The Earthsea Cycle includes six novels and nine short stories. Le Guin first introduced the world of Earthsea in two short stories, “The Word of Unbinding” and “The Rule of Names,” both published in 1964. The first novel, A Wizard of Earthsea, was published in 1968. The fictitious Earthsea is an enormous archipelago containing hundreds of islands surrounded by a vast ocean. Most of the people living on the archipelago are called Hardics and have varying shades of brown skin. Le Guin initially faced some criticism for creating a world that was primarily nonwhite, while others lauded her efforts to resist white hero stereotypes common in fantasy fiction of the time. Some islands in Earthsea’s northeast are populated by the white-skinned Kargish Empire, where The Tombs of Atuan is set. Magic is common among the Hardic people, though most possess only minuscule amounts. Those with true power usually attend a school on the island of Roke to become trained, staff-carrying wizards. Magic is forbidden among the Kargish, who consider the Hardic barbarians.

The first novel of the series, A Wizard of Earthsea, is a coming-of-age story following a young boy called Sparrowhawk, who displays powerful magical potential. Sparrowhawk trains on the island of Gont with his mentor Ogion, who gives him his “true name,” Ged. Eventually, Ged attends the magic school on Roke, where a moment of foolish ego causes him to make a grave magical mistake, releasing an evil shadow into the world. The shadow chases him for years across the islands, while he completes his training and becomes a powerful wizard. At last, he confronts the shadow. Realizing it is a part of him, he calls it by his true name and becomes whole again.

Though Ged is the protagonist of several novels in The Earthsea Cycle, the second novel focuses on Tenar, who is raised in a cult of woman priestesses in the Kargish Empire. Tenar reappears in Tehanu, the fourth novel of the series, published nearly 20 years after the first three.