How old were you when you first read Covenant,

Post by **Worm of Despite** » Tue May 06, 2003 12:37 am

My chemistry teacher let me borrow Lord Foul’s Bane after he mentioned it to me and I said “Hey, it’s got a weird title, so I’ll try it.” That's not entirely accurate, though. I thought it was some watered-down, cliched, stereotypical and romanticized Lord of the Rings offshoot. That's the first thing the title made me think!

Anyway, last day of my junior year, he gave me the keys to his truck, I picked it out of his dashboard, took it home with me for the summer, and the rest is history . . .somewhat. Yep, was last year when I read them--at 17. Actually, I read up to Covenant meeting Foamfollower, and I got bored with it for some crazy reason. I think it was that I was busy writing my own stuff, cause I recall adding 60 pages to my novel that month, in June of 2002, and I also had summer school. Anyway--I picked it back up when the school year began, and the next thing you know . . . I was hooked.

Post by **Dromond** » Tue May 06, 2003 1:06 am

I was 18, my brother gave me LFB. I waited for each publication. It was harsh, but I have 1st edition HB's of all but LFB. (someday I'll find one.)

Post by **Unny** » Tue May 06, 2003 11:56 am

I first picked up LFB in 1980 a little before TWL was published, I was 10 and too young. I got about 5 chapters in and just put it down.

Had another go a couple of years later and managed to finish LFB got hooked read the rest available (Think TOT had just been or was soon to be published), waited avidly for WGW. Been a fan of Donaldson (in particular the 6 TC books) ever since.

Unny

Post by **ÐragonForever** » Tue May 06, 2003 12:57 pm

I must have been 8 or 9. Saw Lord Foul's Bane on my dad's bookshelf, was intrigued by the cover (lightning on Kevin's Watch, inside a circle - that cover). He let me read it. Was a big lesson in vocabulary

, I needed the dictionary some few times (chrysoprase cynosures, anyone?). And unsurprisingly, I didn't 'get' the story then, didn't until rereading it a few years later.

Post by **kastenessen** » Tue May 06, 2003 10:45 pm

I was 20 and went for the cover (LFB). I had read LOTR and other Tolkien stuff earlier but was more into SF but the cover was great and it stood there on the shelf in the book store. I bought it and was blown away. I just had to have them all so I went back and bought them also. This was 1984 so I could read all six after eachother. Nothing I have read before or after has affected me as much as The Chronicles that first time.

Post by **Worm of Despite** » Wed May 07, 2003 12:34 am

Geez--!! Feel like I'm surrounded by a bunch of old fogies!! Just for that, I'm buying Revelstone when it comes out on Encarta!!

Post by **Prover of Life** » Wed May 07, 2003 2:18 pm

I was 22. A co-worker signed me up for the Sci-fi bookclub and recommended Donaldson. About 6 months later, TWL came out & the rest is history. I have 1st ed HB on all but the 1st Chronicles, including Gildenfire and Atlas of the Land.

SRD is my favorite author. I enjoy the complexity in his novels.

Post by **ikell** » Wed May 07, 2003 8:51 pm

I read the first chronicles in 5th grade, after LoTR, which would've made me 9 or 10. Didn't understand much of it I suppose, until the 2nd or 3rd reading.

Mon May 12, 2003 1:59 pm

I didn't read any of it until after I was married... so I was 23. My husband gave me his copy of LFB, said I should read it. I had other books on my plate at that time so I stuck it on a bookshelf and almost forgot about it. Then I ran out of things to read, so I found it, read it, and was instantly hooked. I finished the 1st Chronicles pretty quickly, but didn't start the 2nd Chronicles until about a month ago. I only had WL in my possession at the time and I knew if I started it before I had the other two, I would go crazy waiting to read the next one. But now, fortunately, I have all 6 books, and I just started TOT today! *looks back over her post* Wow... apparently I like to ramble... sorry...

Post by **Revan** » Tue May 13, 2003 9:36 am

The only reason why i decided to read LFB is because I was reading LOTR, and on the cover of TCTC it said, comparable to Tolkien at his best", so I foolishly thought, yeah right. So I read It, and it was amazing, I was 15 at the time

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Mon May 26, 2003 11:16 am

at the end of form 2 in 1994 i won the school literature prize and was awarded with a copy of the fellowship of the ring. i took this 2 my grandparents house that xmas and on xmas eve (my 13th b-day) my dad gave me a copy of LFB bcoz TC had been his fave when he was younger. even tho i luved the series @ the time, havin read and re-read all 7 books over the years (im 5 chapters into TIW @ the mo) i realize that i didnt grasp the import of some things 4 years. SD is so amazing @ conveying pain and joy and anger and hatred and faith and so many other things that sometimes id get so caught up in everything that i felt like dukkha in TIW.

"But the next moment, dukkha shrieked as if its soul were torn in two."

i have never read another writer that has managed 2 connect me so intimately into the emotions of a journey that i felt like that.

sum sui generis

variol son

Post by **fleshharrower** » Sat May 31, 2003 4:07 pm

i was 13 when I first read them. Took me ages and a lot of the story was lost on me through the inability to understand a lot of the writer's style not to mention the complexity of the language used. A friend of mine, who is 6 years older had all 6 of the books and he was the one that got me started on them. He also got me started on Gemmell. To this day these 2 remain my fave authors.

I'm reading the chrons again for the second time, more than 15 years later. Very inspired by the read, its amazing what you miss in the first read. SRD has made sure I will never continue my attempts to write a book, I could never convey the feelings and emotion that he brings out in his characters, a tenth as well as he does.

cheers

Post by **Dromond** » Sun Jun 01, 2003 2:37 am

Yeah, I reread and reread the Chronicles and get something fresh every time.

Post by **Jua** » Mon Jun 02, 2003 3:41 pm

I read Lord Fouls Bane when I was in 7th grade (took forever to get though it). Finished them as they came out when I was in High School)

Post by **Ageless Stranger** » Tue Jun 03, 2003 3:14 am

i was probably around 16 years old when i first read them. my father had given me WGW from a stack of books he found in the attic. we only had the last book, and it was torture trying to keep from reading it before i got to start the first ones. luckily the library had them, and i eventually bought all of them and have read them several times since. i think being young helped to give a different angle to what happened throughout the books; i dont think i was too young to appreciate it. although i couldnt appreciate it then as i do now, i feel that starting young gave me perspectives that i may not have gotten if i had started later.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Fri Jun 13, 2003 9:25 pm

I was about 15 or so. I was home with the chickenpox and my mom asked the kid that worked at the bookstore what he recommended. That's how I first learned about SRD.

I remember I tried reading Fellowship of the Ring a few years before that, but several pages about the history of Hobbitt tobacco and all that just bored the shit outta me.

Anyway, I've just finished rereading both TC chronicles (probably for the 4th time) and I am soooooo ready for the 3'd chronicles!

Post by **Treble** » Sat Jun 14, 2003 1:37 am

I'm convinced that SRD isn't thought of as a lierary visionary for a handful of reasons:

1. The first book of the chronicles is a labour until it is re-read after reading the rest of the series.

2. His language seems deliberately obscurantist until you read all of the series, and understand that he is creating his own form of expression - one that is normal and yet is also hyper-normal at the same time.

3. He is nominally working in the Fantasy genre, which is seen as hack-work....and for good reason most of the time....but not in this case

I read the Chronicles when I was 18 (about 8 years ago). They were foisted on me by an ex who is also a best friend, so I could hardly refuse! Anyway, I was mesmerised by the first book. The use of language, the relative lack of action and subsequent increase in charcter development, and the almost visceral feeling of being within a world swept me away. To date, the books remain the most honest works about heroism written in the post-modernist era (i.e. they are frikkin good!!!!).

I can honestly say that SRD's method of language (the perfectly apposite use of prose) has been an inspiration to me (I write. Fiction, plus the stuff you can find if you follow the links in my sig ^^), and I doubt any fantasical work will come close anytime soon.

Post by **Revan** » Mon Jun 16, 2003 1:37 pm

I was 14

Post by **Revan** » Mon Jun 16, 2003 1:38 pm

I was 14 or 15, I can't quite remember, It was soooooo long ago.

Post by **Loric** » Mon Jun 30, 2003 3:55 am

1981. I was 16.