On the island of Gont a young boy named Duny is born with great latent magical talent. This gift does not go unnoticed and Duny is taken by his aunt in order to train him in the use of his mystic gifts. In the novel’s universe, similar to many cultures on Earth, a person’s name confers more than just his identity; knowledge of a person’s “true name” gives power over another--as such he is given the nickname “Sparrowhawk” in order to protect him. In time Duny’s propensity for magic manifests itself, summoning a thick fog to hide his village when Kargish raiders strike.
His performance soon attracts the attention of more potent and influential enchanters. Chief among them is the formidable mage, Ogion. He takes the young Duny as his apprentice and under Mage Ogion’s care and tutelage he is also given his true name: Ged and the first thing that he teaches him is the concept of equilibrium--or how to maintain the delicate balance of reality on their world despite the use of reality-bending magic. A mage without a proper understanding of equilibrium is a danger to both himself, others around him, and if the magic was great enough, all life as they knew it.
Ged/Duny is progresses in his magic lessons swiftly, being both naturally gifted in arcane power and intelligent. Despite these innate gifts though he is still immature. Ged unwisely searches through his master’s spell books to find a spell impressive enough to show off his arcane powers and ends up accidentally summoning a shadow creature, a mysterious evil entity. Ogion arrives just in time to banish the shadow before it can do any harm and seeing Ged’s eagerness to learn more he decides to send him off to the Island of Roke to attend a school for gifted arcanists.
Once more Ged’s natural aptitude earns him the esteem of both his instructors and peers. He makes friends here easily enough but remains distant to most everyone as a whole. His aloofness earns him the ire of Jasper, another student, who treats Ged with great disdain. Ged tries his best to ignore Jasper’s condescension until he is challenged to a contest of magic. They have a contest of necromancy, attempting to summon the spirit of a dead woman. The spell backfires horribly though releasing another shadow creature, only this time the creature manages to manifest itself physically attacking Ged and wounding him in the face. The creature begins to wreak havoc until Archmage Nemmerle banishes it to its’ native dark dimension. This act though costs Nemmerle his life.
The debacle leaves Ged badly injured and takes several months to recuperate fully before returning to his education. A new Archmage, Gensher, is chosen to replace the fallen Nemmerle. He seeks Ged out to instruct him on the nature of the shadow creatures. He informs the young magician that shadows are ancient, malevolent creatures that seek to possess Ged to use his talents to further their agenda. He also warns the young mage the shadows are nameless creatures---meaning these beings are never truly subject to the control of anyone. Eventually Ged completes his studies and earns his wizard’s staff. His first duty as a full-fledged wizard is to protect the residents of a village he lives in from dragons roosting in the nearby island of Pendor. He soon discovers though that the shadow creature is still pursuing him. Realizing that he cannot work to neutralize the threat posed by the shadow creature without dealing with the threat of the dragons first he makes his way to Pendor to threaten the dragon Yevaud to prevent him from attacking the residents of the Ninety Isles. Ged knows the dragon Yevaud’s true name and through this he binds him to an agreement to never menace the islands again.
Ged seeks a way to stop the shadow, which pursues him relentlessly. He escapes to Osskil to ask advice from the enchanted stone of the Terrenon, but is attacked on route by the shadow, managing to destroy his staff. Ged fortunately manages to evade it and make his way into the Court of Terrenon. The stone of Terrenon however proves to be every bit as dangerous to him as the shadow is. The stone possesses an evil intelligence of it’s own as well as an agenda that involves using Ged’s powers for it’s own gain. After having been shown to the stone by Lady Serret, ruler of the castle Terrenon, the stone begins to tempt Ged with promises of vast power and inexhaustible knowledge. Fortunately, Ged realizes that the stone desires to dominate him so he breaks free from it’s influence and he eludes his pursuers by turning into a falcon.
He makes his way to Gont back to his first master, Ogion, to find a way to defeat his pursuer. Ogion takes him in once more and makes him a new staff to replace his broken one; his old master also gives him strange, new advice: confront the creature rather than flee it. He also tells his former pupil that all creatures have a true name, completely contrary to what he was initially told. Following Ogion’s instructions, Ged takes the initiative chasing the shadow in a small boat until it leads him into a fog bank and he hits a reef, damaging his vessel and marooning him on an island. Ged is rescued by an old couple who were shipwrecked like him, many years past; they assist Ged repairing his sail boat and together escape the island. They chase the shadow into the East Reach and on the island of Iffish he connects his friend and former schoolmate, Vetch, who joins him on his mission. They travel eastwards farther than previously recorded before they finally catch up with the shadow. Upon confronting it Ged finally understands that it is actually a fragment of his own spirit, and remembering Mage Ogion’s advice he gives the shadow his name, allowing it to integrate into himself, making it a part of himself and in the process healing himself of his old wounds and fears.
