…The ultimate masterpiece is Craftsman Audio's recording of Ursula le Guin's A Wizard of Earthsea. Craftsman is a young company specialising in unabridged classic fantasy. These are like nothing else on the market, partly because of their superior casing and track listing (so you don't lose your place), but also as stunningly good drama. A Wizard of Earthsea is a thrilling literary masterpiece which adults enjoy as much as children of 10 and over. Karen Archer's immaculate reading captures the purity of the prose, really an epic poem, telling how Ged, a young goatherd, discovers his power as a wizard. The specially-composed lute music is exactly right, and this is electrifying.
Amanda Craig, The Independent, 3 December 2006
And if they’re older, Craftsman Audio’s marvellous, unabridged fantasy novel, A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula le Guin … gets a wonderful reading from Karen Archer as the boy Ged summons a dark and malevolent spirit which cannot be conquered by sorcery and has to search all the isles of Earthsea and its oceans for a way to contain it. As the text matches the paperback, struggling older readers could look and listen to something that’s truly exciting!
Kati Nicholl, The Daily Express, 12 January 2007