The Tombs of Atuan – Reviewing Classics
Atheneum Books, 1971
Fantasy Fiction
ISBN-10: 1416509623
192 pages
Newbery Honor Book
Synopsis
Tenar, the priestess to the ancient and long held worship of the Nameless Ones, is taken as a child and raised as the one who will guard the catacombs of the Tombs of Atuan for her entire life. Thought to be the reincarnation of the one priestess who lives and is reincarnated in every generation, Tenar is raised as someone who is both feared and revered by her peers and authority figures, even at a young age.
Ged, the young wizard who conquered his own Nameless One he released earlier in his life, is on a quest to find the other half of the Ring of Erreth-Akbe, which is said to be in the labyrinth. Only Tenar knows how to navigate the labyrinth, but it is her duty to protect it by slaying any who try to enter. Tenar is faced with duty and self-sacrifice for the greater good, and Ged’s life hangs tenuously in her young hands.
Critique
Unlike the previous addition to this series, this is less a chronicle about the great wizard Sparrowhawk/Ged in his younger and foolish years, and more about one story that builds to a final climax. It’s not surprising that this was awarded a Newbery honor, since it gives insight into the struggle a young priestess faces as she starts to see the world get broader. This expansion of her worldview calls into question the nature of religion and the worship of beings that seem not to hear her or have any power in the world any longer.
As always with LeGuin’s works, it’s a merger of real life story-telling elements with a fantasy world, unlike many of the fantasy works today, which rely far too heavily on the fantasy tropes and battles with very little story element to fall back on. I recommend this book to all readers 12+.
The other books in this series are A Wizard of Earthsea (book 1), The Farthest Shore (book 3), Tehanu (book 4), Tales from Earthsea (book 5), and The Other Wind (book 6).
Rating Rubric
Enjoyable Read: Original Fantasy: Original Plot: Language: Asthetics: Depth In Characters: Depth In Story: Social Commentary: Layers/Complexity: Classroom Text: Overall Rating:
For the Classroom
Since this text operates in a parallel world with separate cultures, societal issues, natural laws and histories than our own, there’s not much to use as a classroom companion.
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