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A review by ehays84
The Tombs of Atuan by Ursula K. Le Guin
4.0
The writing once again is very excellent, and I applaud her for progressing her world by writing from the perspective of a new character from a different part of Earthsea. Yet, shifting to writing from the perspective I think is also related to the weaknesses of this book, which is why I gave it only 4 stars (although I should say that this book is still much better than most other fantasy books I have read).
First, we grew attached to Ged in the first book, but even once he enters this story, we still never really get inside his head. We don't know how he has progressed to that point from where the last story ended. Maybe we will learn more about this in later books.
Second, and more importantly, I think she missed a real opportunity to capitalize on one of the best parts of this series when she just had Ged sort of know all of a sudden what Arha's true name is. The idea of true names is probably the most compelling and meaninful part of her stories, but Ged just knows her true name because it is his business to know. I found this unsatisfying. And it also meant that we missed out on completing one of the best parts of the specific story of this book: the idea of a girl being cut off from her childhood and having to put her life back together. Again, maybe we will get more of this in the following books.
The story of the tombs is quite dark (literally and metaphorically), but was thrilling to read because she just writes so extremely well. And I found the ending very meaningful as the characters delve into important issues of sin and atonement as well as being lost in evil and then redeemed.
I very much look forward to reading the rest of this series.
First, we grew attached to Ged in the first book, but even once he enters this story, we still never really get inside his head. We don't know how he has progressed to that point from where the last story ended. Maybe we will learn more about this in later books.
Second, and more importantly, I think she missed a real opportunity to capitalize on one of the best parts of this series when she just had Ged sort of know all of a sudden what Arha's true name is. The idea of true names is probably the most compelling and meaninful part of her stories, but Ged just knows her true name because it is his business to know. I found this unsatisfying. And it also meant that we missed out on completing one of the best parts of the specific story of this book: the idea of a girl being cut off from her childhood and having to put her life back together. Again, maybe we will get more of this in the following books.
The story of the tombs is quite dark (literally and metaphorically), but was thrilling to read because she just writes so extremely well. And I found the ending very meaningful as the characters delve into important issues of sin and atonement as well as being lost in evil and then redeemed.
I very much look forward to reading the rest of this series.