I do not really know where to start. There's so much I have liked so far. I'm not usually a high fantasy person and what I have read is sparse and far apart in time, but yet, I noticed so many details that clearly influenced posterior works from other authors such as, for example, Patrick Rothfuss. I wasn't aware that The Earthsea Cycle was so influential in fantastical literature, which was interesting to know.||
||I'm not going to lie, the Magic of Things is one of my favorite conceptualizations of magic overall. I like that it's not necessarily based on blood or allegiance, and that, at the end of the day, it's about the acknowledgement and profound understanding of all objects as just themselves, regardless of any subjective category they could be judged by. They're not bad or good, beautiful or ugly, useful or useless, it all is its own Name. In other words, it's an Aesthetic approach to magic, which I think is very healing in a way I can't exactly put into words. I think it is because it works based on the principle that everything has an inherent value just for existing, even oneself.
I also really liked prose. I loved the chronicle-style narration and the sceneries in particular felt so immersive I could almost physically experience them. The fog quite literally gave me chills.
||The other thing I liked, was... definitely more personal. When Ogion first showed up, I essentially pictured generic-bearded-wizard.png, as one usually does, until he was described. Then on, I just saw my father. And when Ged expressed that only when he had to leave him he realized he loved him, I almost burst into tears right then and there, which I didn't even see coming, that reaction was super unexpected and unusual for me. I... don't really know how to feel about that.||
Anyways, so far: 4/5 stars. Will probably finish tomorrow or the day after since I have plenty of free time around this time of the year.
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