A Wizard of Earthsea

This book has a good reputation, but it disappointed me. To me it reads like an exercise in fantasy writing: an exercise thoroughly completed, but lacking some vital spark. It's not a bad book, but I didn't find it convincing, and I'm not motivated to read the sequels.

It strikes me that Terry Pratchett's early Discworld books might have turned out quite like this—if his
sense of humour had been surgically removed in infancy. It's all rather solemn.

On finishing it, I found that I didn't care deeply about Ged, and I didn't understand why Escarriol/Vetch befriended him; he didn't seem a very appealing character.