Bought Mirror, Threw it away!

[fightingmyinstincts]

I tried to read the Chrons the first time and COULDN'T. I stopped halfway through IEW...then later I tried again, and HOLY CRAP! THESE BOOKS ARE AWESOME! So, Baradakas, I would suggest you try again someday...

[Revan]

Not only that, but I like how good/evil are treated in Mordant. In a lot of fantasy books, the usual state of things is "good". There have been years of peace, then the dark lord rises and the heros have to fight, etc. etc. etc.

In Mordant (and also the Second Chronicles of Thomas Covenant), Donaldson turns that cliche on its head. In Mordant, until the current generation, history shows the control of the bad guys. Constant war, jockeying for power, magic mirrors filled with horrors unleashed on the peasants, etc. It is only within one lifetime that peace and positive uses for power have begun to be discovered. The heros are fighting for this newly found vision of what the world can be -- and the bad guys are fighting for the return of business as it has been for hundreds of years...

Yep, that's part of what makes Donaldson so cool

[Grimm]

Um, I'm about half way through re-reading Mirror Of Her Dreams and I must retract, if I may, my prior jugement of Mordant's Need (page one of this thread). I'm seventeen years older since first reading the series. Very interesting. I don't think I was ready for anything but another Covenant saga back then. Duchess said these were more 'human' in scale. Not as wide-reaching as TCOTC, but more personal. Now, I have a much easier time relating to Terisa and especially Geraden. I, too, had brief moments of shining glory between long streaches of time where I could do no right in my chosen profession for years.

Definitely worth reading. Inspiring.

Grimm.

[Revan]

Words of Wisdom Grimm.

[duchess of malfi]

I am very glad you gave them another chance.

[Teresa of Morgan]

I also am glad that a second chance was give to MN. The first book, as in Lord Fouls Bane is a little difficult to read. SRD is setting up for what is to follow and what follows is magnificent!

[Believer]

I read them once, and liked them well enough, but not as much as TC. Like others of you have said, the lack of the epic scale turned me off a bit, but even back then I enjoyed the relationships and the adventure.

I think the last time I read it though, the relationships were more important to me, and I enjoyed the story more for it. Though I will admit to some envy... <sigh>

[tallan]

I'm reading MN for at least the third time (could be the fourth) right now, and... damn. I love the books. They're really good. But my heart still insists that they don't come near either TCTC or the Gap Cycle. MN doesn't have the same enormous emotional impact on me. I wish I knew why.

[dANdeLION]

Tallan, I think it's because MN is more of a fairy tale, and doesn't pack the gritty realism of the other two series. That being said, it's a great fairy tale, totally SRD, and as such I value it immensely. I will always like TCTC the best, but MN is better to me than the Gap. Of course, I read all these books in order of when SRD wrote them, so maybe that affects the order in which I like them.

[duchess of malfi]

Mordant is rather subtle in comparison with some of his other works. I am so glad the group read started, because it has forced me to slow down a lot in my reading and actually think about it sentence by sentence.

In Mirror you can actually see Terisa growing up one tiny increment at a time, one chapter after another.

When I buzzed through the first time at my usual high rate of speed, I missed quite a bit.

[danlo]

Ah! Perhaps now you see why it takes me a month to read Runes...

[Tjol]

You have to get near the end of the first book before all the reading begins to pay off. The blankness of the main character starts defining herself... and everything that's going on starts revealing little glimpses of itself.

I agree tho, that the second book is much easier to read. But that's the whole point of the first book. Without the first book, the second book would not have moved so quickly. in my opinion anyways.

[danlo]

bump for Phantasm

[BraulioB]

I was disappointed after reading these books a long time ago. My biggest grief was that everyone (King Joyce and Emeris) seemed to know exactly how thier adversary would react in any and all situations. Backup plans for backup plans.

Now I've just finished reading them again and I still slightly feel this way. Everything else I really enjoyed. I enjoyed the first book more than the second (because of the slow start of the second book).

I didn't exactly throw them away after my first read, I donated them to a library. For my recent reading, I went to a used bookstore for them.

B

[The Dark Overlord]

Hey Baradakas, are you a Baptist? Just wondering.