Published: September 1970
Pages: 180
Series: The Earthsea Cycle #2
Summary
Tenar is chosen as high priestess to the ancient and nameless Powers of the Earth, and everything is taken from her—home, family, possessions, even her name. She is now known only as Arha, the Eaten One, and guards the shadowy, labyrinthine Tombs of Atuan.
Then a wizard, Ged Sparrowhawk, comes to steal the Tombs’ greatest hidden treasure, the Ring of Erreth-Akbe. Tenar’s duty is to protect the Ring, but Ged possesses the light of magic and tales of a world that Tenar has never known. Will Tenar risk everything to escape from the darkness that has become her domain?
My thoughts
Filled with the emotion and heaviness wrapped up in more brilliant writing. I’m making it my mission to make my way through Ursula’s works, her writing and character development is brilliant and she has never let me down yet.
“How do I know,” she said at last, “that you are what you seem to be?”
“You don’t,” Said he. “I don’t know what I seem, to you.”
Book two in the Earthsea Cycles is another novella. This could be read as a standalone, or if you’re here after reading book one, this is part of a wider series following our favourite mage, Sparrowhawk. I’m glad to read more about the next adventure on his journey, and as I finished this one I’ve since started book three.
“The Earth is beautiful, and bright, and kindly, but that is not all. The Earth is also terrible, and dark, and cruel. The rabbit shrieks dying in the green meadows. The mountains clench their great hands full of hidden fire. There are sharks in the sea, and there is cruelty in men’s eyes.”
This is a very descriptive book, the first chunk has a lot of information. This is a community that has cut themselves off from wider society. It felt like they’ve founded this tradition many, many years ago, and now a generation later, no one is questioning why they do things the way they do. There is a huge theme of indoctrination and information manipulation. I really enjoyed watching Tenar through her journey from when she was taken to how she grows right until the end. I found it really intriguing and so I didn’t really mind the slower pace. There was lots to keep my attention more around human behaviour and beliefs.
“Freedom is a heavy load, a great and strange burden for the spirit to undertake. It is not easy. It is not a gift given, but a choice made, and the choice may be a hard one. The road goes upward towards the light; but the laden traveller may never reach the end of it.”
The biggest talking point for me and something that Ursula explicitly mentions is that in this story, the man nor the woman can achieve what they must without the other. There is no man swooping in to save her, there is no determined woman shoving off help to do things herself. This is a story of a man and a woman that depend on each other for one another’s bravery, courage and empathy. They are unlikely souls that happened to cross paths. With openness and kindness they forge their own path. It is difficult, there are hurdles and questions and doubt, but there is sincerity in their interactions despite the circumstances.
“I was dying of thirst when you gave me water, yet it was not the water alone that saved me. It was the strength of the hands that gave it.”
There is so much kindness, one of the best parts of being human, and I loved reading how the story unfolded. I could feel the changes in the way Ursula’s describes her characters. The small, unnoticeable changes in language and actions, it felt so natural and believable. Ursula is a master of her craft for a reason and I’m just kicking myself I waited so long to read her books.
Would I recommend?
I adore these books and this series is moving up there on one of my favourites, but I better get off to reading the rest! If you enjoy fantasy that is so brilliantly captured and well written. Where character growth and exploration is prioritised above fast-paced, exciting plots. You will enjoy this one, give it a shot, it’s only 180 pages!