I’ve actually never read anything by Le Guin yet, but I do have A Wizard of Earthsea on my to-be-read list. I’ll be interested to see how you like it!
Have you tried Robin Hobb? She writes fantasy series that are light on the romance. Relationship-wise, at least in the books I’ve read, she focuses more on friendships and mentors. She's especially strong with developing characters, and she tends to write the lengthy, meaty, detailed types of books. She likes to torture her characters, so it can be rough reading sometimes, and she tends toward bittersweet endings rather than full-fledged happy endings in my experience. So her books aren’t for everybody, but they’re among my all-time favorites. The typical starting point for reading Hobb is Assassin’s Apprentice, the first book in the Farseer Trilogy.
I considered her but they didn't have anything that looked like a suitable starting point. I think the one they had was book 3 of that trilogy. Didn't really see anything else from her on the shelf.
Have you tried Robin Hobb? She writes fantasy series that are light on the romance. Relationship-wise, at least in the books I’ve read, she focuses more on friendships and mentors. She's especially strong with developing characters, and she tends to write the lengthy, meaty, detailed types of books. She likes to torture her characters, so it can be rough reading sometimes, and she tends toward bittersweet endings rather than full-fledged happy endings in my experience. So her books aren’t for everybody, but they’re among my all-time favorites. The typical starting point for reading Hobb is Assassin’s Apprentice, the first book in the Farseer Trilogy.