There was a comment in the Gradual Interview, which I wish I could find the reference for, along the lines of SRD heavily structured the plots and character arcs of the first 2 chronicles in advance, but this time he just trusted his more mature writing ability to take him where it would take him, k...

I think lots of people enjoyed TLD, myself included. But the last two chapters were a huge letdown because it seemed SRD didn't know how to end the story in a fitting way, which lent weight to the nagging impression he's been making things up as he went along.

Honestly, I think he ran out of time. (Heh, that would be ironic.) It feels rushed. Every artist is self-critical. I think he'd be able to spot many of the same flaws we see, but time constraints and a contract are a bitch. I would find that proposition more credible if the battles and climb in the...

A week's reflection on the ending suggests it cannot be taken at face value. It was at one level a happy ending, but at every other somewhat implausible. Elohim admitting their mistakes - come on. It seems to me they put the world back together again but not as it was. Covenant became the creator wi...

I agree that TC's "real world" is probably not our world. Most likely some sort of parallel universe. I was curious about the physics. If the sun had really ceased to exist - at one point it was described as a star - then the planet would have frozen very quickly. And the gravity implicat...

I'm inclined to think that Donaldson's shift from plotting every detail of the story in the First Chrons to just letting things take their course in the Last was the source of most of the issues. Given the way The Last Dark went, I'm not sure he'd even plotted out all of the ending he was aiming fo...

I thought it was meant to be a symbolic solution rather than a narrative one. It certainly had no relevance to the narrative, although SRD did bump up the Covenant death toll in the run up as a kind of sign post. If he's made more of the knowledge he needed to save the arch being gained from Foul it...

I expected a dour, downer of an ending. I am not ashamed to admit I was shocked by the "happy" ending. I was by no means disappointed! Just shocked. As it goes I think a more downbeat ending would have worked better. It was all a bit 'Field of Cormallen' at the end. And who was that Acoly...

Having said that, I also support the point as to what the big deal is about HER name needing never to be revealed - I mean, this could not be more emphasised by the title given to HER in the first place - She Who Must Not Be Named, fercrissakes. SRD himself didn't help matters in the GI (I think), ...

there were several moments ...that left me either unhappy or thinking "eh?"... 1. Kastenessen's fate. While it made sense, to have him, Longwrath, and Infelice's issues all solved in one fell swoop, without any more depth to the former Appointed, felt shortened to me. 2. The SHE reveal. R...

dlbpharmd wrote:Not if Linden is dead in the "real world."

Yes that's the point I'm making.

Worm..have you forgotten that Linden has a hole in her chest and is probably the intense focus of what little is left of the medical staff at the hospital? But wait!! Jerry has been shot as well!! Inevitable..seems the dealing with. Yet..Hope..lets see what the author has to say about Hope. Wasn't ...

, BUT,,the whole deal made of water..well now..that certainly splashed water on what I was imagining,,sorry,,Anyway, yea everything made of water was for me,,really unexpected..a presented reality that is certainly Impossible,,but he made it work. As some clever chap pointed out elsewhere, water is...

aliantha wrote: Jeremiah did it to himself as self-protection

As in 'Don't touch me' self protection.

I guess we don't know which came first - the Croyel or the silence.

Has anyone suggested that the Elohim were actually responsible for Jeremiah's silence? It's exactly what they did to Covenant once, and it vanished when they went into their box.

TheWormoftheWorld'sEnd wrote:

native wrote:
So if you're looking for laughs, look somewhere else. Not one person in this book has the remotest grain of a smile on their faces.

Some "smile" quotes from AATE:

Oh all right I was exaggerating a bit

lurch wrote:Whoa...hold on here. Native..you dropped the word " surreally" but I'm having doubt that you fully understand it.

You're right about that. Great post, and food for much thought.

edit: So are you suggesting Jeremiah is MC Escher?

www.gravestmor.com/wp/archives/2005/12/12/lego-escher/

See what I mean? I do. The problem, I think, is that Donalsdon's books have two parallel channels if you will. The first channel is plot driven fantasy, which belongs to the inner fantasy life. The second is the exploration of deep pychological damage and how a person reacts to it, which relates fa...

And "every woman's bitterness?" what about the ones who aren't bitter/betrayed? what about the ones who, even if they are, do NOT become like her? Not saying she's every woman and they're all nothing but bitter. I'm saying she is every woman's bitterness. The bitterness of every woman tha...

SHE is not "every woman's bitterness." She was a specific being, who became what she is by specific actions/experiences: in particular, pure betrayal by the master of all betrayals, and it's not like she can go away, she's trapped where she doesn't belong. And she's no more JUST a symbol ...