Heroic Dreams - All Things Medieval

I have been doing some more work on labyrinths and mazes and it got me to thinking about a book.

The name of the book is “The Tombs of Atuan” by Ursula K. LeGuin. It is the second volume in the Wizard of Earthsea Trilogy. Anyway, I read it many years ago and I don’t remember a whole lot of it except that much of the book revolves around this big network of caves (labyrinth) under the Priestess convent and temple.

One of the remarkable things about it is that I remember they had a long history (hundreds of years) of going down into the labyrinth always in total darkness and they had to memorize certain paths by touching and following the walls, and counting turns and intersections. Lights were totally forbidden so they always went down there in utter darkness. And of course there is a reason for that! This adds a whole second dimension to the mystery of a labyrinth.

Anyhoo, This is a remarkable book both for children and adults and it has a magical feel to it. LeGuin is one of the best fantasy writers ever. The cover version in this post is a scan of my book and that is out of print but there is a newer version available on amazon.com The Tombs of Atuan (The Earthsea Cycle, Book 2) The version of the book that I have is complete with drawings and even a drawing of the labyrinth which is really neat.

I cannot recommend this series of books any higher. It is light reading yet quite remarkable. If you are looking for some fantasy to read you should get this series of books. But you should start with the first book in the series:A Wizard of Earthsea (The Earthsea Cycle, Book 1)

I am going to be reading and doing reviews of this series of books and will either post to this blog or put it on my fantasy guide website

Odd thing about the whole labyrinth kick that I have been on lately because I have been working my way through my third novel and have been wrestling with a variety of plot points and what not and well its serendipitious because now I am pretty sure there will be a labyrinth in it! it fits perfectly - coincidence or cosmic alliance? Dunno

Popularity: 10% [?]