The Tombs of Atuan by Ursula Le Guin (Earthsea #2)

Summary: A young girl grows up as the high priestess of ancient religion when Sparrowhawk comes to find a hidden treasure.

I am writing about this later, but I read Tombs of Atuan back to back with To Clutch a Razor by Veronica Roth. These are very different books. One is clearly a young adult fantasy novel with a young teen protagonist. And the other is a urban fantasy book that is clearly oriented toward adults. But both have a similar theme of grappling with the protagonist coming to terms with everything that they have been taught suddenly being challenged.

The main character here is Tenar. At a very young age she was taken from her family because she was thought to be the reincarnation of the high priestess of the nameless gods. Her family and name were taken away and she became known as “Arha” or the eaten one. She may be the high priestess, but the politics of the remote monastery are such that she is isolated and other vie for power. As she grows up, she both gains more confidence and understanding of the Tombs of Atuan, where the unnamed gods are honored, but she also is more alone as those few friends she had are isolated from her.

That is until she sees a man in the tombs, a place that has never had either men or light. Sparrowhawk, or Ged, has come to follow up on a thread from the Wizard of Earthsea. A powerful magic bracelet that bound the kingdom together has been hidden in these tombs and he wants to find it to restore the king.

This book is more centered on Tenar than Ged, but it sets up the later books. It felt more young adult than Wizard of Earthsea and felt shorter. The main conflict of the story felt like it was over entirely too quickly. Most of the book was setting the stage of the story, so that when the conflict came, it didn’t really correspond to the world building. At this point I have reread the 3rd and 4th both, which are both built on the world building on this book. And it makes me appriciate this book more. But this book just wasn’t as engaging as either the Wizard of Earthsea or Tehanu (I thought the third book was also underwhelming.)

The Tombs of Atuan by Ursula Le Guin (Earthsea #2) Purchase Links: Paperback, Kindle Edition, Audible.com Audiobook