Here's a quote from the GI that's very apposite to this discussion: Frankly, I conceived of Hile Troy as an antidote to WhyDoesn'tCovenantGetOffHisButtAndDoSomething-itis. I was acutely aware that many of my readers, especially readers with a background in traditional sword-and-sorcery, would be ve...

I agree with Cambo. It should also be noted that in the Land's world the sins and virtues of the father pass on to the children, for example Elena's flaw or the accumulated flaws/sins of Berek's family culminating in Kevin's Desecration (Roger first makes this allegation in the beginning of Fatal R...

If Kevin had not performed the ROD then Lord Foul would have presumably gone on to defeat the Lords and utterly Desecrate the Land and then move on to wreak havoc on the rest of the Earth. This would not have earned him freedom but it would have grievously wounded the spirit of the Creator. More tha...

Hile Troy becomes the Lead, he takes the White Gold and uses it to hammer out evil. He breaks the Arch of Time and Foul wins. The End. Particularly in the First Chronicles, Foul manipulates people to destroy themselves through their passions. The Giants kill themselves, Revelstone is nearly destroy...

So, while having a leper as the protagonist in a major work of fantasy WAS unusual, I do admit that not so long ago the thought had occurred to me that Hile Troy could have made a fascinating hero in what might have been a more conventional series. Think about it: a born blind tactical genius winds ...

I don't mean to sound harsh, but let's call a spade a spade. Elena is a great character. I enjoy reading about her. In fact I would say she is a unique character in the SRD canon. However, I also see her as a tool of Foul. All the stuff Foul says about Linden ("your every action aids my will&q...

Teresa didn't believe in herself. Her passivity, her fading, her confusion about her reality, all arise from this. If she could have 'snapped out of it' on her own, there wouldn't really be a story. And if there wasn't a tension created from the disparity between how she behaves and how we think sh...

What if Linden had gotten custody of Roger after the death of his father and the insanity of his mother? What if Roger had been essentially given Jerimah's role? Hmm...well, I think Linden needed Jerry...so I wouldn't want him gone, even if his role becomes something different. But there's no reaso...

Here's a thought that would have made things more interesting to me:

What if Linden had gotten custody of Roger after the death of his father and the insanity of his mother? What if Roger had been essentially given Jerimah's role?

Roger had only his mother's example because his father wasn't there to provide a better one. Yes, I know. Joan took Roger away and divorced him. I know that in the the time of the Chronicles were written a father had no real say in the matter of custody. And with Covenant's illness, the likelihood o...

Elena was made into a servant of Foul and she was redeemed. Elena never willingly served Foul, she was enslaved and coerced. This is not about whether my blanket statement has a hole in it, though. What you need to ask is: as Roger was written, on what basis could he be saved? Roger was built bad f...

I just find Covenant's lack of an attachment-- or reaction to his fate, really offputting. I had tried to formulate some thoughts about that observation in this thread: Thomas Covenant 2.0 . What about Roger? I think it is relevant that nowhere in ten books does any servant of Lord Foul get "s...

For me, the whole thing with Roger was a wasted opportunity. Remember, Covenant is the man who anguished over killing 21 men and women of the Clave who were actively trying to kill him because they were "victims of the Despiser." What about Roger? Roger was a victim of the Despiser too. Ce...

G'day, just came home from a medieval fair and managed to pick up the Balgariad series, books 1,2,3,4,5 and the prequel, just wondering should I read the prequel first? If it was written last should I read it last? Peter Read the prequel last as it'll make more sense to you that way. Also, like mos...

How is it that the other Lords, including Mhoram who was seer and oracle, had no indication of her insanity? Why did even mind melds between the counsel fail to indicate her flaw? A mutual decision was made that she possessed the qualities necessary to face the challenges of the upcoming war; how c...

1. What would have been the consequenses of Covenant not having raped Lena? Well, the obvious ones are that: (a) Elena would not have been born; (b) Lena, Triock, Atiaran and Trell would not have had their lives blighted and would have behaved differently; (c) Covenant would not have bound the Rany...

The one problem I have with the whole "Elena is insane" theory is that-- if that was the case-- why the heck couldn't the others Lords see it-- especially during the whole Mindmeld stuff?

And here's mine:


1. What if the Creator had brought Foamfollower to our Earth following the end of The Power That Preserves.

(I once had a dream about that very concept ...)

3. If all had gone to SRD's original plan (trust me, I heard him admit it was in the first draught) and Thomas and Elena had done the deed, what would their child have contributed to The Chronicles? Elena didn't live long enough to bear a child so I think even if they had been intimate there wouldn...

I think that SRD put in more plot elements than he was ultimately able to handle. Roger was definitely one of them. In the end, it's not so much his death that disappointments me as Covenant's complete lack of reaction. "Oh. Well first Foul turned my son into an ax-crazy sob and now he just tur...