Ancient Geeks episode 83: A Wizard Of Earthsea by Ursula Le Guin
Ancient Geeks7 Syys

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 someancientgeeks@gmail.com. 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

Tämä jakso on lisätty Podme-palveluun avoimen RSS-syötteen kautta eikä se ole Podmen omaa tuotantoa. Siksi jakso saattaa sisältää mainontaa.

Jaksot(94)

Ancient Geeks episode 92: The Green Lantern series that helped comic books grow up

Ancient Geeks episode 92: The Green Lantern series that helped comic books grow up

In 1970, DC's superhero comic Green Lantern had become stale, and the poor sales reflected it. In response, the publisher decided to take a chance and put the book into the hands of writer Denny O'Nei...

9 Marras 1h 11min

Ancient Geeks episode 91: Larry Niven's Ringworld

Ancient Geeks episode 91: Larry Niven's Ringworld

When Steven and Tom were young science fiction fans, Larry Niven's 1970 novel Ringworld impressed us with the scope of its imagination. A giant ring encircling a star, populated by trillions of humano...

2 Marras 1h 39min

Ancient Geeks episode 90: Quatermass and the Pit

Ancient Geeks episode 90: Quatermass and the Pit

Before Mulder and Scully, before Doctor Who, before Carl Kolchak, there was Professor Bernard Quatermass, scientist! The protagonist of several popular British TV series and movies, Quatermass defende...

26 Loka 1h 7min

Ancient Geeks episode 89: J.R.R. Tolkien's The Silmarillion

Ancient Geeks episode 89: J.R.R. Tolkien's The Silmarillion

The Silmarillion was J.R.R. Tolkien's life's work. Seriously, he worked on it his entire adult life. Published posthumously, it tells the story of the first two ages of his world, focusing on the trag...

19 Loka 1h 31min

Ancient Geeks episode 88: Star Trek The Next Generation, season 2 part 3

Ancient Geeks episode 88: Star Trek The Next Generation, season 2 part 3

We wrap up our discussion of the pivotal second season of Star Trek: The Next Generation with our reviews of the rest of the episodes we didn't cover last week. There are some definite gems, but also ...

12 Loka 51min

Ancient Geeks episode 87: Star Trek The Next Generation, season 2 part 2

Ancient Geeks episode 87: Star Trek The Next Generation, season 2 part 2

We continue our discussion of Star Trek: The Next Generation season two by discussing some of the must-watch and should-avoid episodes. There are classics like "Q Who," "Measure Of A Man," and "The Em...

5 Loka 1h 18min

Ancient Geeks episode 86: Star Trek The Next Generation, season 2 part 1

Ancient Geeks episode 86: Star Trek The Next Generation, season 2 part 1

We return to the 24th century for the second season of Star Trek: The Next Generation. We start our discussion with an overview of this pivotal season. What did we expect, when we watched season two f...

28 Syys 51min

Ancient Geeks episode 85: The Farthest Shore

Ancient Geeks episode 85: The Farthest Shore

We finish our discussion of the first three Earthsea novels by Ursula Le Guin with The Farthest Shore. We see Ged, the magician, as an older man, risen to Archmage. There's something terrible happenin...

21 Syys 1h 1min