Kevin's Watch

Anthony Buren: Is the Worm a part of the Earth or is the Earth simply built upon the Worm? More to the point can you command the Worm by drinking the Blood of the Earth? If so why wouldn't Linden or the Elohim simply command the Worm never to rouse?

I could tell you that the Worm is an inherent part of the Earth's creation--which it is. But I find it more useful to think of such things in symbolic terms. Consider the Worm as a symbol of Death. If you had the Power the Command, would you use it to command Death to simply "stop happening"? If you did, the outcome might surpass your worst nightmares. Disasters of astonishing magnitude result from messing with The Way Life Works. Witness the horrors that have arisen because individuals decided that the Laws of Life and Death shouldn't apply--"just this once." Damelon was wise to do everything in his power to keep people away from the EarthBlood.

(03/05/2008)

Nate in Atlanta: Stephen,

I've been reading the Thomas Covenant series since the early 80s, and have long been bugged by one issue: The main characters, Thomas and Linden, go for days, weeks -- months even! -- without changing their clothes.

Don't they start to stink? Or does The Land possess even greater powers than we know about?

Thanks,
Nate

Well, of *course* they start to stink. But this is obviously not a subject on which I've focused much narrative attention. Why? Because it takes up too much storytelling space. And because, well, where does it end? Do you want to know *every* time a character takes a leak, or is every *other* time enough?

However, my characters *do* either change or wash their clothes--when they can. (Not so much the people of the Land, I admit: we seldom hear that one of them has done something to get cleaned up.) I could cite examples; but I hardly think they're necessary.

(03/19/2008)

Monumental Guilt Beyond the Ken of Human Understanding: Does Lord Foul like sushi? Okay, has he ever possessed someone, ate sushi during the possession and decided that he in fact liked it? Are there any sushi chefs in the Land? Why not?

SRD, while in possession of the Chopsticks of Law, wrote:Lord Foul, being the DESPISER, *despises* sushi. There are no sushi chefs in the Land. In a distant region of the Earth, however, an obscure people worship sushi. Sushi chefs are the high priests of that religion. Sadly, they are too self-absorbed to have any effect on the outcome of larger events.

drew wrote:So, uh, what's the proper protocol, if you get an email from SRD instead of a response posted on his website?

The email asks not to reply, so do I just ignore it?
How do I show forth my gratitude?

SRD wrote:LF is in hiding. Esmer doesn't even know where he is. This is consistent with the Despiser's new strategy as he has deployed it throughout the story so far. Doubtless he has read "Desecration Through Manipulation," a sort of self-help book for people who want to feel superior and do harm while remaining safe from the humiliating defeats they've suffered in the past.

In the Gradual Interview, Donaldson wrote:2) Your speculations about Kastenessen's mortal lover are interesting. I can't say that I've ever thought about her in those terms. And I probably never will. I'm content with my original assumption that Giantish men are defended from the merewives by their gift of tongues. (It's often difficult to seduce someone who understands what you're *really* saying.)

wayfriend wrote:

In the Gradual Interview, Donaldson wrote:2) Your speculations about Kastenessen's mortal lover are interesting. I can't say that I've ever thought about her in those terms. And I probably never will. I'm content with my original assumption that Giantish men are defended from the merewives by their gift of tongues. (It's often difficult to seduce someone who understands what you're *really* saying.)

Okay, did anyone pick up that the gift of tongues defended the Giants from the merewives? Even Pitchwife says, "Perhaps the merewives have no desire for Giants, as they have none for women."

In the Gradual Interview was wrote:Dale Cebula: Mr Donaldson,

HUGE fun of your work...I started reading Covenant in about the 8th grade, and I'm 37 now! I have a few silly questions for you.

Do any regular people live (or ever lived) in the Lower Land? I know the Giants did before they were all slain, but are there any villages in this part of the world? The names of the regions suggest that no right thinking person would do so, but where the "Spoiled Plains" always spoiled?

Have any of the "regular" people in the Land ever done anything wicked or hateful? Kevin, Elena, etc made big errors, but they do not do things out of sin or greed or whatever. I believe this to be due to the connection to Earthpower, and also has something to do with this being a story about Covenant and Linden and not necessarily about the folk of the Land. Just curious.

Finally, can you think of a reason why Foul did not just "dive" into the earthpower prior to Berek forging the Staff of Law. It seems that the reason he did so prior to TWL is because the STaff was gone. Again, that would make for a silly story in the first trilogy, but anyway.

PS--I am a medieval history major and I have to take issue with some GI comments you made about the Middle Ages lacking progress. Or is that just my vanity?!?! LOL

• Please keep in mind that I'm working without a net (i.e. a story "bible") here. As I've said many times before, in general I only invent what I need. But with that proviso....
  
  Starting from the "known" (the text), we can make some deductions based on, say, the history of the One Forest. The One Forest was decimated by *people*--an act which in sheer scale could be considered a desecration--and they had to come from SOMEwhere. Since they didn't intrude through Doom's Retreat (that happened later, and when it did, the Upper Land was already inhabited--if sparsely, perhaps), and since the various mountain ranges naturally discourage migration, it seems likely that these people arrived from the sea, or along the coasts. Therefore the Lower Land must once have been inhabited by humankind. (I think we can assume that the Spoiled Plains weren't "spoiled" until after LF established himself in Ridjeck Thome.) And these people must have been capable of considerable darkness or malice, since they eventually gave rise to the Ravers.
  However, even back then the Sarangrave and Lifeswallower must have been toxic. The Defiles Course derives its poisons, at least in part, from the banes buried under Mount Thunder; and those banes--according to the text--were there from the Earth's very beginning. As a result, much of the Lower Land would have been comparatively unwelcoming. So it seems natural that people would slowly move toward the Upper Land, hacking and burning as they migrated.
  
  Does that answer your question?
  
  As for LF's use of Earthpower to bring himself back after his defeat in the first trilogy: why would he do such a thing if he didn't have to? Being the Despiser and all, he can't possibly *enjoy* things like Earthpower. (I like to picture him puking at the taste of aliantha.)
  
  As "a medieval history major," you would certainly know more about the Middle Ages than I do. But surely they haven't been called "the dark ages" for nothing?
  
  (04/23/2008)

drew wrote:So, uh, what's the proper protocol, if you get an email from SRD instead of a response posted on his website?

The email asks not to reply, so do I just ignore it?
How do I show forth my gratitude?