The Gradual Interview

[Akasri]

Amok tells TC in The Illearth War that the Sandgorgons dream about White Gold, when TC asks him about it.

Sum sui generis
Vs

Thanks Variol - I forgot about that. I haven't re-read the series in a while, but I'm starting again now in preparation for Runes

[dlbpharmd]

ghosa: Firstly I'd like to say how grateful I am to hear that your continuing work on the thomas covent chronicles.

Secodly I'd like to ask you some questions concerning ravers.

1. I dont know If im right about this but, Is it correct to assume that within the three raver brothers there exists a kind of hierarchy itself? I ask this because of samadhi/sheol's role as the possesor of the na-mhoram in the second chronicles and his role as satansfist in the frist, also (I maybe wrong about this) but isnt samadhi the orginal possesor of the king who fought berek?.

Dont worry I wont trobule you to much more with my idle curiousness, just one more question concerning ravers.

2.When Nom the sandgorgon consumes samadhi and absorbs all the intelligence and knowledge from the raver, does this mean the raver is dead? or will the raver eventually corrupt the snadgorgons after thousands of years? (if sandgorgons livethat long).

thank you, I wait eagerly for 'runes of earth'.

Ah, Ravers. I don't see any hierarchy myself. (These aren't Ringwraiths, after all.) Perhaps that's because none of them have enough individuality or personal history to outrank the others. They started out as brothers, they became Ravers as brothers, and they serve Lord Foul as brothers. (See "Runes" for a bit more information on the subject.)

Samadhi, of course, wasn't *killed* by Honninscrave and Nom: the Raver was "rent," torn to shreds. Not the same thing at all, especially for a being which exists almost entirely as "spirit." So it seems natural--doesn't it?--that absorbing the scraps of a Raver would have a profound effect on Nom. But exactly what that effect might or will be I'm not prepared to say. However, you might ask yourself this: are the Sandgorgons inherently savage (and destructive)? or were they made savage by their imprisonment? or is the whole idea of their savagery simply a perception on the part of the vulnerable Bhrathair?

(05/13/2004)

Doesn't this raise an intriguing point about the Sandgorgons? I never considered them to be anything but savage. Where is SRD going with this?

[kaseryn]

I think the way Nom reacted when he recognised Covenants power in the Sandhold showed there was more to them than simple savagery, and that that was much confirmed by how much it communicated once it inherited the gift of mental speech. That their savagery was borne out of their plight in the Doom makes more sense, but it's interesting SRD hinting at the possible effects on Nom. I assumed in 'rending' the Raver Nom had neutralised/digested it in a way so as to make it no longer a danger, but perhaps it will be more subtle than that. A scary prospect indeed, should a whole bunch of Sandgorgons fall under the Ravers sway... !

[Dragonlily]

Yike! That is a horrible prospect! I have been fervently hoping sandgorgons are stronger than shreds of the souls of ravers.

[Dragonlily]

In the Land, the bones of the planet are striving to communicate in the only way they can.

Awesome

I have a stereo that can make semis stagger as they drive by.

LOL. But a rather intimidating environment for the neighbors...

[amanibhavam]

I have just posted the following question:

Dear Mr. Donaldson,

first of all thank you for anwering my previous question. Your answer to my next one may shed light on a very intriguing problem. I concerns the Seven Words of Power. As far as I know, the words we know from the books are: Melenkurion abatha! Duroc minas mill khabaal!
Now please tell me, whether:

- the seven words are in fact six:-)
- there _are_ seven words, but the seventh one is Yet To Be Revealed
- the whole phrase above is _one_ word, and we do not know anything about the other six (this is contradicted by the fact that Elena says about Melenkurion Skyweir that it shares its name with one of the Seven Words)

I am really looking forward to your answer.

Amanibhavam


I wonder what the answer will be:-)

[dlbpharmd]

great questions! I look forward to reading the responses.

[dlbpharmd]

[quote]Don (dlbpharmd): How did you choose the name "Covenant"?

A couple of people have asked this. Remember, I was raised and educated (through 11th grade) by Christian fundamentalists; so naturally I was thinking of the profound differences between the Old and New Testaments, specifically as those differences pertain to the relationship between God and Man (forgive the male word Man: it's appropriate in this context), the "covenant of law" versus the "covenant of grace." That this is apt won't surprise anyone familiar with the Bible. The "old" Thomas Covenant can't survive unless he abides by the strict rules of his illness (hence his Unbelief, his rigidity, his difficulty giving or accepting forgiveness). The "new" Thomas Covenant finds the grace/love/open-heartedness to transcend his old laws.

But I hasten to add that while all this is very "Christian" in its sources it is by no means "Christian" in its application and development. It was a natural starting point for me, but I have taken it in directions which would doubtless have horrified the missionaries of my childhood.

(05/27/2004)[/quote]

[matrixman]

Cool! Finally we get the real story on Covenant's name from SRD! (Ha ha, the 'Real Story'... er, never mind...) Thanks for another deep answer, SRD!

And thanks, dlbpharmd! The question of Covenant's name goes right to the heart of the meaning of the Chronicles...I think.

[Dragonlily]

The question of Covenant's name goes right to the heart of the meaning of the Chronicles...I think.

I'm sure you're right about this, MM. I also suggest that he probably said "a couple of people have asked this," with tongue deeply in cheek.

[Seppi2112]

I found this essay to be particularly revealing as to the origin of the chronicles, etc...

www.stephenrdonaldson.com/EpicFantasy.pdf

[Lament]

I'm not sure how to react. I'm touched that your daughter cared enough about Hile Troy to cry over him. But I'm also baffled: he didn't fascinate or move *me* to the same extent. And I'm a bit troubled that a 14-year-old was reading "Covenant" in the first place. I didn't intend the story for someone so young. Doubtless she's been traumatized for life, and it's ALL MY FAULT. <grin>

Ahhahah, that part made me laugh out loud literally.

Just try to imagine what would have happened to the Land if Troy were the ring-wielder.

Sounds like a great topic for discussion. My take is that Troy's unbound passions would have poured the power of White Gold into the Land to destroy Kevin and save Elena and thereby broken the Arch of time and unleashed Lord Foul from his shackles. Of course it's not that revolutionary an assumption since TC had to face a similiar challenge in the 2nd Chronicles (restraining the power of wild magic).

[Seppi2112]

Keep in mind that SRD (probably) hadnt considered that while he was writing the 1st chronicles. It was the 2nd ones that dealt with the issues of power, the 1st with the absence of it.

[UrLord]

haha, I really like this quote from SRD: "Comparing me to Tolkien is like admitting that I'm not very good."

Though the way it sounds when taken out of context there is not really accurate to his intended meaning, it suits my opinion of Tolkien.

[dlbpharmd]

dlbpharmd (Don): Have you had an opportunity to review the "Dissecting the Land" forum on kevinswatch.com? If so, what do you think of the detailed, almost rabid way your fans examine every minute detail of your work?

I've had occasion to glance at some of the "dissecting" threads on KevinsWatch.com. Frankly, I'm flattered. FINALLY (or so it seems to me) I have readers who are willing to put as much thought into reading my books as I put into writing them. When you spend as many hours laboring over every aspect of a book as I do, you're just plain *grateful* to be read with such attention to detail.

(05/29/2004)

[matrixman]

Another good question from you, dlbpharmd!

Neat-o, SRD has checked out our Dissecting forum! He likes us, he really likes us! (in my best Sally Field voice)

[Furls Fire]

I don't see how anyone can even try to be a writer without both writing and reading consistently, stubbornly, regularly, deliberately, whatever you want to call it. If you don't "apply the seat of your pants to the seat of the chair and write," you're just kidding yourself about being a writer. And if you don't read constantly, even obsessively, you're denying yourself the greatest possible source of tools to write with. After all, we don't just write with words: we write with sentences and paragraphs, with imagery and timing, with mood and detachment, with denotation and connotation, with insight and irony, with ideas and emotions, with character and self-understanding: and other people's books are the best school in the world for studying how to do those things.

Bravo!!!!

[dlbpharmd]

Thomas Ferencz (Amanibhavam): Dear Mr. Donaldson,

first of all thank you for anwering my previous question. Your answer to my next one may shed light on a very intriguing problem. I concerns the Seven Words of Power. As far as I know, the words we know from the books are: Melenkurion abatha! Duroc minas mill khabaal!
Now please tell me, whether:

- the seven words are in fact six:-)
- there _are_ seven words, but the seventh one is Yet To Be Revealed
- the whole phrase above is _one_ word, and we do not know anything about the other six (this is contradicted by the fact that Elena says about Melenkurion Skyweir that it shares its name with one of the Seven Words)

I am really looking forward to your answer.

Amanibhavam

There are in fact *seven* words, of which only six have ever been revealed. All such lore was hidden in Kevin's Wards, but several of the Wards were never recovered. Presumably Kevin hid the seventh word for the same reason that he concealed the Seventh Ward: he was trying to create a sequence of knowledge (a curriculum) in which people would learn (and earn) their way from one level to the next. The idea is to try to ensure that people only receive knowledge/power when they're ready for it.

Now, of course (I mean after "The Second Chronicles") *all* of Kevin's lore has effectively ceased to exist. (Linden's new Staff of Law doesn't even have *runes,* for crying out loud.) And without that lore to give it substance, the seventh word--if anyone chanced to discover it--would be meaningless.

(06/01/2004)

Well done, Amani!

This answer makes all the sense in the world, and it's been proposed here on KW before, but I can't remember who said it. Stand up and be recognized!

In LFB only 5 words of power were used; in TIW 6 were used regularly (presumably after the 2nd Ward was studied.)

[amanibhavam]

And he is teeeeeeaaaasing us!!!!!!:

First an announcement (the relevance of which will become apparent shortly):

Very soon now I will begin answering questions in this interview much more slowly. Between now (or whenever they arrive) and the end of July I will need to proofread four (!) novels: "Runes" in both its US and its UK incarnations; "The Man Who Risked His Partner" in paperback; and "The Man Who Tried to Get Away" in hardcover. At the same time, my US and UK publishers want me to undertake a project which I'm not supposed to talk about, but which will be so back-breakingly burdensome and vastly time-consuming that I'll have no choice except to simply cease living until the project is done. (Sorry, I can't tell you more than that.) So if you think I'm answering questions slowly now, wait until you see what happens soon.

<sigh>

Time to begin pondering what that project might be....

[Durris]

Kudos, amanibhavam! (And I didn't realize you were male in RL!)

Proofreading 4 novels at once , what a penance. And what a nice problem to have . About project X: happy fertile sun, Mr. Donaldson, and we'll try not to grind our teeth too loudly while we wait.