THE TOMBS OF ATUAN - Ursula Le Guin

 The Tombs of Atuan (book 2 in the Earthsea series)

The Tombs Of Atuan

- Ursula Le Guin - 

I just read The Wizard of Earthsea and quickly moved onto the second book in the series - The Tombs of Atuan. I really liked The Wizard of Earthsea, and this second installment in the series is just as good.

We are taken back to the world of Earthsea, but instead of travelling around the islands we are concentrated on one remote and isolated place. We follow the life of a priestess who is taken from her parents at an early age to be trained and molded for the life as the high priestess of the island of Atuan. Atuan is the home base of a highly religious culture, and this priestess (Tenar) is given the task of keeping the darkness (the no-named things) at bay. 

Tenar is the only one allowed to explore the dark tunnels of the Tomb of Atuan, and her exploring and discovery of the expansive labryinth and all its secrets is fun to read about. Then one day she discovers a Wizard has broken into the secret tunnels and is searching for the lost treasures buried deep in the tombs. She struggles with the idea of killing him, or joining forces with him and escaping her life. I won't spoil the ending for you.

Another great world building book, written in the wonderful flowing prose that Le Guin is known for.

Can't wait to find the next book in the series.

A WIZARD OF EARTHSEA - Ursula Le Guin

 A WIZARD OF EARTHSEA

A Wizard of Earthsea

- Ursula Le Guin - 

This is one of those great fantasy tales I've been hearing about for years; one of those 'must reads'. After reading it, I'll agree, it does deserve to be on a list of great fantasy books.

It's funny that the book has held up so long because the story seems very cliche now - a young boy with natural magical abilities learns to become a full fledged Wizard. But, at the time it was published (late 60s), it was a trailbreaker. At the time Wizards were old men like Gandalf with white beards and pointy hats, they were not young boys. As well, most fantasy stories involved epic battles with evil beasts. This story does have a skirmish here and there, but it is more of a battle within the Wizard himself, and there is no big militaristic climax where they charge the lair of all that is evil.

The actual story was more about discovery and exploring, both the world of Earthsea (which is an interesting world of islands and cultures) and the Wizard's place in the world. 

The writing was fantastic. I was thirty pages into the book before I realized how fluid the reading seemed. I finally noticed that Le Guin's style was completely against the grain of what is recommended to today's writers (keep the sentences short, the simpler the better). Le Guin's sentences would go on for half a page. Often an entire paragraph was one sentence. The amazing thing is that it didn't feel verbose, or overdone. No. The sentences stuck to one topic, threw in a detail or two, and added a smooth transition to the next idea. It was really something. Literature, I think they call it.

All I can say is that I read the entire book in two days because I couldn't put it down. The mix of world building, story, and the amazing writing made this a five star book.

Now onto the next book in the series - The Tombs of Atuan (which I picked up second hand recently -- the 1982 publishing of it).

The Tombs of Atuan

MAX LUCK - Craig Anderson

 MAX LUCK

- Craig Anderson - 

I just took another roller coaster ride through Craig Anderson's latest book. Similar to Level Up, we are thrown into a virtual RPG world, where jargon like HP and EXP pop up like clover in the spring. On that well thrown in plant reference, we follow the adventure of a little leprechaun named Max. By luck, he is pulled into a skirmish with a disrespectful teenaged boy, who just happens to be the son of the game's biggest gangster. So, the little dust up quickly escalates into a much bigger fight. As we move through the story the problems escalate, and soon start to threaten lives outside of the game.

What I really loved about this book was constant thrill - there is always someone chasing the leprechaun, there are a lot of time sensitive situations, and the stakes keep getting bigger and bigger - this is what kept me keep turning pages. The inventiveness of Anderson keeps it fresh and fun; discovering new weapons or artifacts (like crafting fire bullets or smoking a invisibility pipe), that I kept looking forward to what new weapon would save Max when he found himself in another impossible situation.

Anderson's writing reminds me of Tom Holt - it's funny but has a serious side, especially when it comes to plot and plot twists. The characters are a great mix of light and funny, but again have a serious side with a lot of depth. 

I actually wrote down a quote that I really enjoyed (and it embodies the character exactly): "Plan A had failed, and Plan B had failed too, but Arthur liked to plan his way through the Alphabet."

Max Luck is on Kindle Unlimited if you are interested - click here.