The Gradual Interview

[zenslinger]

It was a good question and answer indeed.

I had a lot of respect for the way he answered my question about the definition of fantasy as well.

[Loredoctor]

I will check that out, Zenslinger.

[hierachy]

I've not read the GI for ages... perhaps I'll make my way over there...

[dlbpharmd]

JP: I knew there was another question I meant to ask: it's about the need that Covenant's ring be given voluntarily in order to be usable (as Kaseryn explained). I understand this, and it's adhered to fairly consistently (i.e. Foul doesn't simply use his power to wrest the ring from Covenant, but rather tries to "persuade" him to turn it over, even in the First Chronicles; Troy was given it voluntarily, and Linden is able to "possess" him to use it). But then how was dead Elena able to wield it? It certainly wasn't given to her voluntarily...

I'm afraid I can't answer your questions without more specific information. When was Covenant's ring given to Troy? (A page reference would be useful.) When did dead Elena wield Covenant's ring? I'm afraid I'm confused.

(08/23/2004)

I can't help but be surprised that SRD is unaware of the incidents that this person is asking about.

[UrLord]

when did elena wield the ring?

[Dragonlily]

In TPTP, Chap 16 Colossus:

Spoiler

Dead Elena, holding the Staff, tried to kill Covenant with it. Covenant was grasping the Staff with his ring touching it. Her power through the Staff contacted Covenant's power through the ring, and the Staff and Elena both disintegrated.

That's the closest to "Elena wielding the ring" I can remember.

[dlbpharmd]

Technically, she never did - but she had the ring at the Colossus of the Fall in TPTP. I'm not certain that the ring would have responded to her, since it was taken from Covenant without his consent. I believe that is what the writer is asking SRD about.

[Dragonlily]

Yes, I see what you are talking about a few pages earlier. Clearly Elena expected it to work for her, but there was no opportunity to find out if it would.

[UrLord]

Alright, that's what I thought. She HAD the ring at one point, but didn't really "wield" it. I suppose that makes the question irrelevent...except that SRD didn't seem to remember the incident with Troy! That seems a bit...odd...

[Believer]

Maybe the actor SRD hired to portray him on the website decided to take a crack at answering some of the questions.

I was amazed at the length and depth of his answer re:writer's block. I'm not a writer myself but it all sounded incredibly helpful. And I'm impressed at his answers and thoughtfulness in general.

It makes me wonder how much he has invested into the 'backstory'. He has mentioned a couple times that his answers arise because of our questions -- maybe not in direct relation to the backstory, but his attitude in general seems to be that he doesn't have everything fleshed out entirely, only what he needs to tell his story. But he seemed to have some ideas regarding Kenaustin Ardenol.

I notice he said that he can't say more on the topic right now. Not sure if that's because saying more would require telling a story in the GI, or because he's saving it for later on in the Last chrons. But the latter is what I'm hoping for

[CovenantJr]

Maybe the actor SRD hired to portray him on the website decided to take a crack at answering some of the questions.

If I were to guess, I'd say it comes down to perspective. Perhaps in SRD's mind, he doesn't see that particular incident as the ring being given to Troy - we don't know how the author's perceptions differ from our own. Other than that, maybe he's just forgotten. He did write it a long time ago.

[Furls Fire]

And some of us have read the things so much (*coughs*) that we have them memorized. But, Covenant clearly gives Troy the ring in Garroting Deep...

The barren atmosphere of the Howe ached in his chest as he climbed to his feet. Though he could hardly see where he was going, he started up the hill. The exertion made his head hurt as if there were splinters of bone jabbing his brain, and his heart quivered. A silent voice cried out to him, No! No! But he ignored it. With his halfhand, he fumbled at the ring. It seemed to resist him-he had trouble gripping it but as he reached Troy he finally tore it from his finger. In a wet voice, as if his mouth were full of blood, he said, "Take it. Save her." He put the band in Troy's hand.

I think we know more about his books than he does.

[Believer]

I believe it, actually. It's like those Trekkies who speak Klingon or who ask the cast members 'In episode blah blah you did blah and blah blah'...

Has anyone provided page references? I'm curious what he'll say.

[dlbpharmd]

And some of us have read the things so much (*coughs*) that we have them memorized.

<looks around, wonders who Furlsy could be talking about>

[Skyweir]

i cant believe my question to SRD is lost!!

SRD if you are out there .. I asked if you had planned a 3rd chrons book promotion to AUSTRALIA .. and if so when and where ..

And invited you to a tour of wherever you want to go .. I also asked you to look at the OZ-fest albumn pages to see the beauty that is OZ!

but alas it is all been sucked into a black hole!

the question is still out there though

[Loredoctor]

He won't be coming to australia. His promoters said they have no plans.

[Skyweir]

no plans for us fans down under

[CovenantJr]

You'll just have to join us in Manchester

[dlbpharmd]

Variol son: I was reading White Gold Wielder again and I started asking a couple of questions about the Waynhim and the ur-Viles.

We know (from Hamako) that there are only two kinds of Demondim spawn; the ur-Viles who loathe what they are and seak the power and knowledge to become what they are not, and the Waynhim who seek to give meaning to what they are by providing service to what they are not.

So I started thinking. Surely not every ur-Vile hates itself? Surely not every Waynhim chooses the path of peace and service? Surely not every ur-Vile serves Lord Foul? This lead me to ask how ur-Viles and Waynhim are created to be so different from each other.

We also know (from Hamako again) that the ur-Viles continue their breeding programmes in the catacombs beneath Mount Thunder, and that some of their creations are ur-Viles, some Waynhim. But why would the ur-Viles create more Waynhim? Especially since the Waynhim aren't considered the pinacle of the Demondim spawn. It just seems like a waste of time. Also, if the difference between ur-Vile and Waynhim is genetic, thenwouldn't breeding programmes produce more strange hybrid creatures? Yet the only other Demondim spawn we see is Vain.

Perhaps, I thought, the ur-Viles simply produce a Demondim spawn, but have no control over which genetic variation they end up with. A kind of luck-of-the-draw thing.

Or perhaps, when each individual Demondim spawn is created, it looks at itself, realises that it "lacks the justification of birth", and then either loathes itself, or sees that despite the fact that it was made and not born it has the potential to give meaning to its existance through service, therefore deciding by its own choice whether it is ur-Vile or Waynhim.

So which one is it?

In my opinion (just an opinion, as I keep saying), your last explanation comes closest to the truth. If these were SF novels, simple genetics would require more variation than the ur-viles and Waynhim reveal. But they are created by lore (magic), and such rules don't apply.

They *all* loathe their own forms, for the simple and sufficient reason that (drumroll, please) they were created out of self-loathing. (It even tends to work that way with human beings.) The difference (the magically significant fact) which causes some creations to be ur-viles and others to be Waynhim lies in their attitude toward what they are not: the ur-viles seek to appease their loathing by destroying what they lack, while the Waynhim seek to redeem their loathing by serving what they lack. And because we're talking about magic (which is at its heart a metaphor), this difference manifests physically as well as behaviorally.

From the perspective of the Demondim, therefore, the Waynhim represent "failed" attempts to create ur-viles. But seen from another perspective--that of the Land, for example--the ur-viles represent "failed" attempts to create Waynhim.

(08/30/2004)

A great question, the answer for which has been debated here on the Watch. Well done, VS!

[dlbpharmd]

Ian: Stephen,

Thank you for the contribution your works have made to me. I'm glad to find myself among such a multitude.

I noticed something some time back - Thomas Covenant belongs to no family. I'm not dismissing Joan and Roger here; their importance to Covenant is clear. Their absence from his life makes them a profound presence in the books. Likewise the friends, associates and acquaintances of Covenant's home town and career are present (if glancingly) in their absence - the 'By Hell!' severance of normal human contact and interaction that underpins Covenant's fury at his fate, and shoves his clay feet into stride.

Yet there is nothing (ever, unless my memory of the story fails me totally) of Covenant's life prior to his marriage. No person, no recollection, no souvenir - not an absence but a non-existence.

This could be just structure and logistics. You've stated clearly that the character of Covenant was born as a man for whom a fantasy world was utterly, almost unbearably desirable - and whose life required that he reject it. And there's no question that Covenant is busier than the one-legged man at the arse-kicking party throughout the narrative. Opportunities for nostalgia are few.

Is this it? Or is there a story behind this?

Footnote: I reread the opening chapters of Lord Foul's Bane before writing, to ensure I wasn't just dribbling shit, and was struck by the coincidence of your friendship with Colin Baker. Since my first reading of the books, the voice of Lord Foul that rings in my head (and I hope this won't offend) has been that of my favourite Doctor - Tom Baker.

Broadly speaking, it's amazing how few characters in Donaldson stories--or in fiction generally--seem to have families. Still speaking broadly, families are such messy subjects that when they're introduced they tend to take over stories, regardless of what the original purpose of the story may have been.

But in Thomas Covenant's case, the absence of family (or other past connections) is deliberate. It's part of his profound isolation--an isolation which many people feel even when they're *with* their families and friends, but which always has to be *explained* when it's included in a story. I didn't give Covenant parents or siblings (or aunts and uncles, or etc., not to mention friends or colleagues or even an editor) because I didn't want any of us to be distracted from the central themes and development of his plight.

(08/30/2004)

Another popular subject settled!