Kevin's Watch

The first book of SRD's I read was The Wounded Land. I had been the passenger in a car accident while travelling interstate and was going to travel home via train. In my befuddle state (at the time!) I went to a bookshop to have something to read on the train and missed the 'Second Chronicles' label.

But - that book rocked!

Now, imagine TWL is your first introduction to TC and the Land. How different would your opinion of TC be? Especially when you go back to read LFB and reach that scene where some people just give up! Imagine how much more powerful the beauty of the Land would seem after first seeing it under the influence of the Sunbane!

And most interesting to me, SRD does such a wonderful job at invoking TC's horror and loss about what has happened to the Land in TWL that I suspect I enjoyed the first chronicles better than I would have! as I joined the dots.

Do you think we should recommend the TCTC 'unbelievers' start with TWL.

Sheeze yeah, I read the first chapter or so of TWL prior to reading the 1st chrons, a mate in a library had it so I was just having a looksee, read up to the beggar revival scene and that was it ... didn't have any trouble getting into it of course because it didn't bring up any references to the 1st chrons apart from Dr Berek (tee hee) mentioning TC to LA.

Firstly, TC likes the Land a bit better. Secondly, he's more resigned and convicted. Thirdly, he's less of an unconscionable bastard.

Most importantly, the Land is a truly horrifying place, as opposed to the cutesy pie walk in the path that it was when TC first lobbed there. Anything untoward said about TC pales into insignificance ... the Land is a prick of a place to get by in ... a sourpuss with a rough temper and odd disposition looks like bliss in comparison.

Back in the 1st chrons, not only is TC much more of a mongrel (not just with his attitude in general but of course in his utter denial of the Land and attempted deliberate ineffectuality), but also the Land is pristine and beautiful and healing and lovely and verdant and fertile and charming and bucketplease.

Much easier to like TC off the bat if you start with the 2nd chrons. Unfortunately, that can detract from the experience. The chrons as a whole takes TC and chucks him at us, makes us deal with a prick we wouldn't normally tolerate and accept him as the one true hope in our lives. We have to learn to peel the layers back and see the qualities, the reasonings, the power and strength, and the purpose.

If you start with 2nd chrons you're won over a bit easier, you not doing the work. Its like playing a computer game with the cheats on.

Which brings me back to you, Mistweave. I've just crapped on quantitatively about how starting with the 2nd chrons would compromise the experience that SRD said we had to have ... but I wasn't there ... I don't know. You were there, you saw 2 before 1. Do you feel at all as though you were sitting a test but had been handed the answers? Or did it not work that way? Were the 1st chrons every bit as challenging as they would have been had you commenced with them?

( and welcome to the forum! just treat my initial inquisition on a par with trying to read the 1st chrons first )

I must say that I didn't read the entire 2nd Chrons first. Only TWL had been released. So once I finished the TWL I went back and read the 1st.

As an almost inviolate rule, I hate knowing the endings of books and films. Anyone who reveals that sort of information in my presence learns quickly not to do it again. Normally I would have stopped reading and gone to buy the first series but by that time I was stuck on the trains for 20 hours or so.

Landwaster wrote:I've just crapped on quantitatively about how starting with the 2nd chrons would compromise the experience that SRD said we had to have ... but I wasn't there ... I don't know. You were there, you saw 2 before 1.

The reverse applies to me. I didn't experience reading the 1st first. Can I sit on the fence and say that it was neither better or worse, just different?

Yes I knew some of what happened. I'm sure I lost some of the impact of TCTC as I knew so much, though in a sketchy TC biased way. But I also think that some of my experiences of the Land were enriched because of the contrast with TWL.

And hey, it was a fantasy series. I knew the 'good' guy wins in the end...or...uhm... the 'bad' guy loses...maybe.. kind of...

SRD throws a lot of curve balls! I still loved the 1st Chrons. Perhaps I would have enjoyed them more without reading TWL. But then I may have expired in ecstasy.

Very much appreciate the response, it makes a difference that you only read TWL (as an aside did you re-read it in order after finishing the 1st chrons, before commencing The One Tree?).

Of course you can sit on the fence, neither better or worse was a definite possibility I was considering, plus of course you don't have the 123456 experience to compare it to, no-one can have read both the 1st chrons first AND the 2nd chrons first ... so you probably can't say, can only speculate.

Good point too that what you would have learnt of the 1st chrons cia reading TWL would be from TC's perspective as told to LA, which when I think about it would probably be quite an interesting way to catch the story!

i kinda did this, but with TPTP 1st... then i read the whole thing over.... i have to say that it does affect how you see the rest of the story... as you know a little of whats going to happen, but now why it happened.

the finding out is more the predominant issue when reading the later books before the 1st books.

still, i think if i'd read the 2nd crons 1st i would have totally lost heart... and then like died when i read the 1st, lol.

I can't imagine any1 reading TPTP 1st! Now I completely understand how Forestal aquired his inordinant "goof" factor! (u poor thing, hang tight 2 ur duckie...)

*huggles his duckie* okies

I read The Power That Preserves first. You can imagine how confusing it can be trying to read this book without the background information of the first two. But it got me interested and I had to but the first two books to find out what was going on. This was in the early 80's. I read the trilogy through a couple of times after that struggling through them. They are a hard read for me( and I read a lot according to my family!!) Finally, last year I bought the entire second triolgy and read all six books through in sequence. It was still a hard read(but enjoyable). Now we are talking about the final Chronicles. I know that I will have to buy them and probably reread the first six books again before I read the new ones. My wife says I must be addicted. Any way, I been watching Kevins Watch for over a year now ant this is my first post. I really enjoy reading everybody's take on the books!

hmmm...I never really thought about this, because I read them in the right order. I guess it would really be interesting to read TWL first, then go read LFB. I would have a greater appreciation for the beauty of the Land, that is for sure.

But, I don't know if I would fully understand the impact of the devastation of the Land on Covenant if I had read it first. Or fully understand the signifigance of events like the caamora. Not, knowing how Covenant felt about Foamfollower, not knowing Foamfollower himself...would have made the experience of the caamora less then it was, for me anyway. And, then rereading after reading the first chrons, it still wouldn't have had the impact on me I dont' think. And then the meeting of his Dead in Andelain, and finding haruchai in the hold. Not knowing these people he treasured. Trell, Atarian and Lena...running along silently beside him in Andelain during his blood run. And Revelstone itself. Not knowing why the krill was in Glimmermere, not knowing why that certain door was alien to Revelstone that Vain found that led to the Aumbrie. The heals of the Staff....etc...

I think it would have spoiled it for me if I had done that. Made it less enjoyable. That's just me tho Others may be just fine with it.

well i'm glad i read it in the way that i did... made my understanding greater as far as i'm concerned... but as the last time i read the 1st crons was back at christmas, i'm long overdue a re-read..

Landwaster wrote:Very much appreciate the response, it makes a difference that you only read TWL (as an aside did you re-read it in order after finishing the 1st chrons, before commencing The One Tree?).

My order of reading was: 4, 1, 2, 3, 4
then after TOT was published 1 - 5
then after WGW 1 - 6

I'm not sure how that colored my perceptions of the series. My favorite is probably a tie between Illearth and Wounded. I suspect Wounded made the tie as it was the first book I read and it had the greatest impact on me.

Its been about five years since I last read the books but the dissections postings have fired me up and I just started the whole series again. We'll see what happens during this read through!

I unfortunately have my books locked up in storage but one day we'll shift out of our dingy flat and get a house and then I'll be able to release them again. But, I read them 123456 ... after all had been published, I think I read them all in 1987.

damn you people are old! lol in 1987 i was only a year old!! lol...

yeah I'm done for

heh...

It's this Vow we made, you see...

Yeah I haven't seen my wife for 2000 seconds ... though she's not dead!

Well i read the whole of the second chrons first, then the first chrons. 456123

I was blown away by the Sunbane when i read the back of the book in the bookshop so bought it without realizing (or bothering) that there was a whole first series.

Yeah i wish i had read them in order but i don't think my perceptions of the characters etc are different to anyone else's