The Tombs of Atuan (The Earthsea Cycle, Book 2)
by Ursula K. Le Guin
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Book Summary Information
Author: Ursula K. Le GuinEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2004-11-16
ISBN: 1416509623
Number of pages: 192
Publisher: Pocket Books
Product features:
- ISBN13: 9781416509622
- Condition: New
- Notes: BRAND NEW FROM PUBLISHER! 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. Tracking provided on most orders. Buy with Confidence! Millions of books sold!
Book Reviews of The Tombs of Atuan (The Earthsea Cycle, Book 2)
Book Review: Good
Summary: 5 Stars
A good work, intense, well-written and meaningful. Far from the quality of Lavinia or Le Guin's Hainish Cycle stuff, but quite rewarding, and a lot better than A Wizard of Earthsea. The story concerns a girl that becomes First Priestess, which mostly involves living underground and performing human sacrifices.
Very strong exploration of what magic would actually involve, making this a lot more than just flashy effects or convenient plot motivators. Rather, it's about naming, identity, perception, spirituality--all of which connect thematically to the larger journey of the book, particularly as Tenar is renamed and redefined for ritualistic ends. More than the slow build up to escape and travel, that's what the book is explicitly about: the function of religious questions in the invented world, and the tensions that ensue. Glorification and sacrifice, sanctioned and illicit beliefs, real gods and ritualistic forms. The book incorporates a lot of angles, and it works because Tenar is so ambivalent, believably uncertain about her rights in both authorizing murder and in leaving the environment. That she's able to have this range without being a weak or indecisive character speaks to Le Guin's high skill in both characterization and plot. And, the eventual escape from the titular Tombs of Atuan is awash in gorgeous description and themes, expressing very potently the emergence from a secluded mono-environment to the wider diversity of the planet.
Interestingly the work rarely feels claustrophobic, having enough intensity and range of description to come across as a complete environment. The main action is oddly closed in for Le Guin, though, as shown most prominently by there being only four real characters for most of the narrative. This is one of the areas where the work most benefits from being fantasy as opposed to SF--there's little need to offer an extensive worldbuilding (although the fact that this is part of a larger series also helps with that) so the description of hearing about and seeing the larger world can remain centered in the relevance to Tenar, in engaging with his past beliefs, overturning some, and connecting with basic influence of stories. This work isn't quite as meta as Lavinia in that regard, but it offers food for thought in that area as well.
Similar to and better than: Terry Pratchett's Pyramids
Similar to and worse than: Ursula K. Le Guin's Lavinia
Summary of The Tombs of Atuan (The Earthsea Cycle, Book 2)
Book Two of Ursula K. Le Guin's Earthsea Cycle
Now a SCI FI Original Miniseries!
When young Tenar is chosen as high priestess to the ancient and nameless Powers of the Earth, everything is taken away from her-home, family, possessions, even her name. She is now known only as Arha, the Eaten One, guardian of the labyrinthine Tombs of Atuan, shrouded in darkness. When a young wizard, Ged Sparrowhawk, comes to steal the Tombs' greatest hidden treasure, the Ring of Erreth-Akbe, Tenar's rightful duty is to protect the Tombs. But Ged also brings with him the light of magic and tales of a brighter world Tenar has never known. Will Tenar risk everything to escape the darkness that has become her domain?
With millions of copies sold worldwide, Ursula K. Le Guin's Earthsea Cycle has earned a treasured place on the shelves of fantasy lovers everywhere, alongside the works of such beloved authors as J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis.
Often compared to Tolkien's Middle-earth or Lewis's Narnia, Ursula K. Le Guin's Earthsea is a stunning fantasy world that grabs quickly at our hearts, pulling us deeply into its imaginary realms. Four books (A Wizard of Earthsea, The Tombs of Atuan, The Farthest Shore, and Tehanu) tell the whole Earthsea cycle--a tale about a reckless, awkward boy named Sparrowhawk who becomes a wizard's apprentice after the wizard reveals Sparrowhawk's true name. The boy comes to realize that his fate may be far more important than he ever dreamed possible. Le Guin challenges her readers to think about the power of language, how in the act of naming the world around us we actually create that world. Teens, especially, will be inspired by the way Le Guin allows her characters to evolve and grow into their own powers.
In this second book of Le Guin's Earthsea series, readers will meet Tenar, a priestess to the "Nameless Ones" who guard the catacombs of the Tombs of Atuan. Only Tenar knows the passageways of this dark labyrinth, and only she can lead the young wizard Sparrowhawk, who stumbles into its maze, to the greatest treasure of all. Will she?
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