I actually found this to be the weakest book of the trilogy. For the first two books, while I didn't love the flowery, yet dry writing style, I found the story to be interesting and cohesive for each. This one I found to be quite disjointed and poorly paced. I didn't really end up loving the characters, and I found the climax to be extremely underwhelming.

As for the series as a whole.. listen, I didn't walk into this expecting to love it. I love Le Guin as an author, primarily from her science fiction works (more specifically her Hainish Cycle books). I find her commentary to be expertly crafted and timeless. She is always just so correct about everything, and it is even more impressive to think that she was writing these extremely popular yet controversial books in the 1970's. She's an icon. Which is why I wanted to read these books, to really get a sense of her progression as an author. I wanted to see how her writing style evolved and improved, and I certainly got to see that.

The Earthsea books are quintessential classic fantasy. Largely inaccessible, dense writing without a lot of character voice. But at least they're very short. The did what they sought to do. I'm actually really looking forward to picking up the next book, Tehanu, as it was published much later when I believe Le Guin really solidified her writing style. Here's hoping!