Yeah I have to say that a big reason why I love this series (and indeed all of Donaldson's work) is that the characters are believable / real to me because they have flaws..

I cannot stand novels / stories where a character is Perfect.

I strongly expect Infelice and Kastenessen to have a bit of a firey exchange before this is over, so I am looking forward to that.

Atomic, I felt that exact same thing.. When I read the First Chronichles I would have been 10-11 years old and absolutely fell in love with the Land.. Covenant was a right prick, but I endured that to read more about the Land, and all the beauties and wonders it contained. For me the land itself was...

The Giants of Seareach, the unhomed, IIRC, had actually lost ships which it had sent out searching for Home. I don't know how many ships came with them and made it to Coerci originally, but I was under the impression that several had been lost in the seeking of the way home. It may be that the Giant...

I am liking the Last Chrons so far, but will not judge them until I have read them all, and then re-read them as part of the whole story.. While there have been things that have been an occasional challenge and sometimes a jump between what we thought was true and what is now known to be true, they ...

Good thread.. It is quite true that we know comparatively little of Covenant's past.. And TBH that isn't something I'd really thought much about until reading this post. If I were to guess, I would say that this was a deliberate ploy by Donaldson. Not knowing such details about TC opens more opportu...

I am not convinced.. It is definately an interesting idea, but I don't see it being a realistic option. The Haruchai would knowingly have to enter into an agreement with the Croyel, and would not be able to be surprised or taken over by one.. Furthermore any Haruchai would see the Croyel as an enemy...

Burn it and get a preper copy!

In my mind, this leads to a conclusion: works that incite of a lot of debate and reactions, must probably have some element of "good" in them (good as in "quality", not as in "vs evil"). And the greatest works are those that will continue to inspire emotion, debate and...

I hope you're still enjoying it, U.

While the Giants stand out as not being as memorable as the giants from the previous books, I have to say that the complexity and conflicts of the assembled Ramen and Haruchai was somethong that totally engrossed me throughout..

The Beggar, anyone?? Any takers??

Going cheap??


I always thought Trell was a reall swell guy, untill someone raped his Daughter and his whole family fell apart.. Before that he was awesome.

Also, would Roger even know the conversion rate of Leagues into Kilometres.. Oh wait, miles?

And how would he have knows the distance anyway? Presumably the Croyel or Foul would have told him, given him an idea how far away things were.. How would they even know the conversion rate?

That's cool, and very similar to my experience.. I was never a THOOLAH member but..

First time I reat it I was a bit disappointed..

Then when I read it again I was mesmerized.. It was a completely different book the second time, and it's awesome now!!

As I mentioned in another topic tonight, I've recently been reading a book in which the main character is a tactical genius, and it prompted me to reinstate an old topic of Hierachy's. Many of us lament and deride Hile Troy's appalling "plan" in The Illearth War - but can we do better? Ho...

The ones which feature the circle on all the covers (not sure if that is the US or UK edition) is my favourite, and by a fair margin!

I always recommend people read TIW when I recommend them the series, and if they like it they usually read the whole series after that.. It's just an amazing book. But also the Final Chrons has been an amazing trip so far as well.. In time I might rate AATE as good a book as TIW, but I'll have to re...

He was tall enough to kick everone's butt. Except maybe Nom. Who is also that exact height.

Perhaps as tall as Chuck Norris?

I haven't thought about it much.. There are so many wonderful characters. I would choose to be a Ramen, if I could. They are amazing.. Though Hile Troy.. He would have had some fantastic experiences, sure the Warward was very lucky to survive at all against Foul's army, but after that he got to live...

The males especially..
I hadn't really put that much thought into the females.. But thay'd have to be as hardy as the males, to survive in such a climate.

I'm glad I don't get those books with dodgy-looking covers..