Instruct: Classify Amazon reviews into positive or negative sentiment
Query: When fantasy was...

Yes, there was a time when a fantasy book could end before 200 pages and still tell the whole story. There was a time when a series could be read one volume at a time and the plot was never left hanging on. The Earthsea saga is one of the finest products of that mythic, golden era. This, the first of the four books, is as fine an adventure as you'll ever find, but it's also a deeply philosophical book about life. Le Guin tells us that evil is inside, it can't be slain with ordinary weapons. A gem of a novel, I say.