Kevin's Watch

And I discovered something. Up until this reading, TOT was by far my favorite book, because it had my favorite scene... "Nom", but I also enjoyed the Giants, Brathairealm, and even the Elohim. However, this reading has taken me almost 3x the time to get through it, if not longer. I dreaded each upcoming chapter, and even put down the book for a week or so. I finished it yesterday, and I brought WGW with me to work (I read at lunch instead of going out to eat), but I didn't even crack it open.
I wish I knew what's going on.

Donaldson makes the reader work. A man or gal can get tired! By any chance, are you trying to get through them too fast? If so, slow down ... you're missing out on the enjoyment the series gives you.

soft one wrote:And I discovered something. Up until this reading, TOT was by far my favorite book, because it had my favorite scene... "Nom", but I also enjoyed the Giants, Brathairealm, and even the Elohim. However, this reading has taken me almost 3x the time to get through it, if not longer. I dreaded each upcoming chapter, and even put down the book for a week or so. I finished it yesterday, and I brought WGW with me to work (I read at lunch instead of going out to eat), but I didn't even crack it open.
I wish I knew what's going on.

It's because of Linden. You should join THOOLAH.

The "Nom" moment was cool. But I think a lot of it was the surprise factor. My favorite scene is the caamora end of TWL. No matter how many times I read it, it's just as powerful. (Embarrassing admission: I've only read the Chronicles three times.)

I don't understand the "dreading" part of your post.
Are you tired of reading?
Is it a chore to get through it?
or are you dreading being done with it because you have to move on past your favorite parts?

Malik23 wrote:The "Nom" moment was cool. But I think a lot of it was the surprise factor. My favorite scene is the caamora end of TWL. No matter how many times I read it, it's just as powerful. (Embarrassing admission: I've only read the Chronicles three times.)

TWL is my favorite book of the series and the caamora at the end is my favorite scene by far. I've read the series quite a bit more than thrice, but that scene remains just as moving and powerful, and I'm sure it will remain so for you, Malik.

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I can relate to soft one's opinion of TOT after the quest leaves Brathairrealm. Pure drudgery to read about that mindnumbingly boring sea voyage and Covenant and Linden's interminable "misunderstandings." TOT is right at the bottom of my first and second chronicles list of reading goodness.

Proceed with CAUTION: Third Chronicles spoiler ahead.

Spoiler

SRD has incorporated the consequences of the Meerwives encounter into the Third Chronicles, but I always felt that both the Meerwives and the Argule were tacked on, space taking events in the 2nd Chronicles.

High Lord Tolkien wrote:I don't understand the "dreading" part of your post.
Are you tired of reading?
No... it's more like 'work' reading it this time, and I don't understand why there's a difference from my previous readings.

Is it a chore to get through it?
Almost. I had a MUCH harder time with the Third Chronicle books though, but I've only read those once. TOT has NEVER been hard for me to read until now.

or are you dreading being done with it because you have to move on past your favorite parts?
That is definitely a possibility, but I didn't have a problem with TWL. The caamora is definitely my favorite part in TWL, but I actually read faster as I got closer to the end. I knew what was coming.

Maybe THOOLAH is the answer... maybe I'm getting tired of all Linden's whining.

I've read the first 6 books several times, so I understand the importance included in the spoiler. I think THAT may actually be a big part of the answer. I'm having to read the Second Chronicles deeper to get a better understanding of the Third Chronicles. I can't just skim lightly over certain parts to get to my favorite parts like I used to.

I've only read the 1st and 2nd Chronicles twice. Basically, what Wayfriend said - it's hard work if you want to take it all in. On my first reading, I was too eager to get through it - I didn't know the writer and the depth to which he writes. I can't believe how much more I got out of the 2nd reading, simply because I slowed down and took more in. I'm planning to read them all again before the release of AATE, and I imagine I will pick up a whole lot more from the previous read.

Interestingly, I didn't enjoy TOT the first time around because I didn't understand a lot of the seafaring speak, and it was a journey without apparent success. When I read it the 2nd time, I was amazed at how much I missed the first time around - it was almost like reading the book for the first time - and I enjoyed it 100 times more.

There are times when I find myself approaching the books with too much of an analytical mind. It is tempting to do so for the purpose of looking wise with deep answers in this forum. (Hey, one can dream!!) That's when it seems like a chore to me and things slow down. The magic comes when I simply get lost in the story and the real world dissappears. For some odd reason, I absorb so much more when this happens. OK, we all approach things in different ways. This is mine!

So I finally finished reading all of TCTC books a few weeks ago, I rushed through them though so I'd read them again but a little slower. I never realized all of the stuff that I missed. (maybe some Third Chronicles spoilers, but nothing major) Like the whole seven words deal (never even counted that they were only saying six ) And the mulitple mentions of the Brathair. But something in particular caught my interest in IEW. I can't remember exactly the name (I remember what page it was on, but somewhere near the late 100s, around 185 or something), but there was a mention of somebody's great fire, could that have possibly been the fire Kastenessen was Appointed to control?

And I've also found that I'm able to empathize a lot more with TC, his 'whining' and the reasons he makes his bargains make a lot more sense now

I'm trying to get through them all, too. I don't even own Fatal Revenant yet; I just bought Runes of the Earth--and I've never read the Second Chronicles. I just discovered them, too.

I started reading LFB at the end of may, right after college let out. I'm just finishing the Wounded Land (hopefully today).

Yeah, Donaldson makes the reader work.

Hey, you folks reading the 2nd C's for the first time, be sure to tell us your initial thoughts!

Hashi Lebwohl wrote:
I had also forgotten about Foamfollower's apparent bloodlust.

Oh yeah, Foamfollower's journey is at least as compelling as Covenant's.

Hashi Lebwohl wrote:I am rereading all of them, as well; currently, I am beginning chapter 20 of Lord Foul's Bane.

I had forgotten some elements of the first book, especially griffins (which seems to be a generic fantasy element that is abandoned in other books)

SRD has said he regretted creating the griffins; he also realized they were too "run of the mill fantasy."

Relayer wrote:SRD has said he regretted creating the griffins; he also realized they were too "run of the mill fantasy."

And Giants (much as I love them) are not?

Demondim-spawn wrote:

Relayer wrote:SRD has said he regretted creating the griffins; he also realized they were too "run of the mill fantasy."

And Giants (much as I love them) are not?

Not in the way they usually are depicted, which is big and stupid.

^^ Here here. I agree; SRD's version of the Giants is entirely unique.

I've read a good fair deal of fantasy, and I've never seen Griffins anywhere else (that I remember). Are they that common, and I've just missed them?

Black Asgard wrote:I've read a good fair deal of fantasy, and I've never seen Griffins anywhere else (that I remember). Are they that common, and I've just missed them?

I haven't seen them much elsewhere, but they pop up in stuff like D&D, and things that take D&D as a template.

Griffins have been mythical beasts in stories since ancient times.

In more modern literature, you'll find them in Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, in T. H. White's The Once and Future King, and J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter series.