Stephen R. Donaldson's "The Last Chronicles of Thomas Covenant"???

[Khephra]

That one sure snuck by me!

I read the first series years ago, but I've been thinking of re-reading that and finishing the second Chronicles lately. Looks like I'll just wait until all four books of the Last Chronicles are out.


The Runes of the Earth (The Last Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, Book 1)
by Stephen R. Donaldson

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0399152326/qid=1095296881/sr=8-1/ref=pd_csp_1/104-7599163-6255900?v=glance&s=books&n=507846

October 14, 2004

[Hong Kong Cavalier]

1. Donaldson's done a new book on Thomas Covenant???

What the Cheney?

(I can't say any more due to spoiling anything)

On Edit: I just checked out Donaldson's site; it has the first chapter of the prologue up, and it's definitely got a good hook.

[Dudley_DUright]

2. Cool!

Thomas Convenant is one of the great anti-heroes of SciFi. I am a big believer in the Unbeliever. Thanks for the heads up. :P

[KG]

3. cool! - SRD got me into fantasy/sci-fi 20 years ago

though not a fan of the covenant character, he created the best fantasy world i ever encountered.

only dan simmons with hyperion has captured my imagination in that way.

[Rabrrrrrr]

4. oooh :shudder:

Great world he created with the Covenant series. Unreadable prose. Tried reading it in high school, couldn't finish the first book. But, my friend absolutely loved all the books, so gave it a go in college. Still couldn't get through the first book. Tried it again almost ten years later, made it almost to the end of the second book.

Just. Couldn't. Take. It.

The most torrid, miserable writing style I've encountered. Which is too bad, because the world he created was quite magnificent and well-thought, and the ideas he was working on were pretty cool.

But man, talk about unreadable.

Anyway, Khephra, I'm glad you enjoy it and are happy about the new book! I shall dis the man no more in your presence. Enjoy!

[Khephra]

5. Oh, don't worry about being critical of his work around me

I happen to agree with many of the things you said.

First time I read the first series, I totally hated it. Second time through something clicked for me (I was in my angsty late-teen years then) and I found the books to be intriguing. Now another decade later, I think that type of a story might be much more interesting to me. I wish I had finished the second series, as I found that the work improved with each new addition. I forget what happened, but I just stopped and never got back to them. At least with the new books coming out, I have a good reason to go back and re-read what I've read and to finish what I didn't the first time.

At least I have some time to do it. I'd rather wait until all four books of the new series is out before I do a re-read. That's a good thing as I'm about to do re-reads and finish-offs of Michael Moorcock's 15 volume Eternal Champion series to be followed with Gene Wolfe's Urth/Whorl/Green books. Somewhere in there I need to finish off and catch up with the WILD CARD books too. So, I'm set for books to read for a bit.

;-)

[Rabrrrrrr]

6. And the worst of it is,

every time I read the series, I had to buy new books. So I've given that guy royalties on 3 sets of the first trilogy, and one set of the second trilogy (which has never been opened by me...).

(this being due to the fact that each time I read 'em, I was in a different place, and didn't have access to previously purchased editions)

Oh, well.

The story clicks with me - it's quite cool. It's his pedantic, plodding, artless writing style that I can't bear with. It's like being anemic, living on cattails, wearing a thick wool outfit that's heavy as hell with water because you're walking through a half-frozen swamp dragging a bear carcass.