I'm rereading the Earthsea books, having read them before some years back, and I can't help but think that I should rate them higher than I do. I'm excepting The Tombs of Atuan, which as far as I'm concerned is a five star read, the pick of the bunch, but the other two of that original trilogy... the setting is fantastic. It's what I connect to most. And there's so much thought behind this, so much focus on choice and theme, and with other characters I might love it as much as I do Atuan, but. But.

I just cannot warm to Ged. Or to Arren for that matter. In fact I find myself, then and now, absolutely emotionally disconnected with both Wizard and Shore, and it's because in both volumes I don't give the tiniest shit about what happens to any of the characters. Not a single one of them. And yet I'm aware as I read that I'm reading something out of the ordinary, something well-written and thoughtfully constructed with a potentially fascinating underlying philosophy. And there are moments when the imagery of the setting truly touches me... but I'm forced to the conclusion that, for me, this book - like the first in the series - is something to admire from a distance rather than love.