The Tombs of Atuan : The Earthsea Cycle

Rating:
Summary: Second in the Earthsea trilogy
Review: Again, as in A Wizard of Earthsea, we find a book that is a bit dated in its aproach: Lots of exposition and little action. The difference is while Wizard was a coming of age story for a boy -- Ged's rising to both man and wizard -- this second book begins with the coming of age of a girl, Arha the Eaten One, high priestess to the ancient Powers of the Earth.

Raised in an isolated temple complex, Arha has no knoweldge of the outside world. It isn't until Ged arrives to steal from the great treasury supposedly hidden in the underground tunnels, that her life begins to stretch beyond the temples and desert where they are located. When she finds him in the darkness, excitement enters her life. And for the first time, she feels compassion for another human being.

Finding the treasure he has come for, the broken ring of Erreth-Akbe, Ged must escape the tunnels and the only person who can help him is Arha. With the sudden desire to break free, she agrees to lead him out of the darkness and go with him, out of the desert. The only way they can leave, however, is if Ged can overcome the nameless gods she has served all of her life.

LeGuin has woven an intricate story of a life, from girlhood to womanhood, under most peculiar circumstances. Arha not only grows up, she somehow acquires the wisdom to abandon a restrictive life and the courage to leave on an adventure she could not have imagined. At the same time, Ged acquires the coveted ring and return its powers to the world from which it came.

Although these books are often sold in the young adult sections of book stores, and kept in the same sections of the libraries, they do not really seem geared especially toward children. Just like the Lord of the Rings, there is more here than simple story telling. They are geared as much, if not more, toward adults.

Rating:
Summary: Almost five
Review: I loved the book with one exception. There is no real follow through with the characters from book to book. Some time passes from the first to the second book with no saying what had happened to the character. Aside from that it was a great book and kept me turning the pages.

Rating:
Summary: Very interesting, but short
Review: O.k., I understand that this will be the second half of the Sci-fi Channel mini-series "The Legend of Earthsea". I read "A Wizard of Earthsea" a long time ago, and decided to read this one before the mini premiered.

To be honest, I'm not sure how they're going to make it into two hours. I'm not even sure where most of those 180 pages went. Still, the characters are interesting, the romance works, and everything is well structured and detailed. It definately has what you want, the problem is you find yourself wanting MORE of it. I know the first rule of entertainment is "Always leave 'em wanting more", but this is just too little. And it takes Ged too long to get their. Still, this is a book worthy of much praise (although it might have been better presented as a short story).

Rating:
Summary: Still don't understand the hype
Review: After being disappointed by the first book in this series, I started out thinking that this one must be better in order to justify the series' reputation. I was wrong. Even the main character, Tenar/Arha, was not very deep, and Ged's depth came almost entirely from having read the previous book. The only reason I'm giving it 2 stars instead of 1 is that it wasn't actually offensive, and I do appreciate Le Guin's avoidance of a gratuitous romance between Ged and Tenar. The most (and possibly only) interesting thing about reading this book was referring to the map of the labyrinth to follow the directions described in the story, but this book was painfully boring for the most part, seeming much longer than its slight size would indicate.

The comparisons to Tolkein and Lewis still leave me baffled; indeed, these books have fallen far short of most "lesser" authors as well. I believe that simply picking a fantasy book at random would likely result in a better read. Sadly, I also think that this would have been disappointing even without the expectations generated by the hype over this series. The fact that her "Left Hand of Darkness" many years ago did not inspire me to get more of her books perhaps should've been a hint; I don't recall being especially let down by that book, but I was only a teenager back then.

I started reading this series in part to be able to compare it to the upcoming miniseries on SciFi, but two books into the series, I'm actually expecting the TV version to be much better than the books, and as such, substantially different; if not, I'll be switching to the Weather Channel not long after the opening credits.

Rating:
Summary: The Little Sequel That Could
Review: An excellent continuation of the Earthsea epic, perhaps even outdoing the original. This second book provides a slower, more intimate tale that is very well developed. The only problem with this short read is that its over too soon.

Rating:
Summary: Great book, even better series
Review: I first read the original Earthsea trilogy over 20 years ago, and it has stood the test of time. If you like your fantasy with action, this will not be your cup of tea…but LeGuin is a master and a unique voice. The best part is that the books keep getting better and more moving. If you read and enjoyed Wizard of Earthsea, you need to read this one to continue Ged’s story. Read this so that you can get to Tehanu, which I think is one of the best books ever written about the nature and meaning of love.