I'm an adult, but sometimes the adults that write fantasy books try to plug in way too much detail. To where you are left just wanting the action! Le Guin does a marvelous wonderful job here. It's quick, quirky, and yet it is very deep, almost melancholy. This is only the first book in the series and I can't wait to read the other ones.

This is a masterpiece of fantasy which had me riveted throughout. To me, the worldbuilding in this book ranks nearly as high as that of Tolkien's Middle Earth. What a vast and believable world Earthsea is. Le Guin has created a hemisphere-sized archipelago of myriad islands of many sizes, each with it own unique environment, culture and inhabitants, linked by traveling seafarers. This is weaved together with a captivating plot full of magic, twists, engaging characters, surprises and even things to learn along the way! The sustained suspense is another thing that really kept me hooked. The mystery of what happens next and what the other mysterious islands are like makes me hungry to devour the sequel - 'Tombs of Atuan'.... :)

Given when this book was published, it is surprising how good this is. The language and syntax is a bit on the archaic side, but is that due to deliberate choices LeGuin made in writing or the age of the book? Hard to tell. This language might be a barrier to the casual or younger reader, but perseverance will be rewarded.

I read this for the first time as a child and loved it. A Wizard of Earthsea had a young man going off to school to learn magic long before Harry Potter came along. Classic stuff.