Mass market paperback, 146 pages

English language

Published Nov. 10, 1975 by Bantam Books.

ISBN:
978-0-553-11600-7
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OCLC Number:
29059632

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5 stars (4 reviews)

When young Tenar is chosen as high priestess to the ancient and nameless Powers of the Earth, everything is taken away - home, family, possessions, even her name. For she is now Arha, the Eaten One, guardian of the ominous Tombs of Atuan.

While she is learning her way through the dark labyrinth, a young wizard, Ged, comes to steal the Tombs' greatest hidden treasure, the Ring of Erreth-Akbe. But Ged also brings with him the light of magic, and together, he and Tenar escape from the darkness that has become her domain.

10 editions

A Word of Warning

4 stars

This was technically a reread for me, but the last time I read it, the century had not yet turned—and in any case, I remembered nothing about it, other than something about a cave.

The Tombs of Atuan is quite good, but I see why it is, perhaps, less popular than some of Le Guin’s other works. It’s a sequel to A Wizard of Earthsea, but where Earthsea is practically a fairy tale in tone, stylized and sonorous (which is an endorsement, not a criticism, by the way), Atuan is more directly a “fantasy novel.” It is not, however, a comforting one, not one where all the pieces fall together nicely, everybody’s problem is solved, the main characters fall in love, and so forth.

It is a story of beginnings, I think: first of the protagonist’s life as Arha, and then, the re-beginning—or perhaps better said, the resumption of …

A word of warning

4 stars

Content warning Literally quotes the ending (and of A Wizard of Earthsea)

Still a great read

5 stars

It's decades since I last read this book and I could only remember fragments of it. I had filed it away as one of the best books I'd ever read and on that basis I was worried that reading it all these years later would demote it from that lofty position. It is with relief I can confirm that I wasn't wrong all those years ago and I can keep it filed in its existing place as a fantastic book.

I loved it

5 stars

I find the start of Le Guin’s Earthsea books always a little bit of a struggle but they always turn out great. It happened with a the Wizard of Earthsea and it happened with the Tombs of Atuan. After the first couple of chapters you get pulled in. Le Guin’s style is more reflective than adventurous and that’s what I really love.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It makes you think and there are some really great quotes there. For example: “What she had begun to learn was the weight of liberty. Freedom is a heavy load, a great and strange burden for the spirit to undertake. It is not easy. It is not a gift given, but a choice made, and the choice may be a hard one. The road goes upward toward the light; but the laden traveler may never reach the end of it.”

Read it!