A Wizard of Earthsea is the first of three books making up the Earthsea trilogy. In each Ged is a major character, though The Tombs of Atuan is told from the point of view of a girl as she approaches adulthood. Each of these volumes received important literary awards, and each is as interesting, profound, and artful as the first.
The Tombs of Atuan follows the maturation of Tenar, a young woman who is trained as a priestess in a society that has become increasingly sexist. Though issues of gender are kept in the background, they are central to understanding Tenar's situation. Men are rigidly associated with being and women with nonbeing. A woman priestess is, therefore, trained to serve the forces of darkness. Part of this training involves the utter surrender of her identity......
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