The first novel of Ursula K. Le Guin's must-read Books of Earthsea. Ged was the greatest sorcerer in Earthsea, but in his youth he was the reckless Sparrowhawk. In his hunger for power and knowledge, he tampered with long-held secrets and loosed a terrible shadow upon the world. This is the tumultuous tale of his testing, how he mastered the mighty words of power, tamed an ancient dragon, and crossed death's threshold to restore the balance. With stories as perennial and universally beloved as The Chronicles of Narnia and The Lord of the Rings—but also unlike anything but themselves—Ursula K. Le Guin’s Earthsea novels are some of the most acclaimed and awarded works in literature. They have received accolades such as the National Book Award, a Newbery Honor, the Nebula Award, and many more honors, commemorating their enduring place in the hearts and minds of readers and the literary world alike. Join the millions of fantasy readers who have explored these lands. As The Guardian put it: "Ursula Le Guin's world of Earthsea is a tangled skein of tiny islands cast on a vast sea. The islands' names pull at my heart like no others: Roke, Perilane, Osskil . . ." The Books of Earthsea include: A Wizard of Earthsea The Tombs of Atuan The Farthest Shore Tehanu Tales from Earthsea The Other Wind

Recommended on 1 episode:

How Quickly Will A.I. Agents Rip Through the Economy?

A.I. agents are here. Have they changed your life yet? The release of agents like Claude Code marked a new pivot point in the history of A.I. We are leaving the chatbot era and entering the agentic era — where A.I. is capable of completing all kinds of tasks on its own, and even collaborating and communicating with other A.I. It isn’t clear yet whether these models actually make their users meaningfully more productive. But the technology is continuing to improve; there are few signs that it is close to plateauing. So what might this new era mean for our economy, our labor market and our kids? Clark is a co-founder of Anthropic, the company behind Claude and Claude Code. His newsletter, Import AI, has been one of my go-to reads to track the capabilities of different models over the years. In this conversation, I ask him to share how he sees this moment — how the technology is changing, whether it is leading to meaningful changes in how we work and think, and how policy needs to or can change in response to any job displacement on the horizon.

Books recommended:

• 📕  A Wizard of Earthsea: A Classic Fantasy Adventure of Magic, Dragons, and a Rising Shadow (The Books of Earthsea, 1) by Ursula K. Le Guin
• 📘  The True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements (Perennial Classics) by Eric Hoffer
• 📗  There Is No Antimemetics Division: A Novel by qntm

Jack Clark Feb. 24, 2026 3 books recommended

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