According to A Handbook to Literature, the term romance describes works relatively free of the more restrictive aspects of realistic verisimilitude and expressive of profound, transcendent, or idealistic truths (436). This definition applies quite well to Ursula Le Guins novel A Wizard of Earthsea. The fantasy genre in and of itself allows for less restrictive verisimilitude, and Le Guins use of heroic quest archetypes from the romance tradition creates a mood of profundity and universality.
