This is a tale of wizards, dragons and shadows, played out in a world like and unlike our own, an Archipelago of imagined lands. When a young goatherd on the island of Gont uncovers his strange powers over nature, he is sent to the School for Wizards to learn the true way of magic. But as the boy's power grows, so does his arrogance. Tempted by pride to perform spells beyond his means, he lets loose a terrible evil into the world. Only he can destroy it, and the quest will lead him to the farthest corners of Earthsea. The island of Gont is a land famous for wizards. Of these, some say the greatest - and surely the greatest voyager - is the man called Sparrowhawk. This is his beginning. A Wizard of Earthsea has captured the imaginations of millions of readers since its publication in 1968, establishing itself as one of the most beloved fantasy classics of the twentieth century.