My Experience with The Tombs of Atuan by Ursula K. LeGuin

It’s been over a year, but I finally returned to Ursula K. LeGuin’s Earthsea Cycle. This time the late master of high fantasy has delivered The Tombs of Atuan—a similar story, yet very different.

A departure from The Wizard of Earthsea, the story shifts to spend the vast majority of its time in Atuan, an island in the northeast of Earthsea where Tenar, the high priestess, Arha, and guardian of the tombs in Atuan searches for truth. Raised from a young child to fill this role, everything she knows about her world is disrupted when meets Ged, trapped within the catacombs.

What I love most about LeGuin’s work so far is how lived-in the world feels. Where some secondary world stories may feel like a set built just for the story, the Earthsea series feels as though the world has always been there and LeGuin is relaying one of many stories that have occurred within this faraway place.

Similar to the first novel in the series, I would place this story into the maturation plot basket. At the same time, it feels similar to a disillusionment story. While I think it’s more maturation than disillusionment (especially because of the age of the character and the fact that the truths learned are not specifically tragic). I love stories with this kind of character growth, and the ending is bitter-sweet.

The relative intimacy of this novel compared to its prequel is a liability or an asset depending on your personal preferences. I found it to neither be a move forward or backward. Instead, it felt like a step sideways to tell a story that matched with The Wizard of Earthsea in genre while maintaining a distinct nature through its sense of scale.

If you enjoyed The Wizard of Earthsea, I can easily recommend The Tombs of Atuan.