It needed editing

[lurch]

...A deal!..Genuine DafF,,i mean Draft.Draft..Anyway..I appreciate everyones shot gun blasts as well....MEL

[hamako]

Khaliban, I agree entirely with your main point - couldn't have made the point better myself. Aafter all, how much can you write about Linden sitting around in a Ramen camp?

I thought the first few chapters were superb - refreshingly gritty and contemporary, and grippinlgly paced. All sort of halted when we get to the Land though, until the final section with the Demondim & Revelstone.

It's on the agenda for a re read so I'll be able to re-appraise properly soon.

[dlbpharmd]

I've read Runes twice now, and I'm currently listening to the audiobook.

The first five chapters are excellent, as Hamako said. For me, the first 6 chapters of Part 1 (after Linden gets to the Land) are slower, but there's a ton of information there (2 conversations with Lord Foul, Stave's conversation with Linden in Mithil Stonedown, the introduction of Liand and his conversation with Linden about the Elohim harbinger.) Like I said, these parts are slower, but very interesting.

The action slows down after Linden, Liand and Anele head south. That's as far as I've gotten in the audiobook.

[Warmark]

I really enjoyed the 'real-world' parts of Runes, especually when you compare them to first and second chrons 'real-world' bits, which i think are the worst parts - undoubtly the worst part is in The Illearth War when he goes to the bar.

[CovenantJr]

I actually thought most of the "real world" bit was somewhat tiresome, up until Linden goes tearing off through the storm to Haven Farm. Certainly inferior to the First Chrons "real world" passages

[wayfriend]

I found the 'real world bit' of the Second Chrons to be extremely satisfying. (Perhaps it was the fascination of watching Linden discover that Covenant isn't really paranoid because someone is really out to get him.) The real world bit of the Final Chronicles was good, but not as good.

That being said, I feel that this part of the Final Chronicles was just about the best written in the book - it was tight, dramatic, plausible, and, while ultimately not suspenseful (because you know she's going to the Land), having escalating tension. SRD seems to have cared a lot about getting this right, and was perhaps less hurried in this part (?).

[CovenantJr]

I found the 'real world bit' of the Second Chrons to be extremely satisfying. (Perhaps it was the fascination of watching Linden discover that Covenant isn't really paranoid because someone is really out to get him.)

True. There was something both moving and triumphant about Linden discovering Covenant isn't a reclusive nutter - discovering how much more there is to him.

[dlbpharmd]

Regarding the 2nd Chronicles "real world" segment, I remember thinking "Linden Avery? Who is this? Where's Covenant?" I was also surpirsed when Linden was taken to the Land along with Covenant. Like Wayfriend said, that surprise was missing from Runes.

[Warmark]

I remember it took me a few days to start the Second Chrons simply because it started with IIRC 'Linden Avery'.

[Khaliban]

I found the 'real world bit' of the Second Chrons to be extremely satisfying. (Perhaps it was the fascination of watching Linden discover that Covenant isn't really paranoid because someone is really out to get him.) The real world bit of the Final Chronicles was good, but not as good.

That being said, I feel that this part of the Final Chronicles was just about the best written in the book - it was tight, dramatic, plausible, and, while ultimately not suspenseful (because you know she's going to the Land), having escalating tension. SRD seems to have cared a lot about getting this right, and was perhaps less hurried in this part (?).

I had the sense that the "real world" portion was complete, that it had gone through final editing. He said the book was rushed. I think they dragged it from his hands just as he got Linden to the Land. As I said, it answered a question, why did he cut so much from the other books? Hopefully, they will give him the time on the next book.

[Zarathustra]

When I first read Runes, I agreed with most of you here: the pace slowed to a crawl once Linden got to the Land. I thought: how long is she going to stay in that stone hut? How long does it take for her to climb that mountain? And when you think about it, very little happens in Runes. She meets a few examples of the usual CoTC characters, climbs a mountain, does the horse rite thing, gets the Staff of Law, returns for a purely character driven climax. This is not much activity for how long the book is.

However, going back now and rereading the first Chronicles, I like his change in style. I can tell how writing the Gap series has changed his writing style for the better. Donaldson can make something like climbing up a mountainside full of meaning and significance. He can take something simple (like Morn stuck in her room) and infuse it with drama and tension. He fills the page with the characters' thoughts and feelings better than anyone I've ever read. Compared to the first book, Runes is much more nuanced and subtle. It feels more real, more coherent, more organic, not merely a set of adventures to move the character on to the next epiphany. Instead, the book is one long epiphany, one sustained rush of character realization. There's nothing else like it.

[CovenantJr]

She meets a few examples of the usual CoTC characters

Being able to use that phrase at all to describe SRD makes me wince...

[Zarathustra]

Being able to use that phrase at all to describe SRD makes me wince...

Yeah, me too. However, I did get the impression while reading Runes that he was throwing characters at us for pure nostalgia, rather than serving the story. Or worse yet, that he tailoring his story in such a way as to introduce the familiar character-types we're all expecting. The ur-viles, the Ramen, the kresh, etc.

Granted, I don't really think he was doing this. It could be argued that this is a Covenant book--it HAS to have those types of characters. But it just seemed a tad bit contrived to me.

[Dragonlily]

It took me long enough to run across this thread.

I agree with Khaliban in every respect. To give events in the Land SRD's usual intensity, it needs a tighter, faster pace. He's allowing too much time in which the adrenaline can dissipate.

Khaliban, thanks for the testimonial. I just used your tag line to comfort a friend who ran into a robot critiquer.

[Prebe]

Personally I was happy to see that SRD had stepped up the action somewhat from WGW that I found rather long winded for the last 200 pages.

But yes, I agree to some extent, that the presentation of NPC-characters (expression from RPG for the lack of a better word) seemed a bit forced at times.