Remember Your First Read? What surprised you the most?

[balon!]

One word:

Spoiler

"Nom"

I read that and thought "Holy S--t!!"

I really dont think there is any other way to describe that. Excellent job.

[lurch]

...I've already related the story of how, current girl friend at that time, picked LFB out at the bookstore,,and my derisive comments about reading something worthy instead,,(talk about judging a book by its cover),,then on the way home I started reading it ,,and of course,,she became very agitated when I wouldn't put it down. So I have to remember back quite a few years..first,,that the story was about a Leper,,then the already mention mis-deed to Lena,,but

Spoiler

the burning of Revelwood ( forgive me if I got that wrong,,but i refer to the commuity litterally in the Trees,,)..of all the other ...foul deeds,,the author penned,,the burning of that Tree village..i didn't believe he would do..Perhaps because I connected to the concept of living in trees like that. Shaping branches and all that..So,,as I recall,,his first mention of smelling smoke..i couldn't believe it...

...The fact that I still couldn't put the books aside,,after that,,,told me alot about the author's ability.........MEL

[a-Jeroth]

A few things, probably.

That TWL didn't start with TC. I was like "Oi! Where did TC go?"
His inability to intervene at Banas Nimoram in LFB.
Joan's return in TWL: so many things broken.
The inability of the Haruchai to see their folly, despite the dissolution of the Vow.

[Hile Troy]

It's hard to recall really. But I think what really evoked my devotion to The Chronicles was the conception of a world full of the mystical and exotic, a world in which it's creatures and itself played an integral part of one another. And that perceptible approaching darkness (Lord Foul and his legions) ever present and eluded to on the horizon, the storm that would afflict and mortally wound both with some assistance both intentional and unintentional. And forever change that mystical, spiritual, natural, and elemental bond.

Also being introduced to the lillianrill, Saltheart Foamfollower, Revelstone and it's Lords, and also the Bloodguard. Everything about it felt so wonderfully refreshing and wonderously alien in a fantasy surreal sense of the words. A Land I would love to visit IR. Every step of Thomas Covenant's journey filled me with awe. And sharing the desperation of our protagonists while witnessing dreadful changes to the Land.

[Hile Troy]

I just conceived a perfect analogy, I read the Thomas Covenant books with zeal, zest, and drama as I watch the Original Trilogy of Star Wars. Before Lucas' tragic ill-conceived Prequels.

Anyways, I haven't touched Donaldson in a while and need to get cracking again. So my participation here will be quite slow and just resume lurking.

[CovenantJr]

Spoiler

Revelwood ( forgive me if I got that wrong,,but i refer to the commuity litterally in the Trees,,)..

Spoiler

Soaring Woodhelven

[Vector]

Spoiler

Two things surprised me most during the first series, the finding of the Ward under mount thunder which Covenant released prematurely with his ring.
Also, Elena's insanity in sending Dead Kevin after Lord Foul - clearly a misguided mistake of ghastly proportions.

[Luke The Unbeliever]

I guess I'll follow suit and post in spoiler form...

Spoiler

Firstly, "the rape" I already knew about (my dad told me before I read as a warning), so that wasn't a big surprise.

Covenant going off with the wooden rod and white gold for the first time really surprised me...when he started bashing heads, and FoamFollower chasing down the ur-Viles.

and then there was TWL...Honestly, I almost put the book down after the first few chapters, I was really pissed about the state of the land and the absensce of Lords.

LOL..looking back now it's humorous, but at the time I was like: Why did Donaldson do this !

[Hile Troy]

Spoiler

Also, Elena's insanity in sending Dead Kevin after Lord Foul - clearly a misguided mistake of ghastly proportions.

Spoiler

This moment really freaked me out, the implication of the Law of the Dead being broken. *Shudders* as did the confrontation with the un-Elena at Colossus and the destruction of the Staff of Law and it's implication. "Convenant! Beloved! Strike a blow for me!" Too many more memorable moments through out both classic trilogies.

He is one of my all-time favorite fantasy writers. It's been awhile since I picked up the First and Second Chronicles of Thomas Covenant. But these books are so rich in symbolism and meaning. And these books are quite anti-typical and anti-archtypical fantasy, in similar likeness of Martin and Erikson. And Donaldson's voice speaks with a rich prose that ignites the off the pages. The Land is a wealth of wonder and awe wreathed in mysticism, myth, and held in otherworldly Laws.

Optimism is not always a focus in these trilogies but rather seeking solutions, accountability, love, and drama are deeply examined. Never expelled.

The Land is a realm where one's choice are held balanced in scales in even minute subtle details, bearing gravity on one's own or other's futures. Even possibly whole civilizations. A stunning and thoroughly thought provoking and stimulating masterpiece. TCoTC is quite biblical in that sense but not expounding age old religious stories and principals and spiritualities of course.

[Vector]

[quote="Hile Troy]He is one of my all-time favorite fantasy writers. It's been awhile since I picked up the First and Second Chronicles of Thomas Covenant. But these books are so rich in symbolism and meaning. And these books are quite anti-typical and anti-archtypical fantasy, in similar likeness of Martin and Erikson. And Donaldson's voice speaks with a rich prose that ignites the off the pages. The Land is a wealth of wonder and awe wreathed in mysticism, myth, and held in otherworldly Laws.

Optimism is not always a focus in these trilogies but rather seeking solutions, accountability, love, and drama are deeply examined. Never expelled.[/quote]

He IS my all-time fantasy writer, though that is partially because I have trouble finding other works by other artists that draw me into the emotional experience as strongly as Donaldson manages to do. I am planning to try Martin and Erikson, especially since SRD himself recommends Erikson.

I feel SRD's writing is like a drug, the way he emotionally connects the reader to the characters makes other works of fantasy that I have read seem pale by comparison.

[Myste]

For me, it was the rape--but not so much because of the act itself, but because of what it implied. Here was a protagonist who was, as far I was concerned at the time (I was 16), completely hateful. First, he was not a handsome good-guy-hero-type, though the people of the Land certainly tried to pretend he was. Second, he was not only not handsome and good, he was (as far as I was concerned) deliberately being a complete jerk.

And here I was, feeling utterly compelled to read about this utterly repulsive person. That's what's stayed with me about that first reading--hating every minute I had to spend with Thomas Covenant, yet unable to put it down. Not a very healthy relationship to have, really, even with something as relatively (physically) harmless as a book--which probably explains why it took me more than ten years to read it again.

[Hile Troy]

]He is one of my all-time favorite fantasy writers. It's been awhile since I picked up the First and Second Chronicles of Thomas Covenant. But these books are so rich in symbolism and meaning. And these books are quite anti-typical and anti-archtypical fantasy, in similar likeness of Martin and Erikson. And Donaldson's voice speaks with a rich prose that ignites the off the pages. The Land is a wealth of wonder and awe wreathed in mysticism, myth, and held in otherworldly Laws.

Optimism is not always a focus in these trilogies but rather seeking solutions, accountability, love, and drama are deeply examined. Never expelled.

He IS my all-time fantasy writer, though that is partially because I have trouble finding other works by other artists that draw me into the emotional experience as strongly as Donaldson manages to do. I am planning to try Martin and Erikson, especially since SRD himself recommends Erikson.

I feel SRD's writing is like a drug, the way he emotionally connects the reader to the characters makes other works of fantasy that I have read seem pale by comparison.

SRD is high brow intricate epic fantasy of the highest order. Exhilirating excercise for the mind, soul, and imagination. Honestly, I believe you'll Martin and Erikson, they're my personal triume of fantasy writers and all equally beloved. I give my highest recommendations to these two authors, maybe not as cerebal as SRD writings but every worth equal in constructive imagination, prose, and dynamics. Whoo, they set my soul aflame and give me a huge rush of stupendous gratification.

[Vector]

For me, it was the rape--but not so much because of the act itself, but because of what it implied. Here was a protagonist who was, as far I was concerned at the time (I was 16), completely hateful...

And here I was, feeling utterly compelled to read about this utterly repulsive person...

I am curious if you read the Gap novel, this theme is taken to even further extremes in the first, and to a lesser degree, the second in the series. However, by the conclusion of the Gap novels, Morn transcends the harm done to her, one could even say it catalyzed a transformation in her. And even Angus manages to find some semblance of redemption.

On the other hand, I always feel that Lena (and her parents and her offspring) got the short end of the stick and were never quite able to transcend the damage done to her. The point being that this pivotal event leads Covenant on a path where ultimately he finds redemption and self-revelation whereas Lena and Elena (and Trell and Atiaran) seem to pay a terrible price for someone else's ultimate victory (though contributing to the saving of the land is certainly a reward in itself ... even if self-sacrifice was required).

On another not, your namesake, Myste, has always been one of my favorite characters, even more so than Terisa. Her dreamy, yet idealistic prescience always appealed to me.

[Myste]

I love Princess Myste. She's one of my favorite characters ever. "I have always believed that problems should be solved by those who see them." Wonderful.

It's interesting, I read The Real Story about a year after I first read the Chrons...I made it through the first two Gap books and stopped completely. Didn't even bother to finish the series (at that time). When I had read the Chrons, I felt I had to get to the end, no matter how hard it was, but the Gap was absolutely too much for me.

I think a major part of it was that, at that time, I was a totally different sort of reader than I am now...then, I read books to find people I liked, and wanted to be like. I was terribly unhappy with who I was, and just wanted to escape into places where I felt...if not absolutely safe, then at least not in mortal peril. The Chrons, and to a greater extent, the Gap, are very extreme. They are about mortal--and moral peril. They were not at all the kinds of books that I needed to read just then.

Mordant's Need was much more what I liked and needed: a clearly defined fantasy world with recognizable good and evil. The good guys were flawed, but they were flawed in ways that I understood completely, and their redemption--finding their strengths by way of their weaknesses (Terisa's ability to "fade" into Imagery, Geraden's determination in the face of failure and ridicule) was something I could associate myself with, and hope for. The guilt-ridden, self-loathing torment of TC and Morn was stronger medicine than I needed.

As a more mature re-reader of both series, I can both better sympathize with that guilt, and better dissociate myself from it. Finding someone else to be is not that important to me anymore (though it's still fun sometimes ); so now I can read about people I don't necessarily like much, and still appreciate their personal struggles.

I hope you'll pop in to our Discussions and Group Read of Mordant's Need, Vector. We're nearly done with the dissections, but that doesn't mean the conversation has to stop, and I'd love to hear your thoughts on the series. We're talking about doing the Gap, next, too.

[Vector]

"I have always believed that problems should be solved by those who see them."

Aha !! Yes, that's it - I have been using this quote for years and I couldn't quite remember where I originally heard it. Then I ran into essentially the same quote by Warden Dios in the 3rd book of the Gap cycle (ie. "The Gap into Madness") - I decided that must be where I had heard it, yet for some reason it did not seem right.

But when you quoted Myste above, it struck me - that is where I originally identified with it !

When I had read the Chrons, I felt I had to get to the end, no matter how hard it was, but the Gap was absolutely too much for me.

I think a major part of it was that, at that time, I was a totally different sort of reader than I am now...then, I read books to find people I liked, and wanted to be like. I was terribly unhappy with who I was, and just wanted to escape into places where I felt...if not absolutely safe, then at least not in mortal peril. The Chrons, and to a greater extent, the Gap, are very extreme. They are about mortal--and moral peril. They were not at all the kinds of books that I needed to read just then.

Mordant's Need was much more what I liked and needed: a clearly defined fantasy world with recognizable good and evil. The good guys were flawed, but they were flawed in ways that I understood completely, and their redemption--finding their strengths by way of their weaknesses (Terisa's ability to "fade" into Imagery, Geraden's determination in the face of failure and ridicule) was something I could associate myself with, and hope for. The guilt-ridden, self-loathing torment of TC and Morn was stronger medicine than I needed.

I can understand your various reactions these books. The first time that I read TCOTC, I was unable to finish it - though I was pretty young at the time (11 or 12) and therefore not all that mature. Luckily I decided to try it again a year or two later - and this time got irrevocably drawn in.

The first book in the Gap series was also difficult for me, but "The Forbidden Knowledge" really sucked me in and so I found myself waiting with bated breath during the long wait between each released book after that second one - sort of what we are now having to do with TLCOTC.

Now Mordan's need, that is an animal of a different color. I loved it the first time I read it, and have reread it more than any other of SRD's works (probably because it is so relaxing to read - plus I find it romantic and have read it to various romantic interests). And SRD manages this while still weaving it into a complex story with fascinating characters.

I hope you'll pop in to our Discussions and Group Read of Mordant's Need, Vector. We're nearly done with the dissections, but that doesn't mean the conversation has to stop, and I'd love to hear your thoughts on the series. We're talking about doing the Gap, next, too.

I will definitely pop my head in, thanks for the invitation !

[theDespiser]

i was surprised that i ended up becoming so involved in the story...

[tonyz]

For myself, the surprising thing was Covenant's Unbelief.

Every fantasy I'd read previously, the heroes pretty much accepted in short order that *somehow* they'd moved between worlds. Covenant couldn't accept that, and I understood why (after thinking about it), but it was still very surprising.

There's a lot of things that have huge and vast implications that I didn't realize at the time -- the Chronicles reward re-reading very well, one mark of a good work -- but first reading has some special surprises.

Elena's summoning of Kevin was _impressive_; his return under Foul's command was shocking and catastrophic.

The three things that I think stuck with me the most were moments of victory: the trees of Garroting Deep throttling Fleshharrower's army, the Colossus blazing with verdant fire to slay the Ravers and Covenant's ring ablaze with light against the Staff of Law to send Elena back to death, and the white fire exploding from the heart of the Despiser's hall.

"But the white dominated and prevailed."