The Tombs of Atuan (The Earthsea Cycle, Book 2) [Mass Market Paperback]

Ursula K. Le Guin (Author)

Book Description

Release date: September 1, 2001 | Series: Earthsea Cycle (Book 2)

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.

With millions of copies sold, Ursula K. Le Guin's Earthsea Cycle has earned a treasured place on the shelves of fantasy lovers everywhere. Complex, innovative, and deeply moral, this quintessential fantasy sequence has been compared with the work of J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis, and has helped make Le Guin one of the most distinguished fantasy and science fiction writers of all time. She lives in Portland, Oregon.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

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? --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"New and longtime Earthsea fans will be drawn to these impressive new editions." (The Horn Book)

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Product Details

• Age Range: 12 and up
  
• Mass Market Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Aladdin Paperbacks (September 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0689845367
• ISBN-13: 978-0689845369
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 4.2 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (134 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #105,112 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

38 of 42 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Passage through darkness. July 11, 1999

By K. E. Spillman ([e-mail])

Format:Paperback

Of course I liked The Tombs of Atuan. It is well-constructed and beautifully styled fantasy, comparable to the works of Susan Cooper and Patricia McKillip. (No, Tolkien is in a class by himself.)

Le Guin's Earthsea books are all excellent, but some people feel that The Tombs of Atuan is slow to start, and less eventful than the other three. My opinion, for what it's worth, is quite the opposite. The introspective beginning of Tombs is not unlike the beginning of Wizard, focussing closely on a single character, that character's uniqueness, and the way that character is shaped by life. The reader approaches the threshold of adventure with the protagonist; the reader, too, is drawn into the struggle, shares bewilderment, doubt, and uncertainty; and the reader, too, has made a passage by the end of the book.

Too much of modern fantasy is all long journeys, heated battles, unquestionably terrible villains -- and swordplay, of course. Le Guin recognizes that moral ambiguity creates the greatest obstacle a character can confront...and that if the question is worthwhile, the answer is neither easy nor painless.

Tenar is a strong heroine and I would especially recommend this book for teenage girls, whose plight is sometimes not unlike that of the Eaten One; however, as all the best books are, this is a story which is based on human character and thus speaks to both sexes and all ages.

29 of 33 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Tenar's Tale May 28, 2001

By James D. DeWitt VINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback

Sparrowhawk, the protagonist of "Wizard of Earthsea," the first book of the triology, is a secondary character here; important but not the focus. This is the story of Tenar, a young priestess at the Tombs of Atuan.

Earthsea has places where there are elder powers present. Readers of "Wizard of Earthsea" encountered one in the Terrenon. Tenar, as an infant, is given to the elder power of the Tombs. Her name is taken from her and she becomes Arha, "the eaten one." She serves as a priestess to a nearly forgotten religion that treats the power of the Tombs as a god. But everything Tenar has been told is twice a lie; her religion is almost forgotten and the Power is anything but a god.

This is the story of how Tenar came to understand that her life, all of what she had been and most of what she believed was a lie. LeGuin makes it utterly convincing, in a spare, terse way that is stark and persuasive. Sparrowhawk plays a crucial role in all this, but he is not the protagonist. Sparrowhawk may have been the catalyst for Tenar's changes, but like a catalyst he is mostly unchanged by the process. It is Tenar who is changed. This is Tenar's tale.

Can you imagine how devastating it must have been for Tenar? How many of us could accept and understand that what we had been taught was evil or, worse still, utterly meaningless? Could you do as well if, say, Christianity were revealed to be an utter fraud? LeGuin makes it vivid. Any thoughtful reader is left in awe of Tenar's strength and resilience. And in awe of LeGuin's writing.

In most trilogies, the middle book is the weakest. Not the Earthsea books. This is a wonderful tale, superbly told. Very highly recommended.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Best of the series October 17, 2000

By Amitava Banerjea

Format:Hardcover

After reading the enitre Earth-Sea series over a period of time, I have to say this is the best of the series. The other two in the original trilogy were OK (and the fourth, in my opinion, was a real letdown), but his stands out from them. Its the only book in the series that I felt was written well by Ursula K Leguin. In the first she squandered her promising beginning in a meandering tale; in the third she mired her good underlying idea in tedium. This book isn't as ambitious as the other two; maybe thats why it succeeds in its aims better.

Some have said that the beginning is slow, but I felt these scenes are some of her best in the trilogy; they're interesting, and you can actually feel for the character. Arha is a splendid creation, an uncertain preistess of the dark. Furthermore, this book really expands the EarthSea universe for me. The first book was cramped and kind of uninvolved; long, boring boat rides come to mind. Here there is a sense of a corner of time, left behind for a while where the dark forces still rule. On the horizon is frightful change as the Godking tries to usurp the power of the Dark Ones Arha serves. The tension between Arha and Kossil is gripping, especially near the end. Her change of mind towards Ged, over time, clearly displays her insecurities as preistess. And all through the book, there is the tension arising from the Dark Ones in the background. Here, finally, is the conflict the series needed; there is a continual battle between the forces of man and modernity versus the Old powers of the world of EarthSea.

Not to say the book is without problems, but this is mostly because the story isn't really a trilogy (or a 'quatrology') but 3 or 4 separate books practically self contained. Thus it tales some time for LeGuin to build up momentum in each book; sometimes she succeeds, other times she doesnt really. Thankfully this book can be looked at as a success.