The Tombs of Atuan

I recently read the first Earthsea book in the series by Le Guin and I enjoyed it. So I put a hold on the second book at the library and just finished it up, The Tombs of Atuan. And I love these stories, but I also really love the afterwords by Le Guin, talking about how she came to write the books and looking back on them years later.

The Tombs of Atuan focuses on a young girl who is to become the next Priestess of the Nameless Ones. At the young age of 5 she is taken from her family, brought to The Place, and raised to continue on in the profession. As the girl grows, she is becoming wise to the manipulations and ways of power. And when she discovers a wizard in the Tombs, she is able to work through what she is feeling about the world she lives in and the world she wants to live in.

I loved this book, and I love that Le Guin wrote it based on the landscape of Eastern Oregon and that I know that because she shares so much about how she came to write the book.

What she had begun to learn was the weight of liberty. 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 toward the light; but the laden traveler may never reach the end of it. (loc 1889)