The Tombs of Atuan Audiobook By Ursula K. Le Guin cover art

The Tombs of Atuan

The Earthsea Cycle, Book 2

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The Tombs of Atuan

By: Ursula K. Le Guin
Narrated by: Rob Inglis
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A bold young wizard enters the labyrinth of the sacred Tombs of Atuan to steal the magical ring of Erreth-Akbe. Instead, he finds an unhappy priestess in need of a hero to save her.©1970 Ursula K. Le Guin (P)1994 Recorded Books, LLC Epic Fantasy Witches & Wizards Thought-Provoking

Critic reviews

  • Winner, Newbery Honor, 1972

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Beautiful Prose • Rich Worldbuilding • Excellent Narration • Strong Female Protagonist • Atmospheric Storytelling
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I first found this story because I love the reader. I thoroughly enjoyed his reading of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. I found LeGuin’s writing to be similar but without all the added poetry and songs. This series is a delightful adventure. Enjoy entering the land and waters of the Earthsea.

In the vein of Tolkien

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The story centers mainly on one location and the main protagonist along with only a few more persons, but it is well done. Is gives a bit of background to one of the side-stories in book 1. The narrator, Inglis, is great as always.

Simplistic but Well Written Story

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This series was my first introduction to Ursula K. LeGuin. I read A Wizard of Earthsea in high school and just kept going from there. Hearing it again reminded me how much I like these stories.
The narrator could have used different intonations for the characters more but his voice had a good cadence to it

Love The Earthsea Series

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It is rich with allusions to Tolkien, Christian theology, and, I think specifically Catholic teaching. I do not know the author’s religion, but this is what I think. It begins darkly and slowly but rewards the reader’s patience with joy and beauty in the end. I first read it as a teenager but had forgotten it completely.

A deeply spiritual tale

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I still love this series of books, written deceptively simply, with such nuggets of character that I can listen and David the excellent narration

I love understated nuance

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I find Ursula Le Guin's writing style to be so evocative and the world to feel so living. It is a joy to read her classic works and see where fantasy grew out from.

get lost in the writing.

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Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

If you liked The Wizard of Earthsea, this is a must-read sequel. I love how LeGuin pulls on a few threads from the first novel but mostly departs into a completely different tale ... in tone, structure, plot, and even in geography. Marginalizing Ged as a character until halfway through is a brilliant stroke and gives us a new character to care about in the form of a young girl, chosen one of the old powers of the Earth. The result is powerful ... lyrical, dusky, narrow in scope. Wow. It probably works best for young adults, as a coming of age story for girls. But it has a universal appeal.

In Some Ways, the Best of the Original Trilogy

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I love all the E arthsea tales. This is a sweet episode. Tenar and Ged are a wonderful heroic pair. Great archetypal story. Well read. Starting volume III, The Farthest Shore, without a break. Highly recommended!

wonderful experience.

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This book feels very different from book 1. In book 1, you had a constant sense that something was happening--the plot was constantly moving forward. With book 2, you plod along until the 38% mark before things start happening. It's when the story truly begins. The first 38% is backstory. This is also not an action adventure, it's almost all character development, with maybe one scene of pseudo-action. Your heart never pounds, and there's never any nail-biting moments. This isn't bad, just different. That said, I have to rate the overall story at 3 stars, and it really only gets that because the writing is so excellent. The story was fairly boring to me, unfortunately. Your milage may vary.

The narrator was excellent.

Slow start, sluggish finish

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Story was pretty good, the narration was great! The only annoying thing with that it had never been converted from a cassette tape and had some positive and asked me to switch sides. This is pretty confusing the first time rounds

Pretty good

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