I felt otherwise. I’ve read several fantasy authors I liked (Tolkien, Martin, Jemisin, Gaiman, Pratchett, Rowling, Sanderson, Lynch, Rothfuss, Jordan) and ended up reading all the books they wrote. I was underwhelmed by the first book of the Earthsea series and abandoned it. I think it’s partly that some of elements of the story inspired later authors (to wit, Paolini) so this doesn’t feel original just like Seinfeld Isn’t Funny. But also, the characters were so boring and one dimensional.