Kevin's Watch

Consider it moved - Revan.

I used to drive quite frequently long distances. That meant a lot of nights in motels, all that junk. A freind of mine bought the book for me as a gift. He knew I liked to read quite a bit.

I met Cail in a bar one night and immediately began discussing religion, politics and literature.....he suggested the TC books.....I read them...I came here.....found The Gap....getting ready to start my first reread of the Chrons.....

Actually picked it up off the clearance table at a local mom and pop book store. Took it home and forgot about it. Had some plans with friends one evening, my son was spending the night at Grandma's. The plans fell through. Decided to take advantage of the "alone time" and started reading LFB.......read straight on thru till morning. Finished it and promptly started a re-read! One of the most pleasant all-nighters I've ever pulled!

I had just finished primary school, and over the summer holidays I read and loved LOTR. Upon starting the new year (1988) at high school (I was still just 11), I was looking through fiction books at the local library and found "The Wounded Land". "Comparable to Tolkien at his best" it said on the cover. Great! I thought, so I borrowed it. It wasnt until I got home that I realised I needed to start with LFB. So back to the library we went.

How it captivated my soul? Covenant was so real to me, a man struggling for his sanity in the face of a horrific disease, trying to find hope and belief, and not giving up. In a strange way I could relate, I was dealing with a new school, being a year younger than most other kids there, and having a curse/gift of a very high IQ, made it very tough for me to make friends and find my way. Covenant found some good answers to despair, and helped me to find some as well.

I got The One Tree from a well-meaning friend who knew I liked Tolkien.

I was determined to hate it as nothing could get close to LOTR in my naive view: "Oh right, the main guy has a magic ring. Rip off! The One Tree? A little similar to the One Ring I think! How lazy!"
(in hindsight I think I was the lazy one!)

After a few chapters I couldn't deny the pull of SRD's writing and the characters seemed very "alive", as opposed to the cardboard archetypes found in many lesser fantasy novels.
Suffice to say I finished the book wanting more.

Starting the story after 4 books was a bit confusing to say the least, so when I started at LFB I was even more confused.
Covenant in LFB is NOT A NICE MAN (understandably) and very different to the one I "knew" from TOT.
It was as if a close friend was acting really stupidly: "What are you doing man? I know you're better than this!"

While this gave me a unique perspective, on re-reading LFB I seemed to have missed many important references that are expanded on in the later books. These include the Demondim, Berek's king and queen, the Rainbow creation-myth, and Foul's plotting beyond plotting!

I spent so much time being frustrated by TC that I missed loads!

Perhaps there's a lesson for the Linden-Haters out there?

Many have tried to captivate my soul.

They used butterfly nets, vacuum cleaners, tupperware.... All have failed.

The closest were the Ghostbusters with their trap things, but they foolishly crossed the streams and they were Toast.

Not including paranormal crusaders, Donaldson's writing in all it's forms is at the top of the "Nearly Got Me" list!

After my "Linden-Haters" comment I have a feeling THOOLAH will attempt to silence me (with the help of some Vile-spawn) in a Vain/Findail type fusion, turning me into a harmless magical paperweight!

Reave the Unjust wrote:I spent so much time being frustrated by TC that I missed loads!

Perhaps there's a lesson for the Linden-Haters out there?

Very nicely put! I agree whole heartedly!

Um....Nope! It's official. I am a member of the Linden Avery Hater club. Now, where's my member card at? LOL

I was introduced to the Covenant Chronicles by a good friend back in '84 when i was in 10th grade. I was hooked just a few chapters in, and read all 6 back to back to back to back to back to back. they became a real ingredient in the formation of my life philosophy and world view. My friends and i would get into discussions about the characters as if they were real people, and we all had our favorites, and least favorites. i confess, i was one of the earliest members of the Linden Avery Hater Club, lol. We would debate about the significance of the characters, the events and history of the Land for hours at a time. why didn't the giants do something to defend themselves? how could Elena be so naive about Kevin? could Bannor take Brinn in a fight? who would you choose to be, a stondowner or woodhelvin? what was the deal with the Elohim? we would go on and on and on and on. but for all of the points of debate, there was one thing almost all agreed on; Linden Avery was a drag.

My reading of the Second Chronicles after LFB (which I've talked of earlier) also gave me an unique perspective on Linden. I hadn't had the time to forget the jerk Covenant was in LFB and I could only guess at that he had redeemed himself at some point, so I could draw the comparison to Linden very easily. Remember how Covenant spent the two first books of the First Chronicles doing as little as possible and making things difficult for the people who wanted to be his friends?

Like it or not, there is a large amount of people on the Internet who absolutely hate the character of Thomas Covenant. The thing is, those people are not seen here because they never became fans in the first place and may not even have finished the first trilogy.

Was about 2003, I had read Lord of the Rings years before and was captivated by it. Naturally, when the film trilogy ended I had nothing really left to look forward to. So my eccentric and slightly nerdy uncle (everyone's got one) handed me a battered copy of the 1st chronicles telling me it was as good if not better than LOTR. I started reading and have never looked back. can't wait til the next installment!

I was in my early to mid twenties and just moved into an apartment. My (older) brother, a jock of all sports, knew I liked to read and grabbed The Illearth War off a revolving book rack along with two other books. I gave the book a passing glance and read one of the Stephen King novels that he also got me. When that was finished I was left with choosing between the other two... what the "other copy" was I don't remember. I settled on Illearth War and was hooked. Found LFB and read through that then read Illearth again and then got TPTP and was in love.
When the second chons came out... woo hoo! Heaven! For there be Giants! A whole shipload of them.

Seafoam Understone! Wow. A rare pleasure to see you around. Well met indeed.

--A

Came home from college way back in 1977. (yes, I an old fart) Found LFB on my brother's dresser. The original hardback edition. I wonder where it is now. If it's worth anything? Well I opened it up, read a few pages and I could not put it down.

Have since read most everything by SRD. The Chronicles are still his best writing.

Welcome to the Watch FarSailer, be welcome indeed. Explore...plenty to see, say and think about.

--Avatar

Welcome Farsailer! There aren't many of us old farts here and we need more!

my friend gave it to me in 6th grade to read. I was kind of reluctant, because the advancement of the book daunted me. But i was an avid reader and have been hooked to the books ever since. Every time someone asks for a good read, i loan them LFB. How fortunate our generation is to be amidst such great literature as that of SRD.

Welcome FarSailer!

Farsailer wrote:Came home from college way back in 1977. (yes, I an old fart) Found LFB on my brother's dresser. The original hardback edition. I wonder where it is now. If it's worth anything? Well I opened it up, read a few pages and I could not put it down.

Have since read most everything by SRD. The Chronicles are still his best writing.

Welcome!