First of all, this is a sequel. If you haven’t read the preceding novel A Wizard of Earthsea, then go do that right now. It’s not long. I’ll wait…
It’s wonderful, right? I remember how the prose grabbed me when I first read it, and it still grabs me that same way. It’s like The Gunslinger in that way; it feels truly, effortlessly ethereal. The text exists outside of time, as do all great fairy tales. And that’s the one problem with the sequel. Much like The Drawing of the Three (a great book in its own right), The Tombs of Atuan fails to perfectly maintain the style of A Wizard of Earthsea. It’s absolutely the same world and the characterization and world-building remains consistently excellent, but that rhythmic, trickling, watery prose has given way to an equally stark but much more traditional novelistic style. It’s a weak criticism, to be sure. Styles change and I’m afraid that that sort of tonal resonance may be a once-in-a-lifetime achievement for an author. It’s been so with King, and it may prove to be so for LeGuin.
Zomg, are you reading this series for the first time? You are so lucky, it it mind blowingly awesome. You are right that the tone of the writing changed from the first book to the second. It does in all the books, evolving and shifting. It’s pretty fascinating.
Also, make sure you read the short story volume before you read the last book, The Other Wind. There’s some fantastic stories and a bridging novella that goes between Tehanu: The Last Book of Earthsea (don’t be fooled by the title!) and The Other Wind.
Yeah, I am. I started a few years ago, but blahblahblah and so I re-read “Wizard” near the end of last year to reignite the effort. And I can assure you I will be reading everything Earthsea related.
I really like The Wizard of Earthsea, but for my money, Tombs of Atuan is the true masterpiece. I just love the fact that the hero of your typical quest fantasy doesn’t even show up till well into the book. And the milieu Le Guin draws, the closed off, oppressive little community with its rigid traditions, is just so damn fascinating. To say nothing of the haunting atmosphere of the tombs themselves. However, I have not read either book in their original English, only in translation, and I’m now curious to reread to see how getting a real sense of their prose style would effect my sense of their relative merit.
In any case, this was a great, interesting review of one of my all time favorite books.
Oh, it would be interesting to see how it holds up in translation. The story would remain more or less the same, and maybe even the forced alien cultural perspective (not a criticism), but so much of my experience of Earthsea, particularly the first novel, is tied up in the feel of the prose. I suppose if the translator adopted a similarly terse storybook style it would accomplish the same thing, more or less.
Terse, yes, if memory serves. At least I don’t remember it being particularly… pretty. More matter of fact.
Great minds, all! I just started A Wizard of Earthsea.