Sign in with Facebook
Loading...
6th out of 19 books
—
8 voters
The Tombs of Atuan (Earthsea Cycle #2)
THE TOMBS OF ATUAN Book Two of Ursula K. Le Guin's Earthsea Cycle
Now a SCI FI Original Miniseries!
When young Tenar is chosen as high priestess to the ancient and nameless Powers of the Earth, everything is taken away from her-home, family, possessions, even her name. She is now known only as Arha, the Eaten One, guardian of the labyrinthine Tombs of Atuan, shrouded in dark...more
Now a SCI FI Original Miniseries!
When young Tenar is chosen as high priestess to the ancient and nameless Powers of the Earth, everything is taken away from her-home, family, possessions, even her name. She is now known only as Arha, the Eaten One, guardian of the labyrinthine Tombs of Atuan, shrouded in dark...more
Paperback, 192 pages
Published
November 16th 2004
by Gallery Books
(first published January 1st 1970)
Friend Reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book,
please sign up.
Community Reviews
(showing
1-30
of
3,000)
June 2012
I want to give this five stars, but I'm afraid one of the next ones will be even better, and my attempts to rate it higher will cause Goodreads to implode. Or something.
On second thought, no. Five stars. Let's do this thing.
You've probably read or heard somewhere that you can put a frog (it's a frog, right?) in a pot of water and set it on a stove, and the frog will never notice what's happening until it's too late. So they say. Well, Ursula K. Le Guin writes like that: you open the boo...more
I want to give this five stars, but I'm afraid one of the next ones will be even better, and my attempts to rate it higher will cause Goodreads to implode. Or something.
On second thought, no. Five stars. Let's do this thing.
You've probably read or heard somewhere that you can put a frog (it's a frog, right?) in a pot of water and set it on a stove, and the frog will never notice what's happening until it's too late. So they say. Well, Ursula K. Le Guin writes like that: you open the boo...more
32 likes · like · see review
view all 19 comments
When I first tried reading this in my teens I could not manage to go beyond 50 pages because I wanted Ged (AKA Sparrowhawk), the hero of the previous volume A Wizard of Earthsea, to show up and follow him on new adventures. What I found instead was a story of an entirely new protagonist, a young girl called Tenar who lives an oppressive life on the island of Atuan. Young fool that I was, I did not read on to the middle of the book where Ged does show up for more adventures, though this time as t...more
This is the second book in the Earthsea Cycle. Plot-wise it's not as good as A Wizard of Earthsea, but the writing is better. It has such wonderful fluidity that I read the entire book in just a few hours. For that I can give it four stars, though the story lacks the magic and adventure of the first book.
Tenar is taken from her family at the age of five and given to "the Dark Ones" (aka "the Nameless Ones") at the age of six. The belief is that they eat her soul, and thereafter she belongs to t...more
Tenar is taken from her family at the age of five and given to "the Dark Ones" (aka "the Nameless Ones") at the age of six. The belief is that they eat her soul, and thereafter she belongs to t...more
The second book of the Earthsea Cycle starts off in a slightly baffling way -- not with Ged, the central character of the series, but rather with Arha, a young girl who has been chosen to become the next High Priestess of the Tombs of Atuan and spends her life performing rituals in which no one really seems to believe any more. We follow Arha around her daily tasks, and just when we're wondering where the hell Ged is, he makes an appearance, and a fascinating sparring match between the wizard an...more
Apr 04, 2012
sologdin
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
speculative,
ruling-class-protagonist
I recall an old gamers' joke about how the best magical item in the setting of The Lord of the Rings is a cursed Ring of Invisibility. In The Tombs of Atuan, the best magical item is also a ring, apparently, that bears "the sign of dominion, the sign of peace," without which "no king could rule well," leading to "tyrants and wars and quarrelling abont all the lands of Earthsea" (134). I recall that Donaldson's repulsive protagonist also has a special ring--perhaps someone needs to write about th...more
2 likes · like · see review
May 16, 2013
Alisa
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
childrens-lit,
fantasy
I enjoyed this one much more than A Wizard of Earthsea. The young priestess Tenar/Arha is raised to worship the Nameless Ones. That's her life. She doesn't question or wonder what she might be missing. She learns her way around the Tombs, where all must be dark, and that creepy throne where no one can sit. The imagery here is dark and powerful. What Le Guin does so well is take the reader along on Tenar's journey. I found myself right there with her. When Ged shows up and Tenar has to choose for...more
What wonderful and vivid imagery this book contains. Imagery with power for those readers who can identify with the central figure, Arha/Tenar, especially those who are faced with challenges in their own lives similar to those she confronts. I found imagery of the mystery and challenge of self-discovery; imagery of the conflict and dual-nature within humanity and within individuals; imagery of loss, dedication, loneliness, and self-denial; imagery of childhood, adolescence, and adulthood; imager...more
I like the complexity and the emotion, but I found the book disturbing, too. Bringing up "unfaith" and skepticism was good. The struggle for power between Arha and Kossil was good as well.
I didn't like the inconsistency, though. The gods (the Nameless Ones) had power, just not the power Arha thought they had, so they weren't worth worshipping? Or was it merely that Ged decided they were "bad"? Or that they wouldn't strike Kossil down? They had not done anything until Ged came along (others sacr...more
I didn't like the inconsistency, though. The gods (the Nameless Ones) had power, just not the power Arha thought they had, so they weren't worth worshipping? Or was it merely that Ged decided they were "bad"? Or that they wouldn't strike Kossil down? They had not done anything until Ged came along (others sacr...more
2 likes · like · see review
Mar 25, 2008
Joanna
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
2008-read,
young-adult
I can't believe I never read this trilogy before now. I read the first book in the trilogy over the weekend, then read this one in practically one sitting. I think I actually liked this book slightly better than the first book, but that may just be related to this one having a strong female lead. I also appreciate that the characters and events in the books have slight overlap, but that it really isn't necessary to have read the first book to enjoy the second. I'll definitely be reading the thir...more
1 like · like · see review
This was my favorite book in third grade. I checked it out from my school library a jillion times. I had no idea it was actually a trilogy till I discovered the set in a bookstore just a few years ago. The other two were okay for me but the Tombs was awesome! It is a little bit spooky and dark and just so weird. Nothing objectionable for kiddoes. A little girl is the heroe and she's worthy of such a label, being brave and noble -hearted and a freethinker. Sigh. I'll have to go look for this and...more
2 likes · like · see review
I think I might do my best reading when I'm sick. I get superstitious when I'm ill. I surround myself with the talismans of warding illness: that one hideous, frayed wool sweater, tea with lemon, soup from a can. One of my salves is re-reading books that I love.
It's a brief book, short, the middle of a trilogy (which later sprawled to 6 books). When it starts, our protagonist, Ged, from the first book of the series, is nowhere to be found. It's about a girl, taken to be a priestess as a child,...more
It's a brief book, short, the middle of a trilogy (which later sprawled to 6 books). When it starts, our protagonist, Ged, from the first book of the series, is nowhere to be found. It's about a girl, taken to be a priestess as a child,...more
6 likes · like · see review
Many years ago, at a point I do not recall, when I was four, my mother read me the entire original Earthsea trilogy. I did not remember it. Then, I found (not yet dubbed at the time) the Miyazaki film "Tales from Earthsea" (a compilation story inspired by all of the Earthsea books), and kept going 'this feels so familiar.' Upon being told why, I had to pick up the books and read them again for myself.
What intrigued me most about the Tombs of Atuan were the setting of the Tombs themselves. I hav...more
What intrigued me most about the Tombs of Atuan were the setting of the Tombs themselves. I hav...more
A Wizard of Earthsea was a good book, but it took me a while to appreciate it. The language was difficult to follow and it was clearly a children's book in form and content. In the end, I can call it a good book, with an enjoyable story and a matching epic style, but I can't call it a great book.
I can say, without reservation, that The Tombs of Atuan is a great story. It's far less epic in scope than the previous, and we actually come to know something about the main character, Tenar/Arha. The i...more
I can say, without reservation, that The Tombs of Atuan is a great story. It's far less epic in scope than the previous, and we actually come to know something about the main character, Tenar/Arha. The i...more
Undoubtedly my least favorite of the three books of the earthsea cycle.
This one is about a priestess who - taken from her family at a young age - knows only the rituals and trappings of being the head priestess at the Tombs of Atuan, a set of crypts/temples in the middle of nowhere. Eventually the star of the first book, Sparrowhawk, enters the picture, but he is largely a side character.
What impressed me the most about the first book was the sense of bigness. In the journey that Sparrowhawk und...more
This one is about a priestess who - taken from her family at a young age - knows only the rituals and trappings of being the head priestess at the Tombs of Atuan, a set of crypts/temples in the middle of nowhere. Eventually the star of the first book, Sparrowhawk, enters the picture, but he is largely a side character.
What impressed me the most about the first book was the sense of bigness. In the journey that Sparrowhawk und...more
The first third or so I did not like. This book is a sequel, but at first it seems nothing like it. The location is static, there is no magic, and none of the characters from the first book even seem to exist. There is little more than a few references to other islands at first to connect this story with the first. Then, Ged comes in. He has changed once again into someone unusual, headstrong, and sometimes hilarious. Once I realized this story would continue the first book, I appreciated it muc...more
This second book of Ursula K. Le Guin's Earthsea cycle is quite good, although I have to say so far I preferred the first book, A Wizard of Earthsea. Still, as far as novels in the fantasy genre go (especially those for young adults) this was a wonderful work of fiction, certainly equaling and at times surpassing anything written by J.K. Rowling. In this second installment, we are introducted to an entirely new character, Tenar, or as she is renamed - Arha, the Eaten One. Tenar is taken from her...more
I may not have read the story of Theseus and Ariadne cover to cover yet, but I know it well enough to hum a few bars. There is quite a bit of cribbing going on here in Tombs of Atuan, but at least LeGuin lets us see things from Ariadne’s perspective for once. Arha is a girl who gets locked in a musty old labyrinth from a very young age to be a priestess. As her life is set aside to roam around the dark, she doesn’t get out much. She does have her friends though, there’s the fat sidekick who show...more
One of the most perfect, lonely, and wonderful books that I have ever read. This book revolves around Tenar, a young priestess/sacrifice to the darkness of Atuan, rather than Sparrowhawk or the rest of the Earthsea Saga, and can actually be read by itself, as I first did.
The imagery of a child, growing up in the ruins of a previous society, worshiping by wandering the dark and seemingly endless halls of a perpetually light-less labyrinth, is both haunting and impossibly beautiful. Tenar is both...more
The imagery of a child, growing up in the ruins of a previous society, worshiping by wandering the dark and seemingly endless halls of a perpetually light-less labyrinth, is both haunting and impossibly beautiful. Tenar is both...more
More original and interesting (to me) than the first of the Earthsea books. I am constantly amazed at Le Guin's economy of prose, and her ability to create worlds that feel thoroughly ancient and familiar, and yet not pat or cliche. Just amazing. We see the world -- a very cold and cruel world -- from the main character's perspective, who, knowing nothing else, thinks very little of it. At the same time, we get the outside observer's privileged stance. It's about a religion, without being about...more
I think The Tombs of Atuan has always been my favourite of the Earthsea cycle. I said to someone recently that the quiet moment where Tenar watches Ged sleeping, and there's a thistle by his hand, and the world just seems so strange, was somehow a moment that perfectly defines Le Guin's work for me. That quietness, that moment of clarity, of seeing-things-anew...
If nothing else, that's the feeling I get when I read her work.
The Tombs of Atuan begins to redress the balance of the world Le Guin cr...more
If nothing else, that's the feeling I get when I read her work.
The Tombs of Atuan begins to redress the balance of the world Le Guin cr...more
Arha (the Eaten One) is the High Priestess to the Nameless Ones, the Eaters who live in the dark under their temple. From childhood she has learned that the darkness is sacred and guards the treasures in the labyrinth beneath her home. This story is told from her point of view, and she locks Ged into the labyrinth when she catches him sneaking around underground. Unable to let him die of thirst, Arha uses spy holes and trap doors to communicate with him about the nature of the treasure in the la...more
I must admit, I was a bit put off when this second in the trilogy did not start off with Ged. Because of the peculiar way the first book ends, I was really curious as to what he would be doing. Instead, we get the mythos and religious practices of another island/continent on Earthsea and a previously unknown female lead, Tenar, for about 50 pages.
At first, I found myself reading to get to Sparrowhawk; however, this new layer of storytelling is just as compelling and intriguing. The confined, un...more
At first, I found myself reading to get to Sparrowhawk; however, this new layer of storytelling is just as compelling and intriguing. The confined, un...more
ok i don't really remember this. i think when she became arha she started getting annoying or something. BUT i still remember the passage i REEEAALLY liked for whatever reason. it's the part when she asks him to prove his powers and he gives her the illusion of wearing a beautiful dress:
The heavy black she had worn for years was gone; her dress was of turquoise-colored silk, bright and soft as the evening sky. It belled out full from her hips, and all the skirt was embroidered with thin silver t...more
The heavy black she had worn for years was gone; her dress was of turquoise-colored silk, bright and soft as the evening sky. It belled out full from her hips, and all the skirt was embroidered with thin silver t...more
Jun 18, 2011
pinknantucket
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
ms-readathon-2011
Everybody on Twitter is going on and on about Ursula Le Guin at the moment and how fabulous she is and how she just writes the best books EVER, forcing me to face up to the fact that I've never read any of her stuff. I'm so susceptible to peer pressure. If everyone on Twitter started talking about jumping off cliffs and how cool that was, would I do it? Maybe.
Anyway, I'm pretty sure I did actually once read the first in this trilogy (A Wizard of Earthsea) but don't remember liking it very much....more
Anyway, I'm pretty sure I did actually once read the first in this trilogy (A Wizard of Earthsea) but don't remember liking it very much....more
May 20, 2011
Cyndy Aleo
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
fantasy,
young-adult
Of course, once I finished reading A Wizard of Earthsea, I wanted to continue reading about this world that Ursula LeGuin had created, especially since I was so pleasantly surprised by how different the books were from the horrid SciFi Channel miniseries, which tried unsuccessfully to combine these first two books into one story. The Tombs of Atuan separates the two stories, detailing only the story of Tenar, who appeared almost as a minor character in the miniseries.
::: High Priestess :::
As the...more
::: High Priestess :::
As the...more
This is a story about a girl who is taken as a child to be the High Priestess of a pagan temple. She has a very limited perspective of life because she and the others are confined to the area. She catches a thief in the temple tombs and traps him there and starts to learn things of the outside world. She's a very frustrating character because she's arrogant and kindof an all-around awful person, but surprisingly the author somehow kept you from being completely alienated from her, or giving up h...more
Just as an example, there's a lesser book by the great C. M. Kornbluth called The Syndic (1953) in which a young hero in a strange land meets a young witch-in-training; the witch helps him out and dies; and the hero is off to the next adventure, since the witch was really just a pit-stop for him (or let's be fancy and call it an episode for him).
In some sense, The Tombs of Atuan is like the inverse of that book: instead of following a hero who meets a girl who is a religious figure in her commu...more
In some sense, The Tombs of Atuan is like the inverse of that book: instead of following a hero who meets a girl who is a religious figure in her commu...more
"O Biarkan Mereka Yang Tak Bernama memandang gadis yang dipersembahkan kepada mereka, yang sesungguhnya tak bernama. Biarkan mereka menerima nyawanya dan tahun-tahun dalam hidupnya hingga saat kematiannya, yang juga milik mereka. Semoga gadis ini layak mereka terima. Biarkan dia dimakan!”
“Dia dimakan! Dia dimakan!”
"Kau adalah Artha. Tidak yang tersisa lagi. Semuanya sudah dimakan"
Sejak usia enam tahun Tenar sudah berada di Situs Makam. Dia bukan lagi dikenal dengan nama sejatinya Tenar, ia sekar...more
“Dia dimakan! Dia dimakan!”
"Kau adalah Artha. Tidak yang tersisa lagi. Semuanya sudah dimakan"
Sejak usia enam tahun Tenar sudah berada di Situs Makam. Dia bukan lagi dikenal dengan nama sejatinya Tenar, ia sekar...more
I first read this book as a child, and back then it was my first encounter with Ursula Le Guinn. I was enchanted. While this is the second book of the Earthsea trilogy, I stands alone very well. However, reading it first is very different from reading it as part two. Encourntering these characters for the first time, you don't know who to trust and that makes the story read in a very different way.
Earthsea is a set of islands on a fantasy world, where magic is not unusual. The Tombs of Atuan are...more
Earthsea is a set of islands on a fantasy world, where magic is not unusual. The Tombs of Atuan are...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| If I haven't read "A Wizard of Earthsea" yet, can I read this one? | 18 | 30 | Mar 06, 2013 02:08pm | |
| Parents of Tweens...: A kinda spooky but harmless read for tweens and up | 1 | 10 | Oct 24, 2012 08:24am | |
| Goodreads Librari...: incorrect cover change (the tombs of atuan) | 2 | 151 | Aug 13, 2012 08:35pm |
As of 2011, Ursula K. Le Guin has published twenty-one novels, eleven volumes of short stories, four collections of essays, twelve books for children, six volumes of poetry and four of translation, and has received many awards: Hugo, Nebula, National Book Award, PEN-Malamud, etc. Her recent publications include the novel Lavinia, an essay collection, Cheek by Jowl, and The Wild Girls. Forthcoming...more
More about Ursula K. Le Guin...
Share This Book
6 trivia questions
More quizzes & trivia...
“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 towards the light; but the laden traveler may never reach the end of it.”
—
120 people liked it
“They have nothing to give. They have no power of making. All their power is to darken and destroy. They cannot leave this place; they are this place; and it should be left to them. They should not be denied nor forgotten, but neither should they be worshiped. The Earth is beautiful, and bright, and kindly, but that is not all. The Earth is also terrible, and dark, and cruel. The rabbit shrieks dying in the green meadows. The mountains clench their great hands full of hidden fire. There are sharks in the sea, and there is cruelty in men’s eyes. And where men worship these things and abase themselves before them, there evil breeds; there places are made in the world where darkness gathers, places given over wholly to the Ones whom we call Nameless, the ancient and holy Powers of the Earth before the Light, the powers of the dark, of ruin, of madness… I think they drove your priestess Kossil mad a long time ago; I think she has prowled these caverns as she prowls the labyrinth of her own self, and now she cannot see the daylight any more. She tells you that the Nameless Ones are dead; only a lost soul, lost to truth, could believe that. They exist. But they are not your Masters. They never were. You are free, Tenar. You were taught to be a slave, but you have broken free.”
—
24 people liked it
More quotes…
