Ursula K. Le Guin’s iconic fantasy novel A Wizard of Earthsea is getting a graphic novel adaptation from Clarion Books, Reactor reports.
Le Guin’s novel, originally published in 1968 by Parnassus Press, follows Ged, a sorcerer who struggles to be free from a creature that he accidentally unleashed during a duel. The novel is now considered a classic of fantasy literature and was the first installment of the six-book Earthsea Cycle, which ended in 2001 with The Other Wind. Le Guin died in 2018.
The graphic novel version of A Wizard of Earthsea will be adapted and illustrated by Fred Fordham, who previously produced graphic adaptations of Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird and Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World.
Clarion calls the adaptation “a masterly crafted graphic novel,” writing that “Fred Fordham brings new life to Le Guin’s iconic fantasy classic with his breathtaking illustrations and thoughtful text adaptation.”
The Instagram account of Le Guin’s estate announced the adaptation, writing, “Several years ago, we reached out to artist Fred Fordham to see if he’d be interested in working on a graphic novel adaptation of A Wizard of Earthsea. What a wonderful collaboration resulted! We are THRILLED to give you a sneak peek at the result, a visual interpretation that is both faithful to the original, and thoroughly original itself.”
The graphic novel adaptation of A Wizard of Earthsea is slated for publication on March 11, 2025.
Michael Schaub is a contributing writer.
