The Last Dark: A Review (Spoilers)

[largo]

Please don't read this if you don't want spoilers:

lorenrosson.blogspot.com/2013/10/the-last-dark.html

Obviously I loved The Last Dark, and of the 10 Covenant books, it makes my top 5. This is how I'd rank them:

1. Fatal Revenant
2. The Wounded Land
3. The One Tree
4. The Illearth War
5. The Last Dark
6. White Gold Wielder
7. Runes of the Earth
8. Against all Things Ending
9. Power that Preserves
10. Lord Foul's Bane

[dlbpharmd]

Excellent review, I can't find much to criticize - except, how can you possible rank TPTP 9/10?

[largo]

how can you possible rank TPTP 9/10?

Yes, I knew I'd take flak for that. But the first chronicles haven't aged well for me (except for TIW, which remains incredible by any standard). The problem is that for all the originality (a rapist anti-hero, white gold paradoxes, etc.) they owe too much to Tolkien. Drool Rockworm is basically Gollum in the Quest for the Staff of Law, and the Siege of Revelstone copies the Siege of Gondor while Covenant and Foamfollower play Frodo and Sam (the giant even carries Covenant across Hotash Slay, like Sam did for Frodo up Mt Doom). The second and last chronicles are completely on Donaldson’s own terms.

[largo]

Well, I couldn’t resist. Here are my explanations for the rankings. Feel free to counter with your own!

lorenrosson.blogspot.com/2013/10/the-chronicles-of-thomas-covenant-ranked.html

[dlbpharmd]

My rankings, which may change somewhat over time:

1. TWL
2. TIW
3. WGW
4. TPTP
5. TOT
6. LFB
7. FR
8. ROTE
9. TLD
10. AATE

I really enjoyed reading your rankings and appreciate the thought that went behind them! Where you get it right, you really get it right! Where you get it wrong (ie, TPTP at #9) at least I understand where you're coming from and your criticisms.

I have a soft spot in my heart for LFB, but I certainly understand what you mean about the writing.

Only time will tell, but for now, I can't help but rank The Last Chronicles, well, last.

[largo]

Thanks! You clearly are nonplussed by the last chronicles.

The Last Dark hasn’t been a favorite of many, but I bloody loved it. Though I admittedly need to get an objective distance from it (and read second time).

[largo]

I also gave Covenant a special farewell on the library blog of my hometown. I'm one of four contributors, and I set up a special Donaldson display at the front entrance of the library to celebrate TLD.

www.nashualibrary.org/nextgreatread/201 ... ite-leper/

[iQuestor]

I also gave Covenant a special farewell on the library blog of my hometown. I'm one of four contributors, and I set up a special Donaldson display at the front entrance of the library to celebrate TLD.

www.nashualibrary.org/nextgreatread/201 ... ite-leper/

pretty cool!!

[Horrim Carabal]

The Last Dark hasn’t been a favorite of many, but I bloody loved it.

Count me in! Loved it. Felt like I was 13 again, deeply immersed in "The Power That Preserves".

[mcnpauls]

I thought it was a massive disappointment, significantly worse than AATE. I found it boring and was frequently reading pages after page ps that were telling me nothing of interest.

It was all too often bathetic, covered character traits that were dull several books ago, had lots of giants and Haruchai I never felt I got to know or care about at all, was poorly plotted, repetitive of concepts from previous books, dispensed with the Insequent, the most interesting new element of the whole Last Chronicles, etc, etc, etc.