Compared to the first book, which crosses the line somewhat between fairy tale and typical fantasy styles, the Tombs of Atuan in its limited scope feels much more fairy tale and surreal. Though significantly shorter than A Wizard of Earthsea, The Tombs of Atuan showcase Le Guin's incredible skill at delivering powerful narrative, style, and characterization in very little space. Ursula Le Guin is almost irritatingly good
Read this when you are needing a break from less accomplished authors! The dialogue is not childish, the descriptions are brief but effective, and the story is darker than expected. I am looking forward to the third one! I will say, if you are looking for something resembling the TV mini series, you won’t find it here. Le Guin knows excellent prose and character development and these books have proven it. Since this is considered a YA novel, I wasn’t expecting good character arcs, but this book surprised me! I thoroughly enjoyed both the characters and their stories, and the well written world they lived in. Then Ged shows up and the story becomes quite redemptive. She starts out as a cruel and hard girl who grows into a cruel and hard young woman. This book follows Tenar, who is a priestess dedicated to vengeful and dark gods called the Nameless Ones. As I stated in my review of the previous book, I was not expecting such a well written and engaging book as this one is. I read this and A Wizard of Earthsea after watching the TV adaption. I might need to give this book 5-stars just to escape it.
This isn't one of her GREAT novels, but I might even change my mind about that, if the ideas in this book are still pounding around in the labrynths of my brain in a couple weeks. Just like the secret to writing about light is to write about darkness. She recognized, I believe, that the secret to writing about strength is to write about weakness. Her prose is very good, but her characters are amazing. She is interested in power, in evil, in humanity, in big questions and nuanced answers. She was a feminist, but unafraid to write a book both with a female lead, and a female lead who is helped by a man/wizard. Le Guin could have writen self-help and business books and I'd gladly read them. Or, rather, I have told that to SO many people I believe it is true. "Alone, no one wins freedom." - The Tombs of Atuan I adore Le Guin's voice and her soul.
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