Stephen King and Thomas Covenant.....say Whaaaaaaaa!

[A Gunslinger]

Agree with Cail, though again, I doubt that King actually meant that SRD is a Tolien hack. He seems to have too much respect for his peers in reading other interviews and such.

[Furls Fire]

As one who has read this intro, I found no disrespect on King's part. He was paying homage to the inspiration of Tolkien, SRD and others in his quest to embark on the Tower. Also, he was playing up the number "19", which is a big thing in the Tower series.

[birdandbear]

Actually I believe King respects Donaldson very much, and enjoys his work. At the back of Danse Macabre, he includes a list of personal recommendations for movies, short stories, and novels. Number one on the novel list? The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, by Stephen R. Donaldson.

And the professional regard seems to be reciprocated somewhat. In one of the interviews in W.A. Senior's book, Donaldson says:

I pick and choose pretty carefully, but I think when he's on his game Stephen King remains one of the important writers of our time. He writes a lot, and it doesn't all work, but if you skip the Christines and the Cujos and can concentrate on the 'Salem's Lots and the Miserys and things like The Dark Tower - The Eyes of the Dragon is a beautiful piece. He certainly deserves mention.

Donaldson likes The Dark Tower.....

[Ellester]

There was a book about 20 years ago that talked about Authors that were influenced by Tolkien. Donaldson and Brooks were featured in that book. If anything King is just agreeing with what others have previously said.

Anyway, I think the main beef of the book was Gandalf was the teacher in LOTR, The Druids were the teachers in Brooks novels and the Lords were the teachers in the Thomas Covenant books. Also, the Druids and Lords were the ones who used spells like a wizard (Gandalf).

Other similarities ranged from the white gold ring and sword of Shannara as being equal in power to the one ring in the LOTR. Also, all of the books featured bad villains who were previously though dead but their spirits lived on until they got their power back and this is when the story takes place.

Really, the similarities are quite a lot.

This book was written before the second chronicles and it’s entirely possible that this book was written only after Donaldson’s Lord Foul’s Bane and Brooks The Sword of Shannara book. So, the basing was done only on the first book in each of the series.

Personally I read all three authors and I don’t care if there are similarities. It’s all just nitpicking as far as I’m concerned.

One thing that has always set the Chronicles apart from other traditional fantasy is the way Stephen shows you how beautiful everything is and in turn makes you care about it (the Giants, Bloodguards, etc..), then he destroys everything you cared about in the books by Lord Foul or whomever, which really pains you. Almost every character Thomas comes across gets twisted by Lord Foul in the end, and where once they where honorable and lovable, now they are twisted with disease and sickness or dead. He grabs your feelings with his writings and makes you care about the world he’s created, whether it be glee or pain. He has never been a happy go writer, and he’s a little on the dark side. This type of writing sets him apart from other fantasy writers.

[danlo]

Well said Ellester!!!!

[Lament]

I feel I need to point out that JRR Tolkien was also influenced by ideas and that some of them were not original. And I feel it's highly likely some authors may have based their work (like SRD) on the ORIGINAL ring of power. This is not opinion, this is fact:

The Ring of the Nibelung

Scene III

Mime, Alberich’s brother, has been working on a magical Tarnhelm, at Alberich’s behest. Mime is attempting to invoke the magic of the Tarnhelm when Alberich appears. He takes the Tarnhelm, and casts a spell, which makes him invisable. He beats Mime unmercifully and goes off to terrorize the other Nibelungs into working harder and longer. Wotan and Loge walk in as Mime is moaning about his lot. Mime relates how Alberich has used the power of the Ring to enslave the Nibelungs and force them to amass him a great treasure that he will use to rule the world.

Alberich reappears with several slaves and, brandishing the Ring, sends the Nibelungs back to work. He tells the gods of his plans to master the universe through the power of the Ring. He boasts that the Tarnhelm can give him any shape he wishes. When Loge challenges him to demonstrate, Alberich transforms himself into a dragon. Loge and Wotan act impressed at the site. Then, Loge slyly asks if he can become as small as a toad, and Alberich obliges. The gods capture Alberich in this form and take him away to the mountaintop.

For more information please look here:
www.utexas.edu/courses/wagner/home.html

[Myste]

I think you're absolutely right, Lament. No one can deny that Tolkien borrowed heavily from the Eddas & Norse mythology for his work. Wagner did, too, and SRD borrowed from Wagner...."there's nothing new under the sun"...

As far as my gospel theory goes, Jesus was Jewish, and his entire philosophy of redemption, etc., was based entirely on Jewish mythology, so it might be possible to say that he wasn't entirely original either. (I'm not trying to start a religious argument, btw--this is a literary interpretation of the Bible, not a theological one, and if I've offended anybody's beliefs, I'm truly sorry!) The Golden Rule itself was written at least 1500 years before Jesus by Confucious, and both Buddha and Lao Tzu said it too, in their own ways, so that wasn't original either.

The main difference, of course, is that Jesus was the Son of God, while Tolkien was the Son of Bankers.

[danlo]

Once again here are all the, better, Tolkien v. SRD threads,

kevinswatch.ihugny.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=36

kevinswatch.ihugny.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=693

kevinswatch.ihugny.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=434

[Myste]

<curtseys humbly> Thank you, danlo.

But none of the other threads have my genius "gospel theory," which I am very proud of

[danlo]

Just some FFT...no one can replace you Myste!

[Myste]

aw, shucks...