| On the island of Atuan, the little girl Tenar is chosen to assume the role of the One Priestess of the Tombs of Atuan, where the Nameless Ones are said to dwell. Renamed Arha, the Eaten One, she receives training in her duties from Thar and Kossil, the elderly Priestesses. Beneath Arha's small house, the Throne, and the Tombs lies a vast and complex Labyrinth, whose dark passages she steadily explores and makes her own. One day when Arha is in her teens, she discovers a thief in the Labyrinth; it is Sparrowhawk/Ged (from the first Earthsea book), come to find the missing half of the broken amulet of Erreth-Akbe. Arha has him bound and manacled, her initial purpose to starve and perhaps torture him to death. But as she comes to know him, she begins to wonder whether her teacher Kossil might be her true enemy, and whether the Nameless Ones she has devoted her life to honoring are really worthy of her fealty. This sets up a showdown between her faith -- her entire way of life -- and her strange new friend. | ||
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Plot & Themes FANTASY or SCIENCE FICTION? - fantasy world/fantasy past Youngster becomes - an adult (general) Tech./$$$/Info hunt Yes Stealing/recovering/destroying Descript. of chases or violence - 20 % planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 20 % Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 40 % Descript. of society, phenomena (tech), places - 20 % Main Character Identity: - Female Profession/status: Age: - a teen Main Adversary Identity: - Female Age: - long-lived adults Profession/status: Eccentric: Yes How much of work is main antagonist actually present in: - a moderate amount How sensitive is this character? Setting Terrain A substantial portion of this book takes place on a non-Earth planetary body: - humans in a primitive/fantasy society - very controlled society Planet outside solar system? Yes Writing Style Accounts of torture and death? - generic/vague references to death/punishment How much dialogue? - significantly more descript than dialog |
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