The World of Earthsea — Reading Chapter 1 of "A Wizard of Earthsea"

Chapter one of A Wizard of Earthsea breaks all sorts of rules that are now put forward to fantasy writers. While this may not be too surprising for a book first published in 1968, it is nevertheless a testament to Le Guin's ability that the only comment I have to offer is that it is all so skillfully done. What am I talking about? Well, rule number one (or thereabouts) for fantasy writers is don't do too much world building in the first fifty/hundred/random number of pages, as it slows the...