<Just noticing this thread after Horrim resurrecting it.>
Revan, you make a lot of good points. The attacks on you personally for merely stating your opinion are unfortunate and all too familiar.
In addition to personal attacks, I think your argument has also been treated unfairly. For instance, Johnsomc's post, while admirably passionate, was one long strawman attack which didn't address actual points people have made, but instead created caricatures of their points so that he could dismiss them.
Johnsomc wrote:I can see how some readers might object to this since they think Thomas Covenant should appear in every paragraph to justify calling it The Last Chronicles of Thomas Covenant...but since those readers are wrong, we can just dismiss it.
Since no readers actually said this, it would be appropriate to dismiss it! But instead of dismissing it, Johnsomc continues to address this point ad nauseum. There's quite a wide gulf between "Thomas Covenant should appear in every paragraph" and Thomas Covenant not appearing in 1200 (or so) pages of his own Chronicles and then when he is literally back in the story he is reduced to a secondary role. To wish there was more Covenant is not the same as ignoring the alleged "necessity" of Linden. I believe we were all there (so to speak) when she brought Covenant back. We realize how necessary she is (or at least was). But now that Covenant is back, there's no reason why Covenant couldn't have dominated the narrative of AATE--or at least shared it equally.
And Linden's "necessary" role didn't have to be that way. She didn't have to be in the book at all. To call anything in a fictional world "necessary" is a misuse of the term. Donaldson could have brought Covenant back any way he pleased. [see below]
Johnsomc wrote:For Thomas Covenant to re-enter the Land as a tangible character, someone has to REMOVE Covenant from where he is - and who else would do such a thing if not Linden Avery? Linden Avery HAS to be the narrative center of The Last Chronicles because only she would endeavor to bring Covenant back into the Land in the first place. No one else would dare. And in order for HER to dare, she has to be put through the ringer and lose all faith in herself.
I think Donaldson's choices here made sense, but it was by no means the only direction he could have gone. He didn't have to put Covenant in the Arch in the first place. And once there, he didn't have to remove TC from the Arch. In AATE, we've seen that TC was an active "character" even while in the Arch, because he was able to make plans and hold conferences with other dead characters. There's no reason why he couldn't have continued his role in the Arch itself, and Donaldson could have shown us his actions just like he showed us in the final chapters. But even if we assume that Covenant had to be removed from the Arch, there's no
absolute reason why another unknown character couldn't do it. He invented an
entire race of unknown characters with outlandish powers and personalities specifically because they provided a useful role for this series (Insequent) ... it would have been no problem to have one of them do it, or invent some other character to do it. After all, Linden is a late addition invention herself! And there were multiple characters who summoned Covenant in the First Chronicles. Donaldson has already established the idea that bringing Covenant to the Land is a desire shared by many. Even Foul himself. Given Donaldson's opulent imagination, he could have even found a way for Covenant to bring about his own reincarnation. He just didn't want to. That's his
choice, not necessity. I agree that Linden was perhaps the best choice, but by no means was she the only choice.
Johnsomc wrote:Did you want all that to happen off-screen? Would it have made any narrative sense to not put the reader through the ringer with her as well? And quite frankly, if you read Donaldson, what the hell were you expecting? Linden to be dancing through a field of tulips with a big fat grin on her face? You expected her to have exorcised all her demons and be at peace? This is, I guess, my real issue with all these Donaldson readers and their dashed "expectations." You can't have been reading Donaldson very carefully if you DIDN'T expect Linden Avery to return and suffer like the damned.
Again, strawman. No, no one here wanted Linden to be dancing through a field of tulips. And yes, we've all read Donaldson so we know to expect characters who battle inner (and outer) demons. But just because we read Donaldson for his complex, suffering characters doesn't mean that his execution can't miss the mark, even for people who are expecting it. [I find it strange that you chastise readers for having expectations in the first place, and lump on condemnation for readers feeling those expectations not being met, and then justify your own positive interpretations of Linden by this
appeal to expectations that you apparently feel should have been a given.]
Johnsomc wrote:The fact is, Linden's character makes absolute sense based on what Donaldson is apparently trying to achieve.
I'm not sure how something can make "absolute sense" based on what someone is "apparently" trying to achieve. If an author's intentions are only apparent, then there is nothing absolute about his execution. It's all just a guess. I, for one, would feel a great deal of trepidation in claiming that I knew exactly what Donaldson was trying to achieve. At this point, before the LC have been completed, can you put into words what Donaldson is apparently trying to achieve, in order to back up your point that Linden makes "absolute sense?" You did mention despair. But are you sure there was absolutely no other way to achieve that theme?
Johnsomc wrote:NO author is under ANY obligation to satisfy anyone's expectations but his or her own. Period. I sometimes detect, particularly in the threads that have to do with hatred for the character of Linden Avery, the sentiment that somehow Donaldson has betrayed the original trilogy by focusing more on Linden Avery's character, and that he HAD NO RIGHT TO DO SO. This is simply wrong. Donaldson has the absolute right to do whatever the hell he wants with his world, his characters, and his imagination. The fact that people don't "like" Linden Avery's character is really beside the point - it could easily be argued that every aspect of Linden that some readers don't like is absolutely essential to what Donaldson is trying to do with the second and third chronicles.
Also, no one here has uttered a word about Donaldson owing them anything. Yet, we see people arguing against that strawman and others cheering them on, as if it had actually taken place. Just because someone expects to enjoy a book doesn't mean they believe the author has
no right to go in directions which don't meet their expectations. Of course the author can do what he wants. But that freedom goes two ways; it also applies to our reactions to what he has done. Disappointment doesn't imply obligation, no more than enjoyment does. Both reactions are equally valid.
Joe Biden … putting the Dem in dementia since (at least) 2020.