It's an old fantasy - late 60s - and at the front it says it's for readers 11 and up. Yes, you could read it if you were that young, but I don't think you'd get all of the subtleties. The age of it also means that the style is a bit different from more modern stuff; I know some people who haven't liked it because it is much more sparse in style - there are more implicit details and ideas than some readers might be used to. It is also quite simplistic - there aren't many sub-plots, and not many characters. I really like it, and I also enjoyed the three subsequent novels of the series; they develop the characters and the world some more, and I think le Guin matured as a writer - by the time she got to the last book, certainly.

Mine doesn't have the fancy cover depicted here, but that's ok. It's also a somewhat tatty copy, as I got it from my primary school's library when it was closing (the school, that is)!