goodnight_moon 's review for:

A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin

5.0

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I've been trying to understand why I loved this book so much, rather than just calling it entertaining and well-written. For starters, I didn't have long to consider it, because the book is deliciously short, and so easy to read, despite being full of brand new names and concepts.

First and foremost, I love this protagonist. He's so sincerely flawed, and he knows so little - we learn as he does, and there's never the feeling that he knows exactly what to say and do - the feeling that I find so unrelatable and unrealistic about so much fiction and fantasy.

Second, the book is legitimately spooky. I don't know enough about writing (or film) to know how to write a good scare and how most writers fall flat. The author moves so fast, she truly jump startled me more than once. Or maybe it comes back to that flawed protagonist - I had no idea what was coming, how it would resolve, or if it would all work out.

I found the build up to the finale (not the finale itself, which I found quite satisfying) to be a bit anticlimactic. It felt like a few loose threads still exist - but maybe thats what the sequels are for. And if not, it was still a great ride.