Kevin's Watch

I'm quite prepared to be shot down here, but just wondered if anyone else is a little "disappointed" that SRD is going back to do a 3rd Chronicles. I read the 1st and 2nd back in my teens, going through a very difficult period in my life and I can quite honestly say that the 6 books saved my life (I don't think I would be here now if I hadn't read them). Bearing in mind that I'm now a decade older (as is the author), and I have certainly changed a great deal as a person - my emotional response to the story/characters is bound to change as well. The ending of the 2nd Chronicles was perfection for me, and I feel that anything that takes place after White Gold Wielder can only detract from my (admittedly rose-tinted) view of the series as they now stand. I have even denied myself the pleasure of reading any other SRD books so as to keep TCOTC shining as brightly as possible in my mind.

Of course, I will read the 3rd Chronicles, and I'm damn sure they will be great, but a tiny portion of me is still saying "no, just leave it alone - you can't improve on perfection". Anyone else feel this way?

Corruption

I don't think the books are perfection, but there is a part of me which bemoans the fact that there are more to come. There was a time and a place...They'll have to be radically different I think to merit the heaps of praise that they will inevitably get.

I understand what you mean about the second chronicles seeming finished for you, they do for me too. However, the last chronicles were really in the pipeline as soon as the second chronicles were conceived. It was just a matter of SRD getting round to it was all.

Sum sui generis
Vs

mmm, true. It's still hard to revisit though (from a readers perspective).

Just a question for Corruption. You say you read 1st & 2nd chron in your teens - does that imply you read them only once? & Does that affect/influence your thoughts on the last chron?

(for my own part I first read in my teens & have re-read 5-6 times & cannot wait for the last chronicles)

Hi there,

Like yourself, I have re-read the 1st and 2nd Chronicles - probably 4 or 5 times in all, as well as several sessions "cherry picking" passages to read from each book. I haven't read any of them in whole for a good 5 years though, which is why I'm currently 120-ish pages into LFB. Have to finish them all before the Last Chronicles is published.

I think my main problem is that I KNOW that these books aren't going to have the same impact on me as a person, as the original 6 did all those years ago, what with me now being less impressionable, and more cynical than I was back then. Still, that's MY problem, not SRDs so I can't really complain. Still irks me though!

Corruption

I remember thinking this about the 2nd Chronicles. Now I realize that I can trust that Donaldson made the decision to do this only because he knows it will work; not for more money or fame (or movie rights).

I agree with dAN. heh, nah, I think they'll still be great. Donaldson has some sort of conditio that makes him unable to disappoint.

I agree that the Second Chronicles seemed "done". Much moreso than the first (which is funny, since that was his original stopping point, and he never considered WGW "the end" himself). It was a perfect and brilliant ending - that last sentence in the last book. I would have been happy to reread those six books forever, and never expect another word to be written.

But I'm overjoyed at the chance to return to the Land once last time. I don't expect these four books to be *anything* like the first two trilogies, any more than the second resembled the first. Steve sees the Last Chronicles as tieing up loose ends, and bringing everything to a close, which is a different goal than he had for the other trilogies - therefore it MUST be different.

Spoiler

It concerns me GREATLY that he's foretold the doom of the Earth - not just the Land - in various interviews.

It comes down to what dAN said - Faith. The first two chronicles are like the first two challanges in the last Indiana Jones movie. Now we stand at the Lions Head, and must take a leap of faith into the abyss...

unnecessary??? Oh no no no...When I read the ending of WGW, I knew the story wasn't finished. Way too many doors were opened or left open. I didn't think he would ever get around to finishing it, but he had to wait until he was ready to delve back into this story.

Oh no, it is not going to disappoint..it is going to envelop us just like the last two chronicles did. And we are going to be lost once again in the wonder of it...

I have no issue with the Last Chronicles. SRD wouldn't waste our time or his with anything less than something he felt very strongly about. I've learned to trust his judgement. Bring it on!

I have been waiting so very long for this. I remember when my brother finished WGW, he said to me... "Oh, this can't be all, he can't end it here. It's not finished, there are way too many unanswered questions." I wish he could have been here for this. It would have thrilled him beyond words. These were his favorite books, and he loved alot of books, but this story was always his favorite. "Joy is in the ears that hear." I can't wait to hear the telling of this tale.

Thanks for all the replys, it has allayed my fears a little - maybe I should just look forward to them without any sort of pre-conceived ideas of disappointment. Difficult, but I'll try!

PS Tom - hopefully it will raise a smile if I mention the phrase "Wow, Bovine intervention!"

Corruption

You bring up a good point, Corruption. I mean, I've had my own doubts about the Last Chronicles, if they were nessisary. Looking at the end of WGW, it does seem like a complete story. But I think I rememeber when I finally finished WGW a few years ago, I think I sat there wanting MORE. So I guess I can't be too disappointed now, heh. Plus, like everyone else said, I think SRD has a nack of writing good sequals, and not give us some crappy Star Wars prequal, heh.-jay

I am of the mind that a third chronicles is actually NECESSARY! Foul was merely imprisoned at the end of the 2nd. Corruption needs to be destroyed.

Blasphemy!!! Such a suggestion is sheer blasphemy!! The 3rd Chronicles aren't just necessary they're essential! Yes as Furls has noted too many doors are open and much requires resolution. Hellfire! I require resolution! I am the SRD's readers Scriven and I MUST FEED! I read the chronicles very sowly and meticulously but I have only read them twice, as a whole. Both times they have altered my life dramatically. The first time was almost akin to the 1st Chrons-shunning society, unbelieving and fighting personal demons for many years. The second time, three years ago (inspired by Sky, btw...), sent me on a major personal quest and much was healed. But I am resolved? No! I tell you NO! And it's all SRD's fault!<MAJOR grin>

3rd Chronicles, 3rd reading, 3rd times a charm! I need direction! I crave resolution! I am a junkie for the type of storytelling the TCTC delivers. I must feed! I'm the type of person who needs to be told 3 times what a persons' name is before I remember it. I have to be whacked 3 times in the head before I get it. And this is just what the Dr. (LA? ) ordered. There is a reason why I've stayed on this board so long. There is a reason why I bumped into the author at Minority Report. There is a reason why so many lost souls have found community at Kevin's Watch and will further such at Elohimfest and other gatherings to come!

I predict the 3rd Chronicles will provide answers and spark action in all of our souls! Prefection is yet to come. Yea brothers and sisters! Let me hear you say Amok! (I mean Amen ). I didn't move out to New Mexico to be near Mr. Donaldson, it happened before I'd ever heard of him. My proximity to him is not ozmosis but I can "feel" him working and I sense that he is ready to blow our minds apart and stun even Romeo with an ending we cannot even imagine! This type of personal examination of ourselves, conflict, resolution, healing and progression toward a wild, wide open future is made possible only through SRD's style, especially with the vehicle of the Chronicles. And now approcheth the 3rd major and final step.

Are you ready??!!

Bravo danlo!!!! AMEN!!!!

Am I ready??? You bet your sweet bippy, I'm ready!!!! I been ready for over 20 years!!!

Bring it on, Mr Donaldson!!!

Danlo, if a sick leper walks in on that tent revival meeting you've got going on, you won't throw him out, will you?

But seriously, folks...

I expect that some people won't like some of the stuff in "Runes". Heck -- how many folks here on the Watch don't like Linden? What about Roger Dodger? And we know that they'll be major characters in the new series. And too, SRD likes to take us places where we wouldn't go on our own (Angus's treatment of Morn comes to mind immediately). But I can't see SRD sending a manuscript to a publisher that would deliberately disappoint his readers.

(Translation: I can't wait!)

Romeo wrote:I agree that the Second Chronicles seemed "done". Much moreso than the first (which is funny, since that was his original stopping point, and he never considered WGW "the end" himself). It was a perfect and brilliant ending - that last sentence in the last book. I would have been happy to reread those six books forever, and never expect another word to be written.

But I'm overjoyed at the chance to return to the Land once last time. I don't expect these four books to be *anything* like the first two trilogies, any more than the second resembled the first. Steve sees the Last Chronicles as tying up loose ends, and bringing everything to a close, which is a different goal than he had for the other trilogies - therefore it MUST be different.

Spoiler

It concerns me GREATLY that he's foretold the doom of the Earth - not just the Land - in various interviews.

It comes down to what dAN said - Faith. The first two chronicles are like the first two challanges in the last Indiana Jones movie. Now we stand at the Lions Head, and must take a leap of faith into the abyss...

i know several people who read the 1st trilogy and loved it but couldn't take what was happening to the Land in TWL and never read the 2nd. it is tremendously reasurring that SDR had the 3rd chron. thought out soon after the 1 & 2nd. as was stated before, just because we are all older now and the final chron. will not have the same impact it would if we were younger, it does not make the work any less than it is (or will be). i am more concerned that he has not yet started to write the 2nd book. 3 years is a LONG time to go between books imo. i was shocked to read this fact in the interview questions. i wonder what the big time consuming "project" from his publisher's is. maybe they too are unhappy with the publication time line and have requested a shorter period. of course, one can't rush genius so...

Well, I was just another clueless knave (JACK) who, back in '83, thought that the saga was finished after White Gold Wielder. But as the astute minds at the Watch have pointed out, there was indeed a lot of unfinished business left over, and besides, SRD actually had a third Chronicles in mind when he was conceiving the second (a fact I only learned of after joining the Watch).

Corruption, I think I understand your apprehension about a third Chronicles possibly tainting your memory of what is already a "perfect" and finished story in your mind. Your anxiety over the Last Chronicles simply shows that you care deeply about this saga (as we all do here). It's true that none of us can experience the Last Chrons from the same emotional place we were at 20 years ago (except those folks who've been in cryogenic freeze all that time); but the fun and cool thing about being here at the Watch is that discussing and sharing our enthusiasm for the Chronicles puts us in a good frame of mind for welcoming Covenant (and Linden) back into our hearts and minds. Just talking (er, typing) about it all helps me to remember who I was and what I felt all those years ago. (Cripes, this is beginning to sound like a 12-step recovery program for Covenant addicts! "Yes, Mr. Anderson, pull up a chair and tell us the depth of your obssession...")

Anyway, Corruption, have some faith in SRD. The fact that he said he is "terrified" by the prospect of writing the Last Chrons demonstrates that he cares deeply about the story, too. He is writing it because he needs to. The story is telling him it needs to be finished. Not to be rude, but that would seem to invalidate the claim that the third Chronicles are "unnecessary." Corruption, you've been "shot down."

Furls Fire wrote: Am I ready??? You bet your sweet bippy, I'm ready!!!! I been ready for over 20 years!!!

Bring it on, Mr Donaldson!!!

Not sure what a bippy is, but I'm definitely ready as well.

By the way, danlo: what a post! Whatever you had for breakfast, I'll have it too!


(My 1000th post...I really am an addict...)