A condensed, illustrated version of the first chapter was printed by World Book in the third volume of Childcraft in 1989.[101] Multiple audio versions of the book have been released. BBC Radio produced a radioplay version in 1996 narrated by Judi Dench,[102] and a six-part series adapting the Earthsea novels in 2015, broadcast on Radio 4 Extra.[103] In 2011, the work was produced as an unabridged recording performed by Robert Inglis.[104][105]
Two screen adaptations of the story have also been produced. An original mini-series titled Legend of Earthsea was broadcast in 2004 on the Sci Fi Channel. It is based very loosely on A Wizard of Earthsea and The Tombs of Atuan. In an article published in Salon, Le Guin expressed strong displeasure at the result. She stated that by casting a "petulant white kid" as Ged (who has red-brown skin in the book) the series "whitewashed Earthsea", and had ignored her choice to write the story of a non-white character, a choice she said was central to the book.[106] This sentiment was shared by a review in The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Fantasy, which said that Legend of Earthsea "totally missed the point" of Le Guin's novels, "ripping out all the subtlety, nuance and beauty of the books and inserting boring cliches, painful stereotypes and a very unwelcome 'epic' war in their place".[107]
Studio Ghibli released an adaptation of the series in 2006 titled Tales from Earthsea.[108] The film very loosely combines elements of the first, third, and fourth books into a new story. Le Guin commented with displeasure on the film-making process, saying that she had acquiesced to the adaptation believing Hayao Miyazaki would be producing the film himself, which was eventually not the case. Le Guin praised the imagery of the film, but disliked the use of violence. She also expressed dissatisfaction with the portrayal of morality, and in particular the use of a villain who could be slain as a means of resolving conflict, which she said was antithetical to the message of the book.[109] The film received generally mixed responses.[110]
