I read his Unbelief as less "This isn't real", more "This had better not be real, I couldn't cope. I won't let it be real, damn it!" It's refusal to believe, in the face of compelling evidence. The difference between disbelief and Unbelief, IMHO. Yes, this was my impression too-...

But regardless, I think it's obvious he found The Land real early into TIW. Well, he must've changed his mind, because his unbelief is one of the things that gets him through his confrontation with Lord Foul. Besides, it's not like you have to accept something is real to be passionate about it (els...

I didn't mind the swearing. It helped make Linden more distinct from Covenant; his curses were always so archaic ("Blood and bloody ashes," "Hellfire and damnation!") and distinctive, it was nice to have somebody let lose with some real world vituperative language.

I was upset and dismissive- there was stuff I'd read in a ten year-old interview with Donaldson that did not have me looking forward to a third chronicles, and I wasn't a huge fan of the second chronicles. So I decided to ignore it. (Besides, considering the eventual fate of my favorite character in...

I dunno, Covenant's feelings for Elena never bothered me. For one thing, it always seemed to me that he was struggling between lust and fatherly concern, and he never really came that close to the lust- Elena was the only one who was passionate about trying for a romantic relationship. For another, ...

I'm just finishing up Peter Straub's Floating Dragon - still not sure how I feel about it. It's a compelling read, and I think I'm digging it, but it has yet to really gel for me- I'm hoping the end will tie some stuff together. Next, I'm going to read a collection of Dashiell Hamett novels. Some I'...

I took it that she was so in love with Covenant, and the experiences she shared with him, that "real world" men didn't real interest her. Jeremiah provided companionship, and that was all she really wanted.

Hmmm... Well, I loved The Great Gatsby , Portrait of a Lady and even Ethan Frome - seem to be the only person on the planet (aside from Edith Wharton) who liked that one. I've always had a hard time finishing the books I was assigned in class, mostly because I don't have the patience for being force...

It's stuff like this that prompted me to post a question on the Gradual Interview- mainly cause it seriously freaked me out for a while. I wasn't sure I could bear the implications when it came to my favorite character. I've calmed down a bit, and wanted to throw two ideas out- I'm sure these've bee...

First off, Fuchsia would waste Ophelia. C'mon- Fuchisa is earthy passion who despairs when her emotions are betrayed, while Ophelia is a little girl who gets confused and likes to pick flowers. The Gormenghast novels are amazing, and one of the few series of books I can think that I would feel comfo...

Doesn't Mhoram actually say in The Illearth War that Atarian brought Hile Troy over in an attempt to get Covenant so she could bring him to justice? I mean, he doesn't have a signed confession or anything, but the impression was that she was driven by her self-hatred and despair, not by any desire f...

(At the very least, the Law of Death would never have been broken, and Trell would've been unable to summon Covenant to the Land.) I am confused, did this happen? Er, no. Dangnabit. What I meant to say was that Triock would've been unable to summon Covenant. And my reasoning was a bit muddier than ...

This is an interesting question, but, I think, an inherently flawed one- if it had been somehow possible for Trell and Atarian to forgive Covenant, they most likely would not have gone to the same dooms, but they would not be the same people, and there's a darn good chance the Land would've been des...

I read the book last year, and would be interested to see what someone else thought. I actually did get a copy of the book- it took me a while to finally read it, but while I had a hard time getting into it (either the translation was bad or the original writing was sorta thuddish), once I did get ...

Hi. I'm Zack, and I just had my first question answered on Gradual Interview (in the psuedo spoilers), so I'm on a buzz from that. I've read all of Donaldson's fantasy and science fiction novels; I've enjoyed the lot, and the original chronicles of Thomas Covenant are my all time favorite, and proba...