The Gradual Interview

[dlbpharmd]

Yes, that and his crack on L Ron.

This one interests me.

Perry Bell: Hello Stephen,
I know you have stated your <snicker> love of questions about magic, but I just have to ask this.
Why is it when Linden uses the staff of law, the fire emitted from the staff is yellow rather than the blue fire that was emitted when used by a lord? Does it have to do with the weilder of the staff, or the spirit of the weilder? I also wondered if this is an effect of linden wearing the ring but not actively employing the wild magic too.
Thanks again for all you do.
Perry Bell

• Several reasons (although the presence and/or use of white gold is not among them). Of course, as you surmise, the spirit of the wielder is crucial. And Linden *made* her own Staff: after Berek, the Lords inherited the Staff. In addition, the Lords had lore: Linden does not (a detail not to be underestimated).
  
  (01/10/2007)

Once again, there is this reference to lore, and the significance of it with respect to the Staff of Law. I really, really, really hope that he explains this in the next three books.

Agreed.

[Furls Fire]

Oh he will

[dlbpharmd]

Do you know something that we don't know, Furlsy?

[Furls Fire]

LOL!!! oh no, I know nothing...but I do know SRD...and I think all our questions will be answered by the time this journey is over with

[wayfriend]

And Linden *made* her own Staff: after Berek, the Lords inherited the Staff.

Uh oh. I wonder if that word "inherited" was chosen consciously. After all, Runes seems replete with inheritance:

Spoiler

"It's simple," Roger replied."I'm twenty-one now. I'm of age. Yesterday I inherited my father's legacy."
___

"Have I spoken of years and generations? Sunder and Hollian my parents far surpassed the span of ordinary men and women. By the measure of other folk, I was an old man when I inherited the Staff of Law."
___

And she held Covenant's ring by right and need. She had inherited it from him in Kiril Threndor.
___

"You are acquainted with Elohim," he answered, still squirming. "You know that they stand apart from all Law. I have not inherited their untrammeled separateness, but I have been granted a measure of their freedom." He shrugged uncomfortably. "Time seldom hinders me."

Sometimes it's hard to tell when Donaldson is being significant.

[matrixman]

No kidding, Wayfriend. Donaldson has me thoroughly baffled by all the hints and vagueness in Runes. It's a riddle inside a puzzle wrapped up in an enigma. (See, I'm reduced to misquoting famous politicians).

SRD has set himself up for a whole lotta explaining to do. Can he and is he willing to "explain everything" in the course of the Last Chrons? We shall see. Oops, I mean should see. Utterly.

[dlbpharmd]

Perry Bell: Hello Stephen,
I have seen several questions posted regarding Lindens need for the staff, but I have a question that hasnt been asked. You are probably tired of the questions about the staff which seems to have exploded onto the site recently, but here it is..
I have re-read every TC book (should be a staple in every household) and the original staff had carvings on it, even the medal heels. The new staff (created by Linden) didnt have the carvings but the heels did because they were the same ones retained by Bannor after TC destroyed the original staff with wild magic.The carvings on the heels however are some kind of symbols? Either symbols, or possibly words (this was never named in any of the books), would it be possible for the meanings of these words or symbols to be translated by the haruchai or by the giants if they appear? Also, could those carvings mean anything that could HELP Linden?
Thanks again for all you do! I cant wait till Fall 2007!
Perry Bell

There are times when I really want to urge you guys to get a life. <rueful smile> Don’t you have better things to think about? (Whether or not I do myself is an open question.)

It’s safe to assume that everything about those iron heels (maybe I should have called them “bands” since Vain was able to get them on his wrists) contributes to their power, or to their role in the Staff’s power: the composition of the iron, the way it was forged, the engraved (or stamped, or cast) symbols/runes/pictographs. But I wouldn’t expect the Giants or the Haruchai to be able to translate the markings. None of those people have ever had access to the Lords’ Lore. (And where did the Lords *get* that Lore? Anyone?) And I certainly wouldn’t expect the *author* to provide a translation, since he tries so hard to avoid being “literal” about magic.

But will the symbols/carvings/whatever *help* Linden? How could they not? They’re important to what the Staff of Law *is*. And (ooh, déjà vu) she *needs* the Staff.

(01/17/2007)

Yeah! All you nerds, get a life.

[wayfriend]

More Lore and Staff stuff, too. (And a dig on Malik23, if I am not mistaken. )

This time I am positively giddy with the surity that he is giving us a hint!!!

But will the symbols/carvings/whatever *help* Linden? How could they not? They’re important to what the Staff of Law *is*. And (ooh, déjà vu) she *needs* the Staff.

[kevinswatch]

There are times when I really want to urge you guys to get a life.

Haha, that's a great quote from SRD.-jay

[Cail]

Wonder if he said it like Shatner did.

[Usivius]

Yep, as I said in another post. SRD is all about the build-up and fantastic pay-off...
You can almost look at the 2nd Chrons as a HUGE build up to the 4th book of the 3rd Chrons! This is going to be great!

I am so enjoying my second read of RotE! There is SO MUCH information in here, but no answers!

I love it!

[Zarathustra]

More Lore and Staff stuff, too. (And a dig on Malik23, if I am not mistaken. )

Oh, you would interpret it that way, wouldn't you? I rather think he's talking about all the questions (both posted and not posted) which I inspired, rather than myself in particular. I only asked him one. Surely my single question wasn't enough to motivate his "get a life" comment (if so, then why didn't he say it to me?). Rather, his mock exasperation was caused by the cumulative effect of the flurry of questions for which I was the prime mover. It's a compliment, from my perspective. <sarcastic smile>

That's my "mature" response to your interpretation. My immature response would be: when one can't satisfactorily answer a challenging question, one often makes digs in frustration. (Now am I talking about Donaldson . . . or Wayfriend? )

He's never satisfactorily answered my questions. You obviously disagree, because he backed up your assumptions. But what else could he say? I never really expected him to admit to making a colossal error in a series he's currently writing.

[dlbpharmd]

Kirk: Dear Steve,

First off I'd like to say am a huge fan of your work and it has touched me deeply. I have a "just for fun" question that I don't think has been asked yet and may give us some insight into your character as an author. My question is this, if you had a "magic ticket" that would allow you to visit any place or anyone, from any era in the land you created in your covenant books, would you use it? If so, who would you want to talk to and why? Or where would you most want to visit?

Myself I would actually like a crack at Lord Foul (under very controlled and safe circumstances *grin*) to find out what makes him tick and why he feels to need to be so evil just for the sake of being evil. Other than being pissed about being locked away in the land. Why doesn't he just decide to make the best of things, if for no other reason then to make existance tolerable? Obviously this would spoil the need for an antagonist but it would be interesting to know.

Anyway keep up the good work! Looking forward to the rest of the final chronicle books.

Regards,
Kirk

I wouldn't use the ticket. I'd give it to someone else. I've already had--or am having--the "E-ticket ride". If you doubt me, remember that *language* is essential to my experience of the story, and of everything that the story contains.

I don't think that LF is "evil just for the sake of being evil." I think that (in his case, anyway) what we choose to call "evil" is driven by rage at being imprisoned, contempt for his prison, and despair at the possibility that he might not escape. The poor guy is probably tortured by the sheer *unfairness* of his plight. What did he do to deserve this? After all, it is his nature to be the Creator's opposite and/or antagonist.

But if you ask him why he does what he does, you probably won't get a straight answer. He'll be too busy sneering at you. <rueful smile>

(01/23/2007)

[Creator]

Wonder if he said it like Shatner did.

LOL. That's exactly what I thought!!

BTW, Shatner apologized for that later I believe!

[Relayer]

I don't think that LF is "evil just for the sake of being evil." I think that (in his case, anyway) what we choose to call "evil" is driven by rage at being imprisoned, contempt for his prison, and despair at the possibility that he might not escape. The poor guy is probably tortured by the sheer *unfairness* of his plight. What did he do to deserve this? After all, it is his nature to be the Creator's opposite and/or antagonist.

Very interesting!

[dlbpharmd]

Jon Myers: Hi! I have only recently learned about the GI (I am a bit of a technophobe), and I think it is the most wonderful thing any author could do. I love all your work (that I have read), and TC has been an important part of my life for nearly 30 years now.

Two burning questions:
1) Where did the Land's original settlers come from? The Legend of Berek Halfhand glosses over this, and seems in fact overly simplified. I would assume that they came from beyond the region that became the Southron Wastes (before it was a Waste). Did the King and Queen have any ties with their homeland? Did they all live in Doriendor Corishev, since there seems to be no evidence of any other ancient cities? Does that people still exist somewhere? Okay, so that was more than one question.

...

1) One of the implications of Berek's story, I think, is that the Land was already "settled" when the southern kingdom ruled from Doriendor Corishev went to war. This is confirmed by the forests: SOMEone had already decimated the One Forest long before Berek came along. Well, I've always assumed that people found their way into the Land from a variety of directions long before Berek's war: shipwrecked, perhaps, on the coast of the Lower Land; trekking up through the Southron Range or down from the Northron Climbs (for example, I can picture tribes in bearskins against the cold, with travois and heavy axes, being harried southward by arghuleh). Certainly the Ramen had to come from somewhere.

As I read them, the given texts are unclear, or even contradictory, about whether the Land's earlier inhabitants were united in any way before the kingdom where Berek was born began its incursions through Doom's Retreat. (That the texts are unclear or contradictory is no surprise. Every "real" historical record, oral or written, ever produced has the same problem. Human beings are like that. As is the author of "The Chronicles." <rueful smile>) At the moment, I'm only sure that the war between Berek's King and Queen was waged in the Land.

...

(02/19/2007)

[Seareach]

Anonymous: Steve,

Ok, why wasn't I told that long ago there was a Covenant 'brand' of clothing? Huh? I have just found a place that sells vintage clothing and have come across a "wounded land: stephen r. donaldson tee-shirt". Thanks for keeping us informed! *grin* Were there Covenant undergarments too, sort of like "underoos" from long ago? If so, I will have to hunt them down and, well, lets just say one 35 year old man will be wearing them (notice I did not provide my name)!


This is news to me--and I hope that you're just kidding around. Way back in '83, my Australian publisher produced a "Stephen Donaldson/Unbeliever" t-shirt to help promote my Australian book tour. But I've never seen, or heard of, a "Wounded Land: Stephen R. Donaldson" t-shirt. Whatever it is, it's unauthorized, and could be considered a copyright infringement. Not that I care: I actually think the idea is pretty funny, and I'm certainly not going to tattle. But I'm afraid you'll have to hand-paint your own "Covenant" underwear. (Now *there's* an idea I wish I could get out of my head.) <grin>

(02/22/2007)

Gotta get myself some Covenant underwear!!!!

[Seareach]

Anonymous: I've been waiting for this one to be asked but haven't seen it yet. Why the name change for the 3rd book?


Ah, well. There hasn't been a name change for Covenant 9 (Book Three of "The Last Chronicles of Thomas Covenant")--yet. I simply mis-remembered the line of verse from which I wanted to derive the title. I remembered the line (from "Lord Kevin's Lament" in TIW) as "shall pass utterly," but when I (finally) checked the text, I saw my mistake; so I corrected the announced title on this site.

Since then, however, my editors have let me know that they dislike "Should Pass Utterly" as a title. They think it will inhibit sales. By contract, they have the right to insist on a change. (When I was first published, I was told, "It's a rare writer who can call his title his own.") But they won't insist on a title I don't like, so I've been asked to come up with a new one. Sometime comparatively soon, a new title will appear here--after which I'll strenuously try to pretend that nothing has happened.

(02/22/2007)

[dlbpharmd]

So we're to expect a completely new title?

[Seareach]

Well.....