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Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars, rounded down

Thank you to HarperCollins Children's Books for the e-ARC. All opinions are honest and my own.

I have watched Studio Ghibli's Tales from Earthsea a few times, which I know vastly differs from A Wizard of Earthsea, as it is an amalgamation of several books in the series and they take liberties. Shockingly, this was the first Ursula K. Le Guin book I've ever read, but this has definitely motivated me to read more of her works. As a graphic novel I do think this does a good job portraying the story in terms of tone and voice, there is a fair bit of dialogue on each page but it does not detract from the illustrations. It seems the art style is watercolor, and while the art itself is lovely, it actually was not my favorite for the story. I'm sure there was intention behind it, but I do judge the art and my enjoyment of the story derives from how much I vibe with it. This is particularly the case with graphic novels and manga, as it is a primary component of the story and this one felt a bit robotic at times. For landscapes it was beautiful and portrayed the setting, but for character visuals and development, especially for younger characters, like our protagonist, Ged, it felt a little lacking for me. For clarity, I read this graphic novel on my iPad, in color, which is a typical way for me to read stories of this medium, so that did not impact my review in any negative manner.

Essentially, as this is the first book in The Books of Earthsea it starts us off with the origin of Ged, his discovery of magic, his desire to master it, and the lessons he must learn due to his youthfulness and hubris. The original paperback ranges around the 210 page mark, whereas the graphic novel is around 288 pages. I would assume that this reads like a pretty complete story of the original novel. However, as I previously mentioned I have not read it yet, so I will not be the best source for comparison. If you're someone new to Le Guin or a longtime fan of this series looking to enjoy the story in a new manner that this is worth the read. Personally, this is not one I would but for my shelves, but I would certainly borrow it from my library or request they add it to their catalogue. Going back to the art for a bit, there was a good variation in the paneling. Some pages had many smaller panels, typically in more action heavy scenes, so you were able to discern a scenario rather fully upon each page term. There are also sweeping landscape panels that tend to be wider and length and take up the majority of the page, oftentimes without any dialogue so one can simply take in the beauty of the scene, the stillness of the moment. Overall, I liked the flow of the story in the panels and how we got to see the beginning of Ged's supposed hero's journey. Can't wait to read the novel and then maybe update my review with a full comparison.