The Tombs of Atuan

Ursula K. Le Guin 1972 Buy from Amazon.com

The Tombs of Atuan is the second book in the Earthsea Cycle, and is told from the point of view of Arha, the Eaten One. As a child, Arha was known as Tenar, but she is the Priestess of the Nameless Ones, who have eaten her soul.

Born on the night that the last Priestess died, Tenar is the reincarnated soul of that Priestess, and she was taken at the age of five to The Place. The Place is in the Kargard lands, where the people are pale-skinned, and there are no Wizards. The Place has the temples of the God-King and the Twin Gods, and the Temple of the Nameless Ones, who were there before all the others.

As Arha grows older, she learns about the Labyrinth below The Place, where her masters dwell. The Undertomb, which is their place of power, where no light is allowed, and the Labyrinth itself, with it’s twists and turns, and hidden rooms.

Sparrowhawk, the Wizard from the first book, comes seeking the other half of the ring of Erreth-Akbe, hidden in the Labyrinth of the Nameless Ones. Although he is captured by Arha, he wins her trust and she cannot make herself kill him.

This is an interesting story, in which we see how a young girl can be shaped by forces outside her control, into what is expected of her. Yet there is still something inside which can be coaxed out, something that is her and no one else.

The descriptions of the desert, the tombs, and the Labyrinth create an atmosphere of timelessness. The unchanging service of the Nameless Ones. The disruption caused by the coming of Sparrowhawk is both jarring and yet also expected. After all, if it simply continued the same way through the entire book, there really wouldn’t be a story.

The Tombs of Atuan is another wonderful, strange and classic fantasy novel in the Earthsea cycle, and very satisfying to read.

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