He was by far the easiest wizard to relate to, and the least derivative I knew. Ged is a superb creation, by any measure, and was the Archmage of my bookshelf even before he became the Archmage of Earthsea. Adulthood brings more demanding critical standards and many a childhood favourite has been booted off my podium of most cherished books, but my admiration for Le Guin’s artistry has only grown with every rereading.įirst, there is the titular wizard himself. I yearned to do to other people what A Wizard of Earthsea had just done to me – even if I couldn’t articulate exactly what that was. Growing up, I adored A Wizard of Earthsea, Le Guin’s slim but muscular 1968 novel, which I read and reread until my ratty old paperback copy required emergency surgery, and I still have a precious memory of getting to the last page for the umpteenth time, staring at the final line – “and Yarrow ran to meet them, crying with joy” – and realising with a giddy clarity that being a goalkeeper or inventor or forester was yesterday’s news, and that I had to be a writer and nothing else would do. Other magicians and witches also lived on my boyhood bookshelf, but even at 10 years old I sensed that these belonged to a lesser order. These were, in order of discovery, TH White’s Merlin, JRR Tolkien’s Gandalf, Susan Cooper’s Merriman Lyon and Ursula K Le Guin’s Ged, more commonly known as Sparrowhawk, true names being a serious business in Earthsea. CHAPTER V MISCELLANEOUS TRICKS (continued)ġst edition 1931, 124 pages PDF 68 pages.F our principal wizards inhabited my childhood.The jokes should be an accompaniment to the tricks, and the accompaniment must not be so prominent that the audience pay more attention to that than to the tricks. There is seldom any danger of a performer being too amusing, but if his main object is to get laughs he may find that although he has amused his audience he has not mystified them by his performance, and after all that is what a conjurer is supposed to do. The more jokes the better, within reason, provided they are good jokes and are not dragged in they must be suitable for the occasion. I have given suggestions for patter for some of the tricks explained in this book, but I strongly advise the amateur to try to concoct his own patter. 'Patter' - the conjurer's conversation during his performance - is generally the amateur's weakest point. All the tricks I have explained are well within the reach of any amateur conjurer who wishes to give an entertaining performance to his friends.

But I have selected my material very carefully.

I have not attempted to describe all the good tricks in existence, for the simple reason that it would be impossible to do that in a book of this size. All the tricks described in this book have been tested in that way and have passed the test. If the trick passes that test it is a good trick. One way of discovering the worth of a trick is very simple.

Woes of a Wizard by David Devant