volume 1 Part 1 Advent 
Volume 1 Part 2 Christmas and Epiphany
Volume 2 Part 1 Lent and Holy Week
Volume 2 Part 2 Eastertide
Volume 3 Part 1 Ordinary Time Weeks 1-6
Volume 3 Part 2 Ordinary Time Weeks 7-12
Volume 4 Part 1 Ordinary Time Weeks 13-18
Volume 4 Part 2 Ordinary Time Weeks 19-23
Volume 5 Part 1 Ordinary Time Weeks 24-28
Volume 5 Part 2 Ordinary Time Weeks 29-34
Volume 6 Part 1 Special Feasts January-March
Volume 6 Part 2 Special Feasts April-June
Volume 7 Part 1 Special Feats July -September
Volume 7 Part 2 Special Feats October -December

Books by Francis Fernandez Carvajal:

Overcoming Lukewarmness

Through The Winds and Waves

The Day that Changed My Life

Life of Jesus

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Between Heaven Hell by: Peter Kreeft

Between Heaven & Hell
Peter Kreeft
IVP
ISBN: 0877843899

November 22, 1963 was a day that all who were alive that day will remember. It was the day J.F. Kennedy was killed. But in the shadow of that famous death two other great men died that day, Aldous Huxley and C.S. Lewis. This book deals with those three famous men and a fictional dialog they would have sometime after life, but before a final judgment.

These three great men each believed in an afterlife but differently. Lewis in ancient western theism, Kennedy was a humanist, and Huxley believed in ancient eastern pantheism. Each also believed or practiced different forms of Christianity. Lewis was more mainline orthodox Christianity, Kennedy was a modernist or humanistic Christianity and Huxley an Orientalized or mystical Christianity.

The three men meet in a white mist or fog, they debate where they are, what they believe and where they think they will end up. Like many of Kreeft’s books it is written as a dialogue, a conversation in three parts. They each present their world views, their view of the afterlife and their understanding of what their life meant. Yet each is open to the ‘truth’ what truth really is and if it has eternal impact.

This is one of those fun light reads, written in a unique and engaging manner that will presenting the three most common views currently accepted in Christianity, and three of the common interpretations of Christianity in today’s world. If you want to understand other streams of Christianity or the Christians around you this book will give you a clear, concise and humorous presentation of the three main approaches today.

(First Published in Across the Creek Volume 2 Issue 11 - The St. Jerome's Student Union Paper in the column 'Booklook'. 2007.01.25)

Book by Peter Kreeft:

C. S. Lewis: A Critical Essay (1969)

Love Is Stronger Than Death. 1979.

Heaven: The Heart’s Deepest Longing (1980)

Between Heaven Hell (1982) 

The Unaborted Socrates (1983)

The Best Things In Life (1984)

Yes or No? — Straight Answers to Tough Questions about Christianity (1984)

Making Sense Out of Suffering (1986)

Fundamentals of the Faith, Essays in Christian Apologetics (1988)

Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About Heaven... But Never Dreamed of Asking (1990)

Making Choices: Practical Wisdom for Everyday Moral Decisions (1990)

You can understand the Old Testament : a book-by-book guide for Catholics (1990)

Summa of the Summa (1990) 

Three Philosophies of Life (1990) 

Prayer: The Great Conversation (1991)

Back to Virtue (1992) 

Shorter Summa (1993) 

Christianity for Modern Pagans: Pascal's Pensees (1993)

Your Questions, God's Answers (1994) 

Handbook of Christian Apologetics (with Ronald K. Tacelli) (1994)

C. S. Lewis for the Third Millennium (1994) 

Shadow-Lands of C.S. Lewis: The Man Behind the Movie (1994)

Pocket Handbook of Christian Apologetics (1994)

The Angel and the Ants: Bringing Heaven Closer to Your Daily Life (1994)

Talking to Your Children About Being Catholic (1995) — A treasure trove of ideas

Angels (and Demons): What Do We Really Know About Them? (1995)

Ecumenical Jihad: Ecumenism and the Culture Wars (1996)

The Journey A Spiritual Roadmap For Modern Pilgrims (1996)

The Snakebite Letters Devious Secrets for Subverting Society (1998)

Refutation of Moral Relativism (1999)

Prayer for Beginners (2000)

Catholic Christianity (2001)

Socrates Meets Jesus (1987/2002) 

How to Win the Culture War: A Christian Battle Plan for a Society in Crisis (2002)

Celebrating Middle Earth: Lord of the Rings (2002) 

Three Approaches to Abortion: a thoughtful and compassionate guide to today's most controversial issue (2002)

Philosophy 101 by Socrates (2002) 

Socrates Meets Machiavelli (2003) 

Socrates Meets Marx (2003) 

The God Who Loves You (2004)

Socratic Logic (2005) 

You Can Understand the Bible (2005) 

Socrates Meets Sartre: Father Of Philosophy Meets The Founder of Existentialism (2005) 

The Philosophy of Tolkien: The Worldview Behind "The Lord of the Rings" (2005)

The Sea Within (2006)

Socrates Meets Descartes (2007) 

The Philosophy of Jesus (2007) 

Pocket Guide to the Meaning of Life (2007)

Before I Go (2007) 

I Surf Therefore I Am (2008)

Because God Is Real: Sixteen Questions, One Answer (2008)

Jesus-Shock (2008)

Socrates Meets Kant (2009) 

If Einstein Had Been a Surfer (2009) 

Between Allah & Jesus: what Christians Can Learn from Muslims (2010)

Socrates Meets Hume (2010) 

An Ocean Full of Angels (2011)

Summa Philosophica (2012) 

Jacob's Ladder (2013) 

Charisms: Visions, Tongues, Healing, etc. (feat. Dave Nevins) (2013) 

Socrates Meets Kierkegaard (2014) 

52 Big Ideas (2020) 

Practical Theology (2014) 

Letters to an Atheist (2014) 

Philosophy 101 by Socrates: An Introduction to Philosophy Via Plato's Apology : (Forty Things Philosophy is According to History's First and Wisest Philosopher (2014)

I Burned for Your Peace: Augustine's Confessions Unpacked (2016)  

How to Be Holy (2016) 

Catholics and Protestants (2017) 

Between One Faith and Another (2017) 

Forty Reasons I am a Catholic (2018)

Doors in the Walls of the World (2018) 

The Platonic Tradition (2018) 

Socrates' Children, 4 vols. (2019) 

How To Destroy Western Civilization And Other Ideas From The Cultural Abyss (2021)

The Greatest Philosopher Who Ever Lived (2021)

Food for the Soul: Reflections on the Mass Readings 3 vols. (2023)

What Would Socrates Say? (2024) 

…

Contributed to:

Beautiful Eucharist

...

Articles That Mention Kreeft:
Opus Dei
Opus Dei Part II
Catholic Catechism Dialogue blog
4 Resources

...

 

Other Reviews of Lewis's Books.
A Grief Observed
The Four Loves

...

The Ransom Cycle:

Out of the Silent Planet

Perelandra

The Screwtape Letters

Screwtape Proposes a Toast

That Hideous Strength

The Dark Tower and Other Stories

...

Original Space Trilogy:
Out of the Silent Planet
Perelandra
That Hideous Strength

...
The Dark Tower and Other Stories

...

Narnia Publication Order:

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

Prince Caspian

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

The Silver Chair

The Horse and His Boy

The Magician's Nephew

The Last Battle

...

Narnia Chronological Order:

The Magician's Nephew

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

The Horse and His Boy

Prince Caspian

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

The Silver Chair

The Last Battle

...

Books about C.S. Lewis:

Planet's In Peril: A critical Study of C.S. Lewis's Ransom Trilogy - David C. Downing

C. S. Lewis Apostle to the Sceptics - Walter Hooper - CTS Biographies

The Man Who Created Narnia - Michael Coren

Further Up & Further In Understanding Narnia - Joseph Pearce

God and Grief - An Essay

Between Heaven  Hell - Peter Kreeft

...

Related Posts about Purgatory:

Prayers:

Prayer of the Day Prayer for All The Faithful Departed

Prayer of the Day For The Souls In Purgatory

Prayer of the Day Prayer for the Forgotten Dead 

Sermon Sunday November 2nd 2025 All Souls Day Father Jeff Bergsma 

...

Books:

Holy Souls In Purgatory A Journey of Mercy, 30 Days Novena for Relief, with Prayers, Devotion, Promises for Dying Holy Souls in Purgatory - Susan Tassone

Essential Prayers for the Dead - Mary Leonora Wilson FSP

Stories about Purgatory & What They Reveal 30 Days for the Holy Souls - An Ursuline Nun of Sligo, Ireland - TAN Books

Daily Pilgrimage to Purgatory - Seven Swords Publications - Susan Peek - A Powerful Devotion for the Holy Souls

Purgatory A Mystery of Love - Donncha Ó hAodha - CTS Deeper Christianity Series

Visions of Purgatory: A Private Revelation - Anonymous

Holy Souls In Purgatory: A Journey of Mercy, 30 Days Novena - Susan Tassone

A Pocket Guide to Purgatory - Patrick Madrid 

The Way of the Cross for the Holy Souls in Purgatory - Susan Tassone

...

Fiction:

Tortured Soul - Theresa Linden

The Screwtape Letters - C.S. Lewis

Screwtape Proposes a Toast - C.S. Lewis 

A Very Jurassic Hallowtide - Corinna Turner - An unSPARKed Story 

Shadows Visible & Invisible 7 Stories for Teens - Catholic Teen Books

The Wait - F.C. Ribeiro 

Between Heaven and Hell - Peter Kreeft

...

Picture Books:

All Hallows Eve - Anthony DeStefano

…

The Dark Tower & Other Stories by C. S. Lewis

The Dark Tower & Other Stories

The Ransom Cycle Book 6
C.S. Lewis
Various Editions From
Different Publishers

This is one of those little treasures most people do not know about, and the story behind them is almost as fascinating as Lewis’s characters and his life itself. Edited and compiled by Walter Hooper, who was secretary to Lewis in his later years. The story behind this collection is that one day Walter was walking by the cottage that Lewis and his brother Warnie Shared, and saw Warnie burning some ‘rubbish’. Hooper asked what he was up to and Warnie replied he was clearing out some of Jack’s (C.S. Lewis’s) things. Hooper enquired into the contents and found out that they were unpublished manuscripts, stories … Hooper asked for them and Warnie replied if they were not taken then and there they were going into the fire. A fire which supposedly burned for 3 days. One will always wonder what was lost to us from such a purging.


So Hooper saved this collection and some of the other writings that were published posthumously by the late great C. S. Lewis. These six stories are of a science fiction or fantasy nature. The first story The Dark Tower is of particular interest because it is a partial fourth story in Lewis’s Science Fiction Trilogy Out of the Silent Planet, Perelandra and That Hideous Strength. This one being set between the first and second book. This story makes up more than half of this collection. Yet one could ask what is a partial story with middle sections and the end missing be worth? Or be worth reading? And to be honest it would be a very good question.

I would have to state an emphatic yes it would! I would declare so for many different reasons. The first is that this is the only time we see Ransom in his office’s hanging out with a group of professors discussing life the universe and everything. Does that not indeed sound like Lewis, and Tolkien and the rest of the Inklings who did just that. There has been much debate by many scholars as to the questions of if Lewis inserted himself into his fiction, as ‘the professor’ in the Narnia books, and many believe as Professor Ransom in this series. This gathering of friends is almost a scene out of Lewis’s own weekly routine. The second reason is that we meet MacPhee here in this story, which chronologically takes place between book’s 1 and 2 in the series. MacPhee does not show up in the trilogy till the 3rd book. This book gives us a tantalizing taste of a story that would give the published trilogy a fuller more rounded flavor and be amusing to read and debate the end of the story and the progression of Lewis’s Thought.

Even if you only pick up this book for the first story it will be worth it. But the other 5 short pieces are worth a perusal as well.

Other Reviews of Lewis's Books.
A Grief Observed
The Four Loves

...

The Ransom Cycle:

Out of the Silent Planet

Perelandra

The Screwtape Letters

Screwtape Proposes a Toast

That Hideous Strength

The Dark Tower and Other Stories

...

Original Space Trilogy:
Out of the Silent Planet
Perelandra
That Hideous Strength

...
The Dark Tower and Other Stories

...

Narnia Publication Order:

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

Prince Caspian

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

The Silver Chair

The Horse and His Boy

The Magician's Nephew

The Last Battle

...

Narnia Chronological Order:

The Magician's Nephew

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

The Horse and His Boy

Prince Caspian

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

The Silver Chair

The Last Battle

...

Books about C.S. Lewis:

Planet's In Peril: A critical Study of C.S. Lewis's Ransom Trilogy - David C. Downing

C. S. Lewis Apostle to the Sceptics - Walter Hooper - CTS Biographies

The Man Who Created Narnia - Michael Coren

Further Up & Further In Understanding Narnia - Joseph Pearce

God and Grief - An Essay

Between Heaven  Hell - Peter Kreeft

...