Nowadays, I'm not so easily swayed by back cover blurbs, but as a boy of about 13 that was enough for me. I bought them and took them home. I dove right into them.
I had no idea who Ursula K. LeGuin was. She sure had a funny sounding name. The front of thee book told me that she'd won some awards--the Hugo and Nebula. I had no clue that she was an accomplished science fiction writer. If I had, I don't know if I would have bought the books.
The fact is she's just a great writer, period. I loved the entire trilogy, which chronicles the journey of an orphaned shepherd boy in a remote mountain village. The boy, Duny, learns he has some small talent for magic from his aunt, the village witch. After saving his village from invaders by calling down a fog, he is apprenticed to a mage named Ogion.
From there, Duny is given a new name, Ged, and he becomes a powerful wizard. However, he falls victim to his pride and makes a dreadful mistake and unleashes the dark side of himself. The rest of the book follows Ged as he is hunted by his darker self and his realization that he can't run from it forever. I found it to be gripping, thought-provoking stuff. The rest of the trilogy was just as good. As a matter of fact, I think I need to go back and reread them.
What books that you read when you were young made a lasting impression on you?
