Bhrathairealm

[Pastor Tim]

I have long thought that TOT is probably the most important book of the first six. If not, it at least seems to be the most important in setting up the Last Chronicles.

That being said, I have never enjoyed--or perhaps fully understood--what the sojourn in Bhrathairealm added to the overall narrative. I think I get it well enough (maybe) but I've had this nagging feeling for a long time that I'm just missing something important there.

I think my dislike of that section has to do with the fact that it just seems like one more near-disaster where we lose a few more "red-shirted crew members" (to mix metaphors!). In fact, if I have any fault with the Last Chronicles it is just that--a few too many battles that almost end in disaster. I got a bit weary of those after a while.

My assumptions for the narrative in Bhrathairealm are as follows:

1. It was necessary. Starfare's Gem was in pretty bad shape, and the Giants needed a harbor to repair the ship.
2. It introduced the Sandgorgons, which were a nice addition to the Second Chronicles, but (in my opinion) a bit unnecessary in the Last Chronicles. Other than reminding us where samadhi raver went, I don't think they added that much to the LC.
3. It introduced us to the croyel. I think the Second Chronicles could have survived just fine with out the croyel, but they were a very important addition to the LC.
4. It "expanded the Land" so to speak. Helped us to realize that there was a lot more going on in this world than we might otherwise realize.

All this being said, I still wonder if I'm missing something here. I'm hoping someone can help me out.

[Cord Hurn]

Good post, Pastor Tim! The One Tree is actually my least favorite of the ten Covenant books (I didn't like leaving the Land and think all they went through after picking up Findail was unnecessary (though there was an argument put towards me from another Watch member that Vain had to have his arm "woodened" by the One Tree's defenses to later become the Staff of Law, an argument I still don't embrace), but you're right in that it does the most to set things up for the Last Chronicles.

The Brathair seem to be the most like people of our world, a real-life Renaissance trading/merchant culture, with the obvious exceptions of Sandgorgons, hustin, and Kasryen and his croyel being present.

Granted, with a writer as gifted as SRD, The One Tree is far FAR better than anything I could ever do, but I still enjoy reading it the least of the Covenant/Land books; that's just how it is.

I know what you mean about the Haruchai Hergrom and Ceer becoming as disposable as the red-shirted security guards were in the original Star Trek TV series. I didn't care for Linden almost killing Ceer, though it was certainly clearly explained that she was affected by coming out of the Elohim-imposed silence and that she was re-enacting what she had to do once to put her mother out of her misery--but I didn't like it. But that's on me, not SRD.

However, TOT made sure we got to see beings mentioned in the First Chronicles by Foamfollower and/or Amok that we'd never encountered before (Elohim, Brathair, Sandgorgons, and the Dancers of the Sea).

Also, I admit the TOT chapter "Surrender" contains what I feel is the best surprise ending to any chapter in the entire Chronicles. (I'm referring to where Linden very cleverly has Covenant say "Nom" to foil Kasreyn's intentions--THAT was cool!!! And it paved the way for another Second Chronicles scene when Covenant uses Nom's name to gain entry into Revelstone to combat the Clave--that's worth mentioning.)

Anyway, I agree with what you've said here, Pastor Tim, and hope this post helped out some!

[Pastor Tim]

However, TOT made sure we got to see beings mentioned in the First Chronicles by Foamfollower and/or Amok that we'd never encountered before (Elohim, Brathair, Sandgorgons, and the Dancers of the Sea).

Wow! It's been over 10 years since I reread the First Chronicles. This was not on my radar screen at all.

Any chance you could point me in the general direction of these references in the FC?

[wayfriend]

As someone who thinks The One Tree is one of the finest books in the series, I want to offer up my idea as to the why of it.

Let me say to start, that I think that there are several reasons, on several levels.

On one level, I don't think Donaldson could have sustained a story taking place under the Sunbane for three books. By it's very nature, there's not a lot of room for variation. Every author wants a story replete with new experiences -- and contrasts. The Sunbane could easily have made the entire Second Chronicles too densely depressing.

But I think that the largest issue is Linden. Again, by it's very nature, Linden could not have survived the Sunbane for very long. She needed to be susceptible to it, but if she survived extended periods under its influence, her susceptibility would be ... suspect.

Linden didn't only need to survive, she needed to grow. Donaldson needed her to find her way into power. He needed to create the risk that she would take the ring. And he needed her to learn the good and evil of possession.

She couldn't do that under the Sunbane - it crushed her completely. On the other hand, both Elemesnedene and Brathairealm not only handed her a dilemma that she could grow into solving, but it taught her much about the implications of possession, and it's relationship to the futility/potency dynamic that is the heart of the Chronicles. It's critical that the mendacity of the Elohim involves impotence and a use for posession; it's equally critical that the machinations of the Kemper involve choosing how to use the power of possession.

I always try to understand Donaldson backwards. Linden couldn't have the ring until she was ready for it. Therefore, she needed experiences that made her ready, and a past that made it dangerous to be unready. Therefore, the passage through Brathairealm provided a means to deal with her past in a way that made her less dangerous with her powers.

[JIkj fjds j]

The name "Brathairealm" is fairly explainatory - a breath of fresh air - from the trials and tribulations of Linden Avery. She is the counterpart to Hile Troy - blind.
When we see past her grief and despair we see the Land in all its glory.

The stories of Thomas Covenant are essentially dreams. Whether we believe the dreams to be Covenant's or Donaldson's is inconsequential. You take what you will, and dream or no dream, the song remains the same - (to mix metaphors).

The Elohim listened to Linden's dreams and to her sorrows. Her father's suicide in the attic of her childhood home is reconstructed in the shape of Brathairealm, simply, to eradicate the illness from her heart.
Even if Linden doesn't believe the Land capable of such healing, the Elohim do. They trust Covenant and make the effort in the hope of fruition at some future time and place.

[Cord Hurn]

However, TOT made sure we got to see beings mentioned in the First Chronicles by Foamfollower and/or Amok that we'd never encountered before (Elohim, Brathair, Sandgorgons, and the Dancers of the Sea).

Wow! It's been over 10 years since I reread the First Chronicles. This was not on my radar screen at all.

Any chance you could point me in the general direction of these references in the FC?

I'll be glad to do so, Pastor Tim, and provide some quotes.

The first quote is from when Saltheart Foamfollower is taking Thomas Covenant up the Soulsease River and is discussing the history of the Unhomed.

"Three ships they lost in half a generation. One hundred Giants chose to remain and live out their lot with the sylvan faery Elohim. Two hundred died in the war service of the Bhrathair, who were nearly destroyed by the Sandgorgons of the great Desert. Two ships were reefed and wrecked. And when the first children born on the voyage were old enough to be sailors themselves, the fifteen vessels held council, and turned their thoughts toward Home--for they had learned the folly of their vow, and were worn from wrestling with the seas.["]

These two quoted parts occur around the time High Lord Prothall has the Council meeting to decide what to do about Drool possessing the Staff of Law.

In silence the Lords communed mentally with each other. Then Osondrea turned to Foamfollower. "Rockbrother, it is said, 'When many matters press upon you, consider friendship first.' For the sake of your people, you should return to Seareach as swiftly as may be. The Giants must be told all that has transpired here. But I judge that the waterway of Andelanin will no longer be safe for you. We will provide an escort to accompany you through Grimmerdhore. Forest and the North Plains until you are past Landsdrop and Sarangrave Flat."

"Thank you, my Lords," replied Foamfollower formally, "but that will not be needed. I have given some thought myself to this matter. In their wandering, my people learned a saying from the Bhrathair: 'He who waits for the sword to fall upon his neck will surely lose his head.' I believe that the best service which I can do for my people is to assist whatever course you undertake. Please permit me to join you."
___________________________

Once the Lords were gone, Foamfollower joined Covenant, and they moved together up the steps, followed by Bannor and Korik. Outside the Close, Foamfollower hesitated, considering something, then said, "My friend, will you answer a question for me?"

"You think I've got something left to hide?"

"As to that, who knows? The faery Elohim had a saying--'The heart cherishes secrets not worth the telling.' Ah, they were a laughing people. But--"

"No," Covenant cut in. "I've been scrutinized enough." He started away toward his rooms.

This last quote is from when Amok is answering questions from Lord Amatin in the Close.

Lightly, Amok turned and gave her an unexpected bow. "My home is Revelstone. I have no parents. And my past is both wide and narrow, for I have wandered everywhere, waiting."

A surge ran through the Council, but no one interrupted Amatin. Studying the boy, she said, "Your home is Revelstone? How can that be? We have no knowledge of you."

"Lord, I have been away. I have feasted with the Elohim, and ridden Sandgorgons. I have danced with the Dancers of the Sea, and teased brave Kelenbhrabanal in his grave, and traded apothegms with the Gray Desert. I have waited."

This should give you enough information to find in those books, Pastor Tim, should you want to read more of the wider context surrounding them. If there are any other First Chronicles quotes concerning all these beings we meet for the first time in The One Tree, I'm not aware of them.

[Cord Hurn]

Even if Linden doesn't believe the Land capable of such healing, the Elohim do. They trust Covenant and make the effort in the hope of fruition at some future time and place.

I would say that in the Second Chronicles the Elohim trust Linden more than Covenant. They want her to have the ring.

[Cord Hurn]

Linden didn't only need to survive, she needed to grow. Donaldson needed her to find her way into power. He needed to create the risk that she would take the ring. And he needed her to learn the good and evil of possession.

She couldn't do that under the Sunbane - it crushed her completely. On the other hand, both Elemesnedene and Brathairealm not only handed her a dilemma that she could grow into solving, but it taught her much about the implications of possession, and it's relationship to the futility/potency dynamic that is the heart of the Chronicles. It's critical that the mendacity of the Elohim involves impotence and a use for posession; it's equally critical that the machinations of the Kemper involve choosing how to use the power of possession.

Appreciate your input, wayfriend! As I am someone who is Only Partial About Linden, it's not enough to make me love this book, but you've gotten me to respect it more.

[JIkj fjds j]

Even if Linden doesn't believe the Land capable of such healing, the Elohim do. They trust Covenant and make the effort in the hope of fruition at some future time and place.

I would say that in the Second Chronicles the Elohim trust Linden more than Covenant. They want her to have the ring.

No doubt!
Which only goes to show how subjective the Chronicles can be.

[Cord Hurn]

Even if Linden doesn't believe the Land capable of such healing, the Elohim do. They trust Covenant and make the effort in the hope of fruition at some future time and place.

I would say that in the Second Chronicles the Elohim trust Linden more than Covenant. They want her to have the ring.

No doubt!
Which only goes to show how subjective the Chronicles can be.

Indeed! In the Last Chronicles they seem to be against her.

[ussusimiel]

I've always enjoyed the two middle books of the 1st & 2nd Chronicles, as they are more expansive and less constrained than the others. They don't have to do any set-up or world-building and they don't have to come to any final conclusions.

For me TOT is a welcome escape from the Sunbane and an opportunity to finally spend an extended period of time in the company of Giants. We initially get to know the Giants through Foamfollower and we come to love him as one of the truly great characters of fantasy fiction, but we don't really get to know the Giants as a people until we meet the First, Pitchwife, Honninscrave, Seadreamer et al. It is then that we get to hear stories of Gianthome and how the Giants are in their natural element. And that is how we come to love them as a people, rather than the Unhomed (in a similar way, we get to know the Haruchai as a people, rather than as the Bloodguard, during TOT as well).

We also get to learn Linden's backstory through her trials and subsequent growth. This is vital to the 2nd Chronicles as she is the 'new' element from our world in the Land. And who she is and how she was formed is crucial to how the story will eventually play out. As wayfriend says, if all of this had to take place against the backdrop of struggling to survive under the Sunbane it wouldn't have had the necessary breadth that it required to be fully developed.*

As for the Bhrathairealm episode itself, in some ways I understand the complaint, as it is the only place where we enter into a kind of generic fantasy setting in the Chronicles; there are politics and power-plays etc. which feel awkward in the Chronicles settings. I have never really minded this as, for me, it serves as a reminder that the Land is a truly unique place (even in the World of the Land) where Earthpower is closer to the surface than anywhere else and thus is more magical and glorious than anywhere else.

As to the purpose of the episode, lots and lots happens, not least that Covenant, for the first time, uses his power in a conscious and controlled way, even if he does need Findail to bail him out in the end. I disagree that Hergrom and Ceer's deaths are akin to 'redshirts'.** For me, both are deeply integrated into the story as ways of informing/telling us about the Haruchai, their almost supernatural abilities and the limits of those (in the case of Hergrom), and their deep capacity for loyalty but also for judgement and the inflexibilty of that (in Ceer's case). We also get to see the Giants in fighting action (and the First gets to replace her lost sword). We also, through Kasreyn, get to see magic and power used for evil, but not, for once, controlled by Foul. The croyel are a new element added to the mix, but I think that they are well-used here and also later in Hamako's sacrifice.

In general I think the Bhrathairealm episode is well-integrated into the story, but it definitely does have quite a different tang to its atmosphere than the general run of the rest of the story.

u.

* It's one of my criticisms of the LCs that SRD did not use flashback (at all, IIRC) as part of the storytelling process, as I think he is a master of it, and it could have seriously improved the pacing of the story and thus the storytelling.

** I would say that it is one of my problems with the LCs that too many characters seem 'disposable' in a way that doesn't happen in the earlier Chronicles.

[SleeplessOne]

I've always felt that SRD's decision to expand the world in which the Land is set was somewhat of a misstep, despite thoroughly enjoying many of the scenes along the journey to the One Tree.

imo this expansion somewhat dilutes and muddies just what the Land is.

in the first chrons, the contrast between Covenant's 'real' world and the Land is a key to the mechanics of the story; the Land is a magical, significant counterpoint to the 'real world' - once the Land's world is expanded, and parts therein are somewhat 'lesser' to the Land in terms of Earthpower, and Foul's plight becomes strangely localized to what amount's to a war against a solitary Country in a greater World, that original concept is strained.

I fully realise the second chrons set out to tell a different story to that of the first, but by making the Land an oddly significant region in a greater World, it conversely somewhat diminishes that very significance of the Land as a plain of existence in which people from 'the real world' thrash out their existential crises.

SRD had already established that part of the Lower Land was immune to the Sunbane, he could well have just expanded his 'map' and have contained the necessary journey's to the Land itself.

[JIkj fjds j]

I fully realise the second chrons set out to tell a different story to that of the first, but by making the Land an oddly significant region in a greater World, it conversely somewhat diminishes that very significance of the Land as a plain of existence in which people from 'the real world' thrash out their existential crises.

Maybe!

However, I've often thought the Second Chronicles necessary in order to demystify and to guide the reader through the hidden twists and turns inherent in the First.
Didn't the Wounded Land begin with the words - Lester made me do it!

Free of the Sunbane, Brathairealm was a wonderful ploy to bring Lord Foul out into the open.

[Cord Hurn]

Free of the Sunbane, Brathairealm was a wonderful ploy to bring Lord Foul out into the open.

Such could be said about the isle of the One Tree, as far as Foul's machinations went.

[JIkj fjds j]

Free of the Sunbane, Brathairealm was a wonderful ploy to bring Lord Foul out into the open.

Such could be said about the isle of the One Tree, as far as Foul's machinations went.

I don't believe the Despiser made it to the One Tree.
And shame on you for even suggesting it

[Cord Hurn]

Free of the Sunbane, Brathairealm was a wonderful ploy to bring Lord Foul out into the open.

Such could be said about the isle of the One Tree, as far as Foul's machinations went.

I don't believe the Despiser made it to the One Tree.
And shame on you for even suggesting it

The Despiser has a long reach, Rune. Even managed to show up in our world, you know!

[IrrationalSanity]

The Land may be the "heart" of the World, but it is not its entirety. Foul, as co-creator, has knowledge and influence throughout. It is, after all, called the Worm of the World's End, not the Land's End. (that would make it just a catalog item anyway...) Thus, while Andelain and the Land show us the "depth" of what will be destroyed, to see the "breadth" of that destruction it was necessary to see the rest of it.

[wayfriend]

The very "hooks" that were in the first Chronicles that were later used to fill in the Second Chronicles - Sandgorgons, Brathair, Elohim, Dancers of the Sea, Gray Desert - hinted at lands outside of The Land, since TIW at least.

[Cord Hurn]

The Land may be the "heart" of the World, but it is not its entirety. Foul, as co-creator, has knowledge and influence throughout. It is, after all, called the Worm of the World's End, not the Land's End. (that would make it just a catalog item anyway...) Thus, while Andelain and the Land show us the "depth" of what will be destroyed, to see the "breadth" of that destruction it was necessary to see the rest of it.

I've always found it interesting that Lord Foul thinks that if he can harm the Land enough, the foundation of the entire Earth will start to crumble. Or so it seems by how he acts.

[Avatar]

I don't think it's about how much he harms the Land, but about the extremes that the harm will drive its inhabitants to. It's the actions of their despair that can bring down the arch for him.

--A