Today I’m doing something a little different. While normally I review more modern novels, today I’m covering a classic of the fantasy genre that deserves more respect. I’m talking about THE TOMBS OF ATUAN by Ursula K. Le Guin. Here are ten things I loved about TOMBS:
1. Tenar/Arha
I love the way Guin explores the effect that being raised told you’re special can have. Tenar/Arha is a character raised with the belief that she was the reincarnation of a special priestess. The way that upbringing affects Tenar/Arha, for better and for worse, is an important part of the story and one I found very interesting.
2. Usage of Names
As you may be able to tell by the fact that I called the main character Tenar/Arha, names are important in TOMBS. Which name the protagonist goes by at which point in the story is a deliberate choice that informs the reader about her mindset at that time.
3. The Chosen One Lineage Trope
The trope of someone being born a chosen one is one that I’ve always enjoyed. In this case, Guin deconstructs that idea completely, which is perhaps a bit ironic because she may well be the first person to play that trope at all-at least featuring a woman.
4. Dangers of Blind Worship
TOMBS explores the dangers of blindly following into one religion or society without questioning what they tell you, or thinking about things for yourself. TOMBS does this well and thoughtfully, as well as being possibly one of the earliest fantasies to explore this.
5.The Experience of Realizing Different Worldviews
One thing I really liked is the part where Tenar/Arha first realizes that one of her childhood friends isn’t a believer in the religion they’ve both been raised in. It’s a shock for her to realize that not everyone is going to share the same beliefs, and I think that kind of experience is both integral to growing up, and very rarely included in coming of age stories.
6. Worldbuilding
The worldbuilding of TOMBS focuses mainly on the religious convent in which Tenar/Arha grows up, but the dialogue is full of references to other locales. Some are places the reader may have gone in the previous book, others are not, but all make the world feel populated and real.
7. Quiet
It was nice to read a fantasy novel that’s more quiet than many others. TOMBS isn’t afraid to take a quieter, more introspective approach with this story, which fits perfectly the coming of age narrative.
8. Quick Read
TOMBS is a fairly short read. It’s less than 50,000 words, which is on the short side for a fantasy novel. The shorter length was right for the character based story TOMBS is, and it made for a nice fast read.
9. Expansive
TOMBS is the second book in a series. As such, it has a base to build upon. But while the first book followed wizard Ged, TOMBS follows a completely different character (Tenar/Arha) in a completely different location. The two stories could stand alone, yet if you’ve read A WIZARD OF EARTHSEA first, you’ll get a better appreciation for elements introduced in that book that are expanded upon here.
10. More Interesting
Here’s my controversial hot take for this review. TOMBS is a more interesting book than a lot of classic fantasy novels from the same time period (it was first published in 1970). Normally I prefer more modern novels, but TOMBS hasn’t aged poorly, and it is just as interesting now as it was in 1970.
So that’s THE TOMBS OF ATUAN by Ursula K. Le Guin. I highly recommend it if you want to dip your toes into an older fantasy but don’t want to pick up a massive tome, or if the premise just sounds like something you’d enjoy. It's definitely a worthy read.
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