The Tombs of Atuan

This is a mostly dark story, though it does have a positive ending. It is good to see Le Guin’s first stab at a female protagonist, but unfortunate that (as she acknowledges in the afterword of the edition I read) she didn’t yet feel that she could actually write a female character with agency. 

It's fascinating to see the follow-up to A Wizard of Earthsea tackle so many opposite topics and themes as compared to the first--instead of sweeping adventure, the majority of action takes place in one setting, instead of a boy being humbled and coming to terms with who he really is, a girl who has always known who she is has to break free of those same assumptions--and yet still comes to the same conclusions about the light in the human spirit overcoming all odds, sooner or later.