A Wizard of Earthsea

A very nice, very familiar book about a boy wizard's coming of age.

This is categorized as YA, but I think most teens would be bored by the slow pace and lack of action. It's a shame because it is a cool book with more philosophical depth than the average sword/sorcery fantasy novel is going to touch.

It was written in 1968 and as such, I can give it a lot of leeway. That's 15 years before David Eddings started his Belgariad, 20 years before Jordan started The Wheel of Time, and over 30 years before J. K. Rowling started the magical adventures of Harry Potter. I'm sure the book and its sequels would feel much more unique if not more successful followers.

It was also made into a moderately awful SyFy TV adaptation.