Thank you for engaging. I have no problem with slower or more introspective stories, mind you. But even if I accept the notion that Earthsea is about wizardry

Thank you for engaging. I have no problem with slower or more introspective stories, mind you. But even if I accept the notion that Earthsea is about wizardry being more about observing and a holistic approach (which I can accept easily) I still got disappointed because there was barely any magic, and it did not move the plot. There was no conflict, factions, clashes of interests etc. Part of the answer lies within myself as you pointed out: though I more mean in the sense that my life has not been easy, and dark thoughts and introspection have taken plenty of time from it, so I absolutely cannot get fascinated by these things in books. If you don't mind the sex analogy, this is very similar to assertive and dominant people usually needing to be submissive in sex to get off. It's like this: you got plenty of X in other areas of life and you don't want X in your free time as well. You need Y and Z. So I can mostly hypothesize that's why I don't like the books. I get part of the philosophy but... I wanted some magic, man. :)