Kevin's Watch

my father and i love talking about the chronicals and my little brother who is 11 years old keeps asking when he can read it. he seems to enjoy fantasy books already but my only hessitation is how he will react to the raping of lena. im guessing he wont understand what happened and i will have to explain it to him. what age do you all think is good for someone to start reading this series?

In the Gradual Interview, Stephen R Donaldson wrote wrote:I'm vaguely horrified at the idea of children--or even young teens--reading "Covenant". I intended the story for adults. The fact that so many readers have tackled the books "too young," and have not been irretrievably scarred by the experience, is a great comfort to me. <grin>

(07/16/2006)

That's SRD's answer. My answer is: nobody can tell you, every kid is different, every parent has different ideas of appropriate. I won't let my 8yo watch Hip Hop Harry ... go figure.

i think somewhere between 13-15 most kids should be able to handle reading the Covenant series. now, The Gap series, on the other hand, is NC-17 material.

I read it at 13 and I survived.

If he wants to read them, let him.

illender wrote:im guessing he wont understand what happened and i will have to explain it to him.

You might be very surprised on that one... kids today know a lot more at that age than I ever did

The youngest member of this forum, as far as I'm aware, was 11 - and she handled the chronicles perfectly well. Having said that, she isn't exaclty 'normal' anyway.

(You know I mean that affectionately, T )

I was 13, no problems. All depends on the kid really. And don't think you should hold back simply because you might not want to explain such a delicate issue. They need explanation.

--A

I was about 15 when I read LFB the first time. Now my 15 going on 16 year old daughter is planning to read it. As her father I have the almost irrational motivation to find the exact page or pages the rape occurs and ask her to skip them. There are enough references throughout the rest of the story to explain what happens to Lena. However I believe my daughter is mature enough to handle reading the story in its entirety but every child is different. I know for a certainty that I would not have wanted my kid to read the book at an age much younger than she is now.

I was about 17, so a wee bit older than most here. I felt to begin with that the scene was unnecessary, but when you get to TIW you realise an important outcome of it - it's part of the story.

I was 10 when I was given the FCTC by my new stepmother, and personally I wouldn't give a story that's basically about self-hatred and despair to my younger relatives.

If they ask when they're about 15 for my recommendations, yes.

Depends on the kid. I tried to read it when I was 12 or 13 but couldn't get into it...I got as far as the rape of Lena and put t down. I came back when I was 19 and devoured it.

Here is a link to a similar thread as well -- i think it is the first or second I started.

kevinswatch.ihugny.com/phpBB2/viewtopic ... 5a3#363814

I don't have kids, but if I did, I would let them read TC. A more thorough reply is in that thread iQuestor linked to.