The Tombs of Atuan by Ursula LeGuin
A slow start to this book. I was expecting the hero of the book to be front and center, similar to the previous Wizard of Earthsea, however I was surprised for his entrance to quietly happen halfway through. It was quite strange to experience Ged as an outsider but an experience I enjoyed. The old bait and switch with Tenar becoming the true hero protagonist.
Alone, no one wins freedom.
It certainly a beautiful book with some really fantastic prose. I didn’t like it quite as much as the original epic but it’s a fine read nonetheless. It was great to read a fantasy book with a female lead and you can tell that Le Guinn truly cares for each of her main cast of characters. The depth of despair these characters experienced leaped off the page and this really brought through how strong both Ged and Tenar truly were as a whole.
My favourite passage was:
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 towards the light; but the laden traveler may never reach the end of it.
Finished: 2020-01-10 - 8 days