Worst book of the chronicles?

Post by **Reisheiruhime** » Fri Jan 03, 2003 12:09 pm

The One Tree.
Hergrom gets killed.
Ceer gets injured, then killed.
Brinn leaves and becomes the Gaurdian of the One Tree.
Seadreamer gets killed.
I cried like a baby when that happened.

It's not the happiest of books.

Post by **hamako** » Fri Jan 03, 2003 10:09 pm

I'd go with Lord Foul's Bane, just. Similar reasons for all the slating that the Phantom Menace got - the first installment of a series is all about scene setting and kicking off a whole load of plotlines. There's never too much depth in them, but just enough to get you coming back for more.

Favourite - Illearth War, yes Troy is uptight, but he's very human and Elena is a great character, so much more revealed about the strength of the Lords too.

Post by **The Leper Fairy** » Sun Jan 05, 2003 4:20 am

I really didn't like The Power the Preserves and the Wounded Land

. But I absolutely loved The Illearth War and The One Tree.

Post by **Revan** » Mon Mar 24, 2003 3:52 pm

i think that every book was amazing. i can't really say which is the worst because all the books have certain strengths and weakness'.

Post by **Dromond** » Mon Mar 24, 2003 10:01 pm

Worst book? It would have to be the last. Because, well, its' the last.
I was thrilled with the whole series, but didn't want to come to the end, if you know what I mean.

Post by **Revan** » Tue Mar 25, 2003 12:52 pm

yeah, i do

Post by **Realmtreader** » Wed Apr 09, 2003 3:48 am

This is interesting. It is very hard for me to say, especially since I never had the chance to read The Illearth War in its entirety.
I think I'm just slightly surprised that The Wounded Land was found so painful by so many. I understand, yes, it rather churns one's guts . . . and yet I found it strangely nourishing. I loved The Wounded Land.
When Linden said things like, "Its too personal. It's killing me." - this rang very deeply for me. I remember a lot of experiences like that in my own life, and it gave me words for so many different things. Perhaps I'm just used to it. And I read the Second Chronicles first.
Also, as I reread and reread the books, I began to see how mean Linden was sounding when she railed at Covenant around the beginning. At first I didn't even notice. Of course, it only furthered my understanding and empathy for them both. The two of them remind too much of myself and all the people I know for me to dislike either of them. The same is true for pretty much all the other characters. The Elohim and the Haruchai made me want to scream at times, but I simply couldn't tune out and ignore their respective motivations and backgrounds. It can be very difficult for me to dislike characters in stories. So . . . I don't think I have a least favorite book.

Post by **caamora** » Thu Apr 10, 2003 1:28 am

The book I enjoy the least is TWL. It is necessary to read it thought because it has all the info about the new Land and the Sunbane and stuff.

Post by **kastenessen** » Thu Apr 10, 2003 8:41 am

If I have to choose between them I'd say LFB. It's a beautiful and brilliant book but it gets better and better when we learn to know the characters and the land. And I'm of the opinion that The Second Chronicles are better than the First and that that The One Tree is the Best Fantasy ever written.

Post by **dukkha** » Thu Apr 10, 2003 12:54 pm

Unquestionably, it's Lord Foul's Bane. It's simply not very well written, especially the first hundred pages or so. I also find some of the characterizations (Prothall) weak and unconvincing. TWL is far superior, as painful as it is to read.

Post by **caamora** » Thu Apr 10, 2003 3:35 pm

LFB seems that it was written to be an island unto itself just in case it didn't become a best seller or if SRD decided not to go any further in the trilogy. So, by itself, it is an ok book. Certainly not the best in the series (I'm with Kastenessen on this The One Tree being the best book) but not the worst IMHO.

Post by **dukkha** » Fri Apr 11, 2003 12:35 pm

caamora wrote:LFB seems that it was written to be an island unto itself just in case it didn't become a best seller or if SRD decided not to go any further in the trilogy. So, by itself, it is an ok book.

I guess this makes sense...although if LFB was the only book he put out, I don't think we'd be talking about SRD.

Post by **I'm Murrin** » Fri Apr 11, 2003 5:56 pm

Well, I like the whole series, but I've always found it to be very difficult to read through, especially the second chronicles - but that just seems to make the experience even better. My least fave would probably be The One Tree, because although a lot happens in it and there are some good moments, it's one of the hardest to get through for me.

Post by **caamora** » Fri Apr 11, 2003 6:14 pm

Very true, dukka!

I find that very interesting, Member 251! I don't know but I think The One Tree is the favorite for most people.

Post by **Sykus** » Fri Apr 11, 2003 8:00 pm

Oh man. My two favorite books in this series are just getting dissed on. :)

TIW is my favorite, absolute favorite of the series. I think the character of Elena is fascinating, and TC's interplay with her is incredible to watch, and so tragic. The Giant Raver that turns one of the Lord's bones to ash... the desperate run from Foul's army... Kevin screaming to Elena that she is a fool... these are some of my favorite scenes from the entire series, second ONLY to the part in TPTP when Mhoram ignites the Krill! God, I will always remember the moment when I read that, I was in my bedroom at like 3 in the morning, absolutely riveted. When the Krill ignited and Mhoram started beating that Raver's ***, I jumped up and literally hooted for joy at the top of my lungs. My hands were shaking so bad I had trouble reading the rest of it. Mhoram took out like an entire wedge of ur-viles by himself. That was so sweet.

Um... wait, I was talking about TIW, wasn't I? : P I also love TWL, and I guess part of the reason that I like the darkest books the most is that they make the parts where the good guys win so much sweeter. I remember thinking, when I read LFB, that Lord Foul was so nasty a nemesis that he got his own paragraph:

Lord Foul.

I was absolutely ecstatic when, at the end of WGW, TC got his own as well. Kinda weird, I know, but what can I say, that's what I pay attention to.

TWL was just such a slap in the face it was impossible not to love. I couldn't believe not only that Foul had actually won, but how *badly* he had won. When it was revealed how important the Staff of Law really was, I remember my jaw dropping - I also got to engage in a little screaming of "I knew it! I knew it!", because in TPTP when TC destoyed the Staff of Law, I had a really bad feeling....

Anyway, on the topic at hand: My least favorite book was The One Tree. I enjoyed it more the second time I read it, because I could appreciate the background info and it was nice to see more of Donaldson's world than "just" The Land, but the first time, the entire book felt like a giant waste of time. I didn't care about the desert, or the Elohim, or the sandgorgons, or the dude with the baby on his back. I cared about the The Land that had been completely raped and violated. I wanted some getback. I almost put TOT down out of sheer boredom - it was like it just ignored everything that I wanted to know about. Glad I stuck with it, though, or I would've missed:

Thomas Covenant.

Haha, it makes me grin just thinking about it.

Post by **birdandbear** » Fri Apr 11, 2003 8:46 pm

I'm with you, Sykus. TIW and TWL are my two favorites also, for pretty much exactly the reasons you mentioned. I also didn't like TOT as much. I didn't like leaving the LAnd, even though it was a relief to escape the Sunbane for awhile. It was really great to see Covenant break down enough to allow someone to love him in TOT though. I was so happy for him when he and Linden became lovers. For Linden too. She also was suffering from such a terrible lack of love, which is the one thing that makes life worth living.

After 7 1/2 years of marriage I've finally managed to bully my husband into reading the chrons. He's started LFB a few times, but has always given up halfway through before, on the basis that Covenant is a whining, child raping b****d, who insists not only on looking a gift horse in the mouth, but on ramming hellfire and leprosy down it's throat. But this time I've convinced him to get over it and keep reading. He is in the middle of TIW right now, and liking it rather against his will. He comes to me wanting to talk about the books. (Can I say YAAAAAAAYYY!!!?) He makes little cracks though, just to annoy me. He calls Hile Troy "Eyeless Joe." And the other day he came to me complaining that "Eyeless Joe" has no idea how to run a proper war!
I told him he really needs to check out Kevinswatch.

Post by **Nerdanel** » Sat Apr 12, 2003 6:05 pm

Reading this thread, it's strange to see how people can have completely different opinions on the same thing. I specifically noted that every book in the series has been given by someone as their least favorite.

I have posted earlier in this thread, but I think I'll put now my complete list from the favorite to the least favorite (which is still a great book):

1. The Power that Preserves
2. White Gold Wielder
3. The Wounded Land
4. The Illearth War
5. Lord Foul's Bane
6. The One Tree

Post by **caamora** » Sat Apr 12, 2003 7:12 pm

Boy, was I ever wrong!

Post by **Reisheiruhime** » Sat Apr 12, 2003 7:20 pm

Hmmm... lemmee try that:

1.WGW
2.TIW
3.TWL
4.GF
5.TOT
6.TPTP
7.LFB

And there ya go!

Post by **caamora** » Sun Apr 13, 2003 5:27 am

What's #4 - GF?

Kevin's Watch

Kevin's Watch

Worst book of the chronicles?

Hmm