Kevin's Watch

WOW, that' s a very long time to read a series before you're really snaggeg into the whole thing......I mean that's five books,surely it hit you before then........?

Well, I really enjoyed the series up untill then. But Sci-Fi has always been my thing. Up untill Nom went berserk, I was thinking "wow good books" but when Nom did his (her?) thing, I actually stopped thinking for a moment. You know, a time where my only thought is "Whoa." That was when true apreciation came for me.

Yeah that's really hard to top

It appeared as violent and absolute as a force of nature.Watching it,Linden was no longer concious of breathing.Her heart might have stopped.Even Covenant with ALL of his wild magic could NOT have equaled this feral beast.

Remebering Linden's health sense that's a very powerful statement. I know I definately wouldn't want to p#@$ that thing off.........

The Chronicles were the first grown up novels I'd ever read.

Other than school novels, I had only read the Novels that came from school book orders, and were usually novel adaptations about movies (Harry and Hendersons and Willow come to mind)-I read about 15 or so Hardy Boy novels when I was younger too.

The summer of '92 (just before grade ten) I had read an issue of Omni magazine, and a friend of mine started reading Dragonlance books...when it came to Christmas, I exoressed an intrest in some SciFi or Fantasy books.

My sister bought me Lord Foul's Bane-the one with the Ranyhyn on the cover.

I was taken by the time Covenant spoke with Foul--although I had to read that part a few times just to get it (I think Julie and Heatherly got the math beter than I did)...it also took me a couple of reads to figureout that Cov actually Raped Lena...At first I though he just held her down.

Once I finfished the book, I lent it out to three or four people, telling them it was the best book I'd ever read...only one of them finished it...but didn't really like it.

When Covenant arrived at Revelstone and Bannor and Mhoram were introduced, they hooked me.

"... leaving Covenant alone with Lord Mhoram. Mhoram closed the door behind him, and Covenant got his first good look at one of the Lords. Mhoram had a crooked, humane mouth, and a fond smile for the Hearthralls lingered on his lips. But the effect of the smile was counterbalanced by his eyes. They were dangerous eyes-gray-blue irises flecked with gold- that seemed to pierce through subterfuge to the secret marrow of premeditation in what they beheld-eyes that seemed themselves to conceal something potent and unknown, as if Mhoram were capable of surprising fate itself if he were driven to his last throw. And between his perilous eyes and kind mouth, the square blade of his nose mediated like a rudder, sterring his thoughts."

The first 5 books had sat in my garage since 1996 and i finally started them 2003. They were the last gift my stepdads dad gave to us. My dad tried to make me read them but i was interested in them what so ever. I found them again when i was 13 in 2003. They still didnt appeal to me but i had nothing else to read in the house so i cracked LFB open. It was interesting once TC got to the Land, but i was only half heartdly into it. Once i read about Mhoram and Bannor though i was hooked. And the songs and poems in the book hooked me also.

The person who recommended the books to me had desribed them as being quite dark.
I wasn't quite prepared for the protagonist to commit a violent act of rape in the early stages of the story. However, I persevered. There was enough of interest to keep me going.

The test of truth at soaring woodhelven and the introduction of the bloodguard were particular highpoints.

But all the way through (although Triock was revenge-bent) even the likes of Atiaran seemed to condone the act of rape. And Covenant himself obviously felt no great wrong had been done.
Then, after he'd got to Revelstone, the whole thing was (seemingly) forgotten about. I was beginning to wonder whether Donaldson himself thought of the act as only a minor crime ...

It was only when he got to the plains of Ra and the weight of guilt and remorse fell on him that I felt able to truly sympathise with Covenant.
And then of course the Ranyhyn rearing was just the icing on the cake. That's when I realised I loved the books.

...

And the Nom summonings are without doubt my favourite parts of the whole two chronicles... the narrative crescendo is breathtaking, even on repeat readings where you know it's going to happen!

I found LFB interesting enough to get through, mostly because I was gripped by a horrified fascination re: Covenant. He was just so unappetizing -- I was amazed that an author would try to pull something like that off.

I started TIW more out of duty than anything else (I'd bought all three books at once) but that was the book that made me fall in love. When Hile Troy followed Covenant back to his suite to give him a hard time for not going to bat for the Land, my relief was palpable. Finally, somebody was talking turkey to Covenant, instead of kissing his toes and making excuses for him, yay! (Of course, now I know that Troy wasn't meant to be a POV character for readers who, like me, had reached the end of their patience with Covenant's bleating. He was a foil doomed to fail so that Covenant's bleating could be revealed as wisdom. But I was young and innocent then, what can I say. )

But anyway, after that I was hooked. TIW just crackled with energy - the vivid battles, the divergent storylines, the tragic lords, the sense of doomed, unstopable momentum. Loved it. And of course I consider Hile Troy/Caer-Caveral's B plot the most moving thing in the whole series.

I received a gift box set of the original Chronicles for my 12th birthday. I read LFB but didn't get too into it because I thought Covenant was a whiner and the story was formulaic (guy gets translated to strange land, goes on a quest for something).

I read TIW just because it was the second book. What intrigued me was Covenant's relationship to Elena. The part in the Westron Mountains where he makes his bargain with her and "kisses away the salt of her tears" struck me - at that point I *knew* she was going to die, and that Covenant would most likely do nothing to prevent it.

How right I was... and I was hooked.

I read the books for the first time when I was in 7th grade. I've always loved fantasy and I almost devour books, so I jumped right in. I was furious when Covenant raped Lena, but I couldn't stop reading because I wanted to see how that was resolved. I fell in love with the books when Covenant met Saltheart Foamfollower. Without a doubt Foamfollower is my favorite character. I remember tearing up when Foamfollower picked Covenant up and carried him--I was overwhelmed by Foamfollower's capacity for love and compasssion. Anyway, I knew that I had to read the rest of the books, simply because any story in which a character like Foamfollower (and the Giants in general) exist is a story worth reading to the conclusion.

It was later, well into the second chrons that I truly started to empathize with Covenant. And along the way I had fallen for a lot of the other characters too. But Foamfollower (and the Giants) will always have a special place in my heart.

An interesting side note: I introduced my last boyfriend (actually, we were engaged) to the Chrons, and he immediately fell in love with them as well. So much so that I took pity on him and gave him custody of my copies of the chrons when we broke up. He was terribly nostalgic about the physical books--they were the the first ones he read, and they were actually the really old ones too. *shrugs* What can I say? I learned something about compassion from Foamy. *smiles* But that is the reason that I need to buy myself a new set of books.

Quite a novel, eh?

"There is also LOVE in the world!" Lyr,you have learned a great lesson from a failed relationship.Very impressive!

Quite a novel, eh?

wow.

What can I say? I did read them during my formative years. . . way back in the day (seventh grade was a while ago for me).

That's a great story about your ex-boyfriend, Aelyria. Thanks for sharing!

7th Grade was when I discovered the Chronicles, too. 1983.

I think I got hooked at the Council of Lords. That was when I first realized what the story was about...I realized that the scene ran parallel to the Council of Elrond from LOTR, but with a twist. ("I can't use it! I'm a leper!" vs. "I will bear the ring, though I do not know the way.")

So the story as a whole was based on generic fantasy cliches, but the generic fantasy hero had been replaced by Thomas Covenant, and his simple presence twisted everything else out of recognition.

Charles Timewaster wrote: So the story as a whole was based on generic fantasy cliches, but the generic fantasy hero had been replaced by Thomas Covenant, and his simple presence twisted everything else out of recognition.

Well said!

Matrixman, Spacemonkey. . . I think we're close in age. I was born in 1973. I'll be 33 soon, a third of a century. . .

By the way, Matrixman, I lurve Winnepeg. It's one of my favorite cities in the world.

~Lyr

Saltheart and the giants are what got me through the first chronicles, but I wasn't hooked until the second. Don't get me wrong, I liked the first books a lot, but I LOVED the second ones.

The description of what had been done to the land... the sunbane it's self, that's what hooked me. I wanted to know everything about something so evil that could destroy something so good. Also, I think that I was more able to visualize the Land under the sunbane than I could the Land in it's original glory.

Either way, I think that I need to go back and read the first chronicles. I'm sure that I will have a better appreciation for the land now. I always have better appreciation for books when I re-read them

Aelyria Mireiswen wrote: By the way, Matrixman, I lurve Winnepeg. It's one of my favorite cities in the world.

Now that's something I don't hear everyday. Was born in '70, by the way.

Waddley Hasselhoff wrote:I liked the first books a lot, but I LOVED the second ones.

I don't hear that everyday either.

Personally, I got hooked by TCTC right from the first page of LFB. But in terms of overall writing quality, the 2nd Chrons is my fav.

Matrixman wrote:

Aelyria Mireiswen wrote: By the way, Matrixman, I lurve Winnepeg. It's one of my favorite cities in the world.

Now that's something I don't hear everyday. Was born in '70, by the way.

Waddley Hasselhoff wrote:I liked the first books a lot, but I LOVED the second ones.

I don't hear that everyday either.

Personally, I got hooked by TCTC right from the first page of LFB. But in terms of overall writing quality, the 2nd Chrons is my fav.

I am the opposite -- loves the first, had to acquire a taste for the second -- the sunbane appalled me, Linden was annoying to the point of ridiculousness, hated bhratherain and the whole episode at the gyre, and it took me awhile to get through it the first time. Nom, I LIked!!

I loved the second exactly because the Sunbane was so appalling...because so much time had passed that everything we loved had passed away.

TIW is my favourite in the first series, TWL in the second.

--A