Le Guin is a master of the “legendary” voice, and her writing never comes off as lofty or self-important. There is a certain cozy feeling that I get when reading the Earthsea books. It is just enough of a sequel to create a link with the stories from the first book, but it could stand on its own very well. But its few connections are satisfying morsels that reward the reader for paying close attention. The Tombs of Atuan was the latter, sharing very little with the first Earthsea book. Sometimes I like my sequels to be more of the same, and sometimes I like them to be something entirely new. When a mysterious and powerful wizard appears in the depths of the Labyrinth, Arha must choose between a life in the temple or a life in the outside world. Since she was taken into the Place of the Tombs as a young child, her life has been one of piety, sacrifice, and isolation. The Tombs of Atuan is set in an ancient temple and follows a young priestess named Arha. ” Without the Internet and without the strategic marketing of series of today, how often did readers miss out on the next book in a series because they didn’t know it was out or didn’t recognize it? The jacket flap reads “ The Tombs of Atuan is set in the same geographical region of the world of fantasy as her previous book for young people, A Wizard of Earthsea. Nothing on the spine says that it’s a part of The Earthsea Cycle, nor that it’s a part of a series at all. My copy of The Tombs of Atuan was, strangely, a first edition first printing from my local library. Yet it is without a doubt a sequel, as many connections to the first book are made toward the end.īut it made me wonder what it must have been like to wait for the next book in a series in the 60s and 70s.

The first thirty pages of The Tombs of Atuan bear little resemblance to A Wizard of Earthsea -in fact, the book as a whole is different in its pace, setting, and cast of characters. The Tombs of Atuan is the second book in Ursula K. Re-readability: This book solidified Earthsea as a series that I will revisit someday.

Earthsea the tombs of atuan