Kevin's Watch

I voted for "Good with some flaws" - mainly because the plot seemed a little formulaic.

Need the Staff of Law? Then fire up your ceasure DeLorean and go back to 1985 and get it!

Some of the inconsistencies with the earlier Chronicles glared at me - Linden's inability to use the white gold in Runes doesn't jibe with her abilities in TOT and WGW. And since when were the Staff of Law and the white gold mutually exclusive powers?

I was annoyed with Linden's cowardice in the face of the Demondim (a really great enemy and a great twist, IMHO) - first she tries to forbid them with the Staff - setting up a great confrontation, then she turns tail, goes to Revelstone and decides to SLEEP?

The Staff of Law seems to be less of a powerful tool than in the original Chronicles, but I chalked that one up to the fact that Linden had no training as a Lord and didn't know how to truly use the Staff.

Lord Foul jeering at Linden through Anele bothered me as well - I am used to him being this mystical figure to be confronted at the end of the story - too important to be throwing pithy slurs out at random.

Lastly, Anele annoys me. He reminds me of Jar Jar Binks. At the end of the book I wanted to rap him on the head with the Staff of Law.

These annoyances aside - WHAT A HELL OF A RIDE!! I couldn't stop turning pages - sleep be damned, I wanted to know what would happen next.

Even though i have my complaints, i have to admit i read it cover to cover in a week. Nights only too. That HAS to count for something. I felt it was just too much like a greatest hits album though. Like others have said, it's only a precursor to what will come later. I for one have faith in Donaldson- he will no doubt blow us all away before it's all over.

It was good yes, maybe even very good. It was certainly annoying in spots but I'll reserve judgement until we get all 4. I wonder how it will fare in a re-read ? (anyone done it yet?).(I was late getting in my first read as I was immersed in a Stephen King Dark Tower re-read of all 7 - so I've just finished Runes.) I find that the first 6 Covenant books stood up very well to multiple re-reads, maybe even got better as the years went by.

Man Of Westernesse wrote:It was good yes, maybe even very good. It was certainly annoying in spots but I'll reserve judgement until we get all 4. I wonder how it will fare in a re-read ? (anyone done it yet?).(I was late getting in my first read as I was immersed in a Stephen King Dark Tower re-read of all 7 - so I've just finished Runes.) I find that the first 6 Covenant books stood up very well to multiple re-reads, maybe even got better as the years went by.

MOW: I know this is OT, but I was curious to know what you thought of the DT series...

Got roasted here earlier for spoilers about the series so BEWARE!

MOW: I know this is OT, but I was curious to know what you thought of the DT series...

I think the Dark Tower is the second best Fantasy ever created (First = LotR // Third = Chronicles of Thomas Covenant) - hope that do'nt ruffle any feathers here, just my personal opinion.

I lived with the DT as a work-in-progress for c. 20 years. Was completely satisfied with it. As I am confident I will be with the completion of TC in a few years.


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Face it, we ALL would have read Runes like wildfire because we've been waiting so long for it to come out! I thought it was OK, but I'd say it was the weakest of all the books. Mainly because it felt so much more one dimensional than the others. In all the other books we cover so many different scenes and situations - many characters, communities etc. Here in Runes we have only a few and they seem all the same - rocky, barren, grey. Consequently this overflowed into my perception of the book . I don't know is this is true for anyone else, but when I get into the atmosphere of a book it comes across as colours - the chronicles generally were rainbows, this was very grey, dark. I like dark and grey but it felt a bit boring here.

I have difficulty as to why Linden struggles with the white gold - it was such a big deal to the Elohim that she had to have the ring and her health sense together to be any good. Maybe (in fact I'm sure) that there is something preventing her using the ring effectively. Can't see how SRD would have overlooked such an important factor.

As for Runes coming into it's own when the whole series is finished - I'm not sure. Like a lot of us, I read LFB as part of a contiguous trilogy - by the time I picked it up, certainly the Illearth War was out and I think TPTP was too. So I could read all 3. I still remember thinking at the time that LFB was fanatastic all on it's own though. Can't say I thought the same about Runes though. It's good, but probably because we are back in the Land and reading about stuff we all love - lore, earthpower, Foul, the Land's history etc. I thought it only really picked up once we got to Revelstone. maybe that was nostalgia, don't know.

And yes, I was a bit baffled/bored with how knackered Linden was all the time.

Still one of the best tales of all time though, and I bet Fatal Revenant is superb.

maybe we didn't need 4 books, maybe stronger editorial input was needed to condense Runes and FR into one book, but then we may have had to wait even longer for a new Covenant book (even though he wasn't in this one!).

Easy to complain from such a priveleged position, but I'm glad Runes came out as it was, and despite all I've just written, don't have any REAL complaints.

I have a few issues with Runes too.
And my feeling have changed after recently rereading the 2nd series again.

Linden being the first.
She's so ineffective(?) is that the word I'm looking for?
She's got two of the most powerful tool/weapons in the whole freaking world and she doesn't DO ANYTHING with them!
I know that's the whole theme of the series.
"Impotent power" BUT COME ON!
That was Covenants story not hers.
She seems very different from the 2nd series.
In the WGW she was "kick-ass".
The Linden from the WGW would have/ could have/ should have kicked some Demodim butt. (and even got the Elohim seal of approval)
I don't know who this chick is anymore.
Did I miss some innner transformation between the lines or something at the end of WGW?
I know, slow starts make for a good buildup but it was too slow, too weak.

I also didn't like how Foul lowered himself to "aid" Linden through Anele.
That seemed out of character some how.
(But, it sounds like alot might be changing)

MrKABC, I agree with you on the Staff but I thought that the training needed would be minimal because this Staff was almost alive. And Linden made the thing herself!!

All this aside, I know Donaldson will make all these comments look silly in the comming years.
We'll be calling this place Kevins-I'd-like-to-make-a-retraction-watch.com

Hi all-

First, HLK, you made me lol:

All this aside, I know Donaldson will make all these comments look silly in the comming years.
We'll be calling this place Kevins-I'd-like-to-make-a-retraction-watch.com

For me, the book didn't really take off for a looong time. Forgive me for being picky but a lot of it was so redundant! Over and over, hearing about things that have transpired, "Lord Foul has my son!", and having to see the word/s 'puissant/puissance over and over! Little things, yes, but it took me out of the story and was just annoying.

Aside from that, I was glad to be back in the Land and meet new friends as well as Linden again.

She did get weak easily but remember that the Land is covered in Kevin's Dirt and that she is affected by that. Too bad she didn't bring a cooler to carry some hurtloam in!

It's going to be interesting to see what Linden will do with Anele, now that it seems she will use him to take advantage of their enemies. I'm looking forward to him allowing her to heal him, and restoring the Staff of Law to him, tho it probably won't happen til the last book.

After 20-some years, this book was like a very long build up to better books to come. The end of this book was just the beginning...and I can't wait for the rest!

LK

Hail and Welcome LauraK!!

Thankee-sai, Creator. Excellent site you have here.

LauraK wrote:Thankee-sai, Creator. Excellent site you have here.

Ah... another devoted fan of Roland the Gunslinger...

We are well met, aren't we?

Ay, we are. Long days and pleasant nights.