The Wounded Land

[Roynish]

Just reread The Wounded Land. Surely this has some of Donaldson's finest moments. The imagery is just amazing. Of course the differing sunbanes and Vain's amazing enigmatic qualities. A real tour de force of battle scenes and creatures. Covenant unleashes power. Well what can I say. Certainly one of my favourite reads from all chronicles. He just nailed the pace in this one. A real page turner.

[High Lord Tolkien]

The Wounded Land is great.
I have a hard time picking my favorite book in the series.
There are parts of the One Tree and the WGW that I absolutely LOVE but just parts.
I think WL from beginning to end is #1 for me.

[Furls Fire]

coercri

[wayfriend]

The Wounded Land is by far my favorite book of all Chronicles. Definitely a sequel which surpassed the original.

It begins with what is certainly the finest SRD beginning in any of his books. The whole idea of Linden thinking Covenant is paranoid, and then being let in on the Land bit by bit, was instantly engaging. You cannot help but think: What will she think about this? What will she do when she sees that? But this, of course, sets you up for the big rug-pulling that is the Sunbane. Beautiful.

There are so many 'power scenes' in this one book. Covenant's conversion of Sunder. Marid. Blood-speed. The Sooth-Tell. The Grim. And, of course, Coercri. I think that this book has the most (iin number) of any of them.

And great characters are introduced as well, too. Sunder. Vain. Gibbon. Memla. The First and Pitchwife. All are so unique.

And the Second Chronicles 'drag' ('prolixity' to some) doesn't begin until well into The One Tree. So it's enjoyable for that reason as well.

[dlbpharmd]

TWL is my favorite as well.

[Usivius]

add my vote for TWL as a favourite of the series. Runes is fast becoming a high choice on my list...

[variol son]

I love The Wounded Land for one of the same reasons I love White Gold Wielder, things keep happening, the action rarely stops, and there are few boring, slow bits.

[caamora]

I concur. Every word is riveting.

[onewyteduck]

I've always been kind of hard put to decide between The Wounded Land and The Ill-earth War as my favorite. I can definitely say that none of them touched me emotionally the way TWL did. I cried through so much of that book.

[Roynish]

I know Donaldson was not thinking of filmic represenations when he wrote this book but this would be the one for CGI to take full advantage of. The fertile sun still gives me the creeps whenever I think about it. Paradoxically it is the one with most corruption (well along with pestilence I guess) that twists the land the most. The description of the sunbane accursed creatures is Clive Barker horror almost.

The whole world building exercise just seems so complete in this one. The One Tree while having startling moments surely bogs down in the first third, then explodes with the Elohim and the stronghold section and of course NOM. And of course Vain. The enigmatic grin, the contained power and at times vulnerability of this character who at the end utters those prophetic words. Brilliantly woven into the story, always there at the periphery we sense his importance and finally he delivers at the end of WGW. A brilliant piece of storytelling. But it all starts with this amazing book The Wounded Land. I wish I good recapture those moments when I first read it. Astounding achievement of a few good kicks to the head like no other of the other novels. You know when you just throw the book away and go what the.... And also I agree it has the best "real world" intro of all the books. Incredibly dark and painful. Of course with 4000 years to play with the palate was pretty clean. But Donaldson delivered on this one
Great to see a few other devotees.

[Warmark]

The Blood run, is my favourite part of teh second chronicles.

[MrKABC]

I concur...

My paperback copy of TWL is the original I bought in the 1980's... purple cover, Darryl K. Sweet imagery...

It has been read literally to tatters.

Some of the finest moments in the TC saga (can't say trilogies now can I?) are in this book.

I won't reinvent the wheel (see above, I second those favorite moments) but I will add that I loved the "cameos" of characters from the first Chronicles.

Edit to add this final thought: I like this book better than the Illearth War simply because Covenant actually DOES something... rather than just be helpless, cowardly and bitter.

[variol son]

Ah yes. Helpless, cowardly and bitter did get a bit boring after a few chapters or so.

[IrrationalSanity]

This, among other reasons listed elsewhere, is why I think if they were to start doing a Covenant movie franchise they should start with TWL and the 2nd Chronicles. There is no way the first Chronicles could be converted into a movie without draging the pace down so slow the audience would fall asleep. (I know some of you guys don't like the analogy, but think of what would have happened to Star Wars if Phantom Menace had been the first movie made?)

[dlbpharmd]

There might not have been any others?

[Prover of Life]

Jar-Jar Binks as Amok?

[dlbpharmd]

"Mesa am the way and the door."

[Warmark]

"Mesa am the way and the door."

*Covers ears and cries as Amok has been forever ruined*

[dlbpharmd]

"Those who know me have no need of mesa's name."

<rubs salt in wound>

[Furls Fire]

This is so wrong...