Kevin's Watch

Sure the Covenant books were bestsellers.
Everybody says how great the Gap series, and Mordant's Needs are.
I am currant reading The man Who books, and I'm completely impressed.
He was won all kinds of awards..author of the year here, SF/F writter of the year there...I think the fact that this watch is running so strong must be a sign of his great tallents...
then why does he basically have a cult following.
Why can other authors just put there name on a book, and it's automatically at the top of the best seller list, and He Deservies It?
why why why?

Because his books require more effort to read; they appeal to a different type of reader. Most people tend to go for standard fantasy/sc-fi.

I think what Loremaster said puts it in a nutshell. As a matter of fact, I really know very few people to whom I would even recommend SRD. Those who do get the recommendation have been paid a very large compliment. They just don't know it!

I have recommended LFB over the years to dozens of people. The only ones that have taken me up on it said that they started, but "couldn't get into it" saying that it was too wordy. Exasperated, I've tried to ask how you can develop whole characters and a whole 'nuther world without describing them as fully as SRD does. Most people just say "I'd rather read King". I like King, but he writes stories that you watch and walk away from...that's why his works translate so much to movies. (Except for the DT series, which some would liken to TCTC (I wouldn't)).

So, chock one more up to Short Attention Span.

Also, I know many comparisons are made to the LOTR, which is so much more popular, but if you think about it, describe the plots of the different stories to someone who is looking for a new book and hasn't heard of either one:

A normal small person becomes the hope of the world, since he must undertake a quest with a wizard who fights huge monsters with magical powers, an elf, a dwarf and some others to destroy a powerful ring. There are giant tree people, trolls and other monsters and a cute little evil goblin-like guy. If the bad guys gets the ring, he can dominate the world.

vs.

A leper, who is also a rapist, needs to overcome his own inner anger and despair in order to harness a power he has no idea of how to control. There are giants and horses and horse tenderers, and body guards. There is lots of magic used, like making fire without consuming wood, and molding rock. If he can't overcome his inner guilt and anger and come to terms with it, the bad guy will destroy the earth completely.

OK, I know I've invited a flame war, but that isn't my intent. I'm just saying that it is impossible to describe the book in such a way that would intrigue the average casual reader. The Lord of the Rings can be.

I know people I have spoken to think this is a little to "heady" for a harmless "in front of the fire" read.

All valid points. Quite simply, SRD's work appeals to quite a specific type of person.

First of all, the Covenant books were extremely popular in those days. Wildly popular.

Second, say what you want about LOTR, but it certainly takes a lot more patience to read than Covenant! Long descriptions of traveling, long songs about things tangentially related to the book. I don't want to stoop to lionizing LOTR, but that's a fact. Don't try to make it into Wheel of Time type reading.

Personally, I stopped reading SRD because I disliked Mordant's Need. I could not have been more excited about the books' coming out, I bought them both in hardcover. I finished and struggled for years before realizing that they just didn't appeal to me.

I think SRD's strengths as a storyteller mesh well with his TC setting. Whether that's also true of the Gap cycle, I'm not sure.

zenslinger wrote:Personally, I stopped reading SRD because I disliked Mordant's Need. I could not have been more excited about the books' coming out, I bought them both in hardcover. I finished and struggled for years before realizing that they just didn't appeal to me.

SRD in Gradual Interview wrote:Back in 1983, "White Gold Wielder" was the #3 bestseller in the country for the year. As you can imagine, I was riding high. But then "Mordant's Need" only sold 15% as well as WGW, and the GAP books only sold 20% as well as "Mordant's Need," and more than one publisher has been unable to give my mystery novels away on streetcorners, and last fall my agent had a hard time finding publishers for "The Runes of the Earth" (more than one US publisher called me a "has-been").

Zenslinger's description of his post-Covenant disillusionment with SRD, in addition to SRD's own comments about lacklustre post-Covenant sales figures, supports my view that SRD's diminished popularity is simply due to the fact that he lost a ton of his readership because he began writing things other than Covenant novels. A majority of readers were unwilling, and continue to be unwilling, to accept anything other than Covenant stories from SRD. Though Runes may signal a return of the Covenant fanbase, it remains to be seen whether or not SRD's popularity will ever again scale the heights it once did during the glory days of the Second Chronicles. Twenty years is a long time, or at least long enough that many previous fans may simply have moved on and don't care about SRD anymore, sad to say.

In a Vespers thread, I suggested that fans often get into a comfort zone with their favorite artists, so they feel betrayed when an artist does something new that disrupts that comfort zone. Same situation with authors, I think. That's why SRD has turned off so many readers over the years: he is not interested in churning out comfortable writing to please the public. And that's why "giants" of fantasy like Brooks, Eddings and Jordan remain massively popular. Whereas SRD strives to grow and challenge himself as a writer, an author like Brooks strives to give his readers more of what they want. It's financially beneficial for someone like Brooks to cater to fans' comforts, as each new Shannara volume is a guaranteed ticket to bestseller heaven.

A majority of readers were unwilling, and continue to be unwilling, to accept anything other than Covenant stories from SRD.

This sums up my pre-Kevinswatch.com membership attitude perfectly. For nearly 20 years I couldn't understand why I couldn't get more Covenant from SRD. I actually received one of the Gap books from SFBC several years ago by accident and promptly sent it back. Now having listened to everone for the past year talk about SRD's other writings, I'm modifying my attitude. I recently read Daughter of Regals, and I bought The Real Story last week.

I saw one of his The Man Who... series in the supermarket yesterday. The supermarket!! Haven't read it, but if my local Giant carries it, then he must be getting more popular.

I do agree, though, that it takes a certain type of person to read SRD, particularly TCTC and the Gap. I don't think you can read SRD and enjoy it, or learn from it, unless you identify with either his characters or his themes.

It's funny that other people say what I've been saying for years. I read the Chrons back in the early '80s, and when I finished, I was done with SRD. I've had absolutely no interest in reading any other of his books, not because I wanted more TC, but because I felt I'd be let down by them. I'm beginning to think I'll read the rest of his books eventually, but it's really not a priority.

This is in sharp contrast to every other author I read. I usually devour everything they've done if I liked the first book I read.

Just to amend my doom and gloom post about SRD's popularity: though SRD lost readers over the years because of a lack of Covenant output, the other side of that is that he also gained fiercely loyal readers (like me) who got a kick out of him telling new, non-Covenant stories, and telling them well.

My older sister got really angry with me when i was reading it... She asked me if she could read it... well, this is what the conversation went like:

Marisa: Can I read it?
The Dark Lord of the Sith Revan: Nah, you wouldn't like it Marisa, it's not the type of book you would get into.
Marisa: Why? What's wrong with it?
The Dark Lord of the Sith Revan: Well... it's generally for a more... intelligent audience. People with a little bit of brains. You really wouldn't like it.
Marisa: Oh, so I'm just stupid am I?!
The Dark Lord of the Sith Revan: Yes.

Matrixman wrote:

zenslinger wrote:Personally, I stopped reading SRD because I disliked Mordant's Need. I could not have been more excited about the books' coming out, I bought them both in hardcover. I finished and struggled for years before realizing that they just didn't appeal to me.

Zenslinger's description of his post-Covenant disillusionment with SRD, in addition to SRD's own comments about lacklustre post-Covenant sales figures, supports my view that SRD's diminished popularity is simply due to the fact that he lost a ton of his readership because he began writing things other than Covenant novels. A majority of readers were unwilling, and continue to be unwilling, to accept anything other than Covenant stories from SRD. Though Runes may signal a return of the Covenant fanbase, it remains to be seen whether or not SRD's popularity will ever again scale the heights it once did during the glory days of the Second Chronicles. Twenty years is a long time, or at least long enough that many previous fans may simply have moved on ...

Well, what I meant is that if I had liked Mordant's Need, I would have been more interested in the Gap. I'm not against reading the Gap or the mystery novels at some point.

I personally enjoyed Mordant's need more than TCTC, and the gap more than Mordant's need.
I don't think covenant was the best thing he ever wrote, but I'm sure the last chronicles will be, everything he writes seems to surpass the last thing he wrote. I can't wait to read Runes. (I bought it for my dad for Christmas but wrapped it up before reading it myself... Foolish.)

Matrixman wrote:Just to amend my doom and gloom post about SRD's popularity: though SRD lost readers over the years because of a lack of Covenant output, the other side of that is that he also gained fiercely loyal readers (like me) who got a kick out of him telling new, non-Covenant stories, and telling them well.

For me, it was the Gap books that hooked me. They were the first books I had read of SRD, and it took me some years before I wanted to read TCTC.

I don't think covenant was the best thing he ever wrote

Blasphemy!

I think SRD suffers from 'pigeon-holing' to a large extent. The majority of readers whose introduction to fantasy is LotR will probably like the genre for its escapism and will hence go on to read something a bit lighter like Anne McCaffrey, and relatively few will seek the dark and demanding world of TCTC.

The Gap has an even greater struggle with this, as IMO it occupies an awkward science fiction middle ground. The iffy physics used by SRD will put off a lot of hard SF afficionados, and the kind of readers who are willing to overlook such things probably won't be able to stomach the sheer grittiness of the series.

Readers of genre fiction tend to be a fairly narrow-minded bunch, and tend only to read books similar to those they've already read. As long as this attitude remains, SRD will probably continue to be something of a cult author.

A TC movie would almost certainly change that for good though.

Oddly enough, Mordant's Need was the book that hooked me on Donaldson. It was years before I could bring myself to read Covenant.

I started with the Covenant books and everything since. SRD does lean toward a more intelligent based reader with the ability {at least willingness} to mine the deeper layers inherent in the story. I like that. Many other authors are simply mind candy - read and forgotten overnight.

Though I enjoy the Covenant stories and would have liked a quicker return.... I am glad SRD refused to become another pulp author churning out the same story ad nauseum just for the sake of a buck.

I started with Covenant, and never wanted to read anything else by SRD. Don't ask me why, I honestly don't know. Probably has something to do with me not thinking he could possibly top it.

I've just bought the entire Gap cycle, so I guess I'll see.