The Haruchai may not know they put it there at all. Perhaps they invoked it much as they did the Vow, simply through the force of making a promise to stop the use of earthpower was enough to make Kevin's Dirt occur. The Vow happened pretty much the same way. It's not like SRD doesn't try to teach hi...

I disagree with your belief that TC and FOul are the same entity now. I suspect that Foul is linked with Covenant, but like all of Foul's plans it involves setting someone up to make choices that destroy what they love. Somehow, letting Covenant and Jeremiah is what Foul wants, for he believes their...

The last part or ROTE makes it seem pretty certain that there was "someone home" in Jermiah's head all along. Perhaps as he neared the time and point of his transferrence to the land that opened up to him. Or, maybe it was the presence of Roger Covenant (whom I believe to be Lord Foul) who...

Gap is right up there, if not the best. The other science fiction novels that stand out about as strongly are: Orson Scott Card's: Ender's Game Vernor Vinge's: A Fire Upon the Deep John Steakley's: Armor The gap series does hold my personal favorite Space battle description between Punisher, The Amn...

Dawn,

There is a massive discussion below debating who or what the Mahdoubt is. Check it out. There's a pretty broad spectrum of opinions. BTW- Welcome to the board! The more SRD fans here, the merrier!

I think Foul whispered the words, and somehow the Haruchai managed to make it (the Dirt) happen. They are, in their own way, earthpowerful as well. Didn't the 2nd Chronicles describe their blood as somehow more concentrated in earthpower than normal blood when feeding the banefire? They may profess ...

I missed Covenant because he was always the character I identified more with through both Chronicles. The ostracization, alienation, being in a place you can't understand or deal with particularly well so much that your only real goal is simple survival, no matter what the cost. Plus, I know my own ...

Isn't the point of poetry to give impressions with words, and ofttimes using words in ways they were not really intended or stretching their definition in order to convey imagery, feeling, or action in a new way? Donaldson's prose is poetic in that regard. Plus, his vocabulary is big enough (chiaros...

On a slightly different vein, anyone else thought that maybe the obscuration of Kevin's Dirt and the almost autistic state of Jeremiah might have something to do with each other? The cloud of autism prevents people from interacting fully with the world around them. The same could be said of the dirt...

I disagree about AIDS. AIDS is a cause celebre. Everbody wants to donate to causes to cure AIDS. No matter that heart disease, lung cancer, and prostate cancer kill ten times the number of people that AIDS do, AIDS research gets tons more funding. The media has gone through great lengths to make it ...

Nice theory. Only one thing doesn't fit for me. The loss of healthsense benefits the Haruchai's drive to eradicate access to earthpower too much to be a coincidence. I think that somehow the Haruchai are responsible for Kevin's Dirt. It's utility to the flat faced little NAZI's is just to fortuitous...

I think many people are being to harsh on ROTE. It is a set up for the rest of the series, and it feels like it. So was The Real Story, and the Gap series turned out to be arguably Donaldson's best work (I rank only 1st Chronicles above it, personally). We will see the gut wrenching crises emerge, a...

One other thought I had regarding her dress. All those patches are like trees in the forest, individual pieces contributing to the whole. Could each ptch correspond to some "magic" that must be done to individual trees before or during re-imbuing the whole with conciousness? Yes, she is ve...

Hey, I've only posted a few times here, but I have what I believe is an inkling of the purpose of the Mahdoubt. Someone said she reminded them of the Unfettered healer of Morinmoss. My thoughts exactly, with regards to her speech pattern. She serves, but should not. She is powerful, but condign. Scr...

- Oh, also forgot my big shocker. Kevin's Dirt turns out to be something the Haruchai put in place after they named themselves the Masters. Think about it. The dirt happened about the same time they came to power, and the stuff prevents anyone from accessing Earthpower, which is what the Haruchai de...

OK, here's my projections: - Giants make a repeat appearance. This is kind of obvious, but we love the big lugs anyway. They will return bearing something of great value that The First and Pitchwife carried away at the end of White Gold Wielder (Krill? Lore? Knoledge of the Elohim?) just like the Un...

Man, of all of SRD's books, this one was the easiest for me to imagine all of the characters in terms of actors. Morn: Radha Mitchell (Pitch Black) Angus Thermoplye: Dan Hedaya (Played Nixon in Dick, Nick Tortelli on Cheers) Mikka Vassik: Claudia Black (Farscape's Aeryn Soong) Nick Succorso: Bill Pu...

Man, of all of SRD's books, this one was the easiest for me to imagine all of the characters in terms of actors. Morn: Radha Mitchell (Pitch Black) Angus Thermoplye: Dan Hedaya (Played Nixon in Dick, Nick Tortelli on Cheers) Mikka Vassik: Claudia Black (Farscape's Aeryn Soong) Nick Succorso: Bill Pu...