Kevin's Watch

Ok so which book has been the best of the three series, and please no TROTE spilers here, comment, but no spoilers.

I had to LFB, it got me hooked on the rest...
but in reality I liked the 1st book out of each series the best
Therefore-Lord Fouls bane...The Wounded Land...and Runes (so far)

Without a doubt, TWL.

I've always liked The Illearth War because it follows more than one character's adventure.
It shows more about the different stratagies for defeating Lord Foul and his hourdes.
Breaking away from Thomas and telling about the other Questers (is that a word?) as they fight their way towards the same goal is a relief from reading about the same person and just his conquests.

" Lord Fouls Bane " , before all.

Where else did we get the immense pleasure of discovering a brand new world? Such a beautiful land?

An unknown door was opened. A door that could not be closed again.

" The One Tree " has also the same function: an opened door on new horizons.

DEAR GOD! I'll go crazy if I have to make a choice

I donno why, but whenever this question comes up, I always say The Power that Preserves. It's been a while since I've read the whole series, so my reasoning is probably a bit weak. But I remember enjoying the pacing of TPTP. Plus the title is pretty cool. I'm a sucker for cool titles.-jay

"The Wounded Land" for this reason... Chapter 26: Coercri.

Like Jay, I've always said TPTP. I think it does such a masterful job of taking away everything we love about the Land (Bloodguard, Hurtloam, the Sun), and then redeeming everything in the end. A real surprise twist for an ending, and a hell of a ride getting there.

TWL is a close second.

LFB is my least favorite by far.

Lord Foul's Bane.

The Wounded Land, if only because of the complete and total perversion of everything good and wholesome. There's just something about destruction and pain that keeps me fascinated; the entire book was a rich study on the effects of entropy on the physical, mental, and spiritual facets of life in general.

Perhaps it's the sailor in me or I'm fascinated by the other bank of the Sunbrust Sea but it's always TOT for me. (oops I really didn't mean that to sound like a pirate ditty! )

The Illearth War, followed by The Power That Preserves.

White Gold Weilder, followed closely by The Power that Preserves and then The Wounded Land.

Sum sui generis
Vs

The Illearth War. I like how Covenant comes out smelling like roses in comparison to Hile Troy and Elena. No leading an army to its suffering death, no breaking the Law of Death... He's almost like an actual hero in this book. Er... and the battle scenes might have had something to do with it, too.

This is a tough one for me, because once I read LFB I have to read the rest.

But it would have to be Lord Foul's Bane because that is the book that first drew me in to the Land.
I remember how difficult it was to put down once I started it.
Up until that point, it was the fastest I ever read a book without missing a single word.

If only textbooks were the same for me back then.

See, I had a really hard time getting into LFB. Had it not been for the strong characters, I never would have gotten any further. For years, LFB was the only book I didn't own for the simple reason that you could get the gist of it from the WHGB in TIW.

This questions comes up every once in a while, and I hate it!!! But if forced to answer - if someone had a gun and said, "Choose, or I'll shoot this coyote." - I go with TPTP. The Spoiled Plains, "Lord Mhoram's Victory", and Variol-son are beyond belief. Then there's Colossus, Foamfollower's caamora, the two Unfettered, the conversation with the Creator... Man, what a book!

The Illearth War and The One Tree are my two favorite Covenant books (so far) and I love them both so much it's almost a tossup...but if I had to pick one, it would have to be The One Tree. The excitement of journeying beyond the Land was very special, and the people and places encountered in that journey utterly blew me away: Nicor, the Elohim and Elemesnedene, Bhrathairealm, Kasreyn of the Gyre, Sandgorgons' Doom, the Guardian of the One Tree...SRD seriously spoiled me as a fantasy reader, and I was only 13. The One Tree remains unique as the only Chronicles story that takes place entirely outside the Land, so I can pretend it's a standalone novel and enjoy it that way. Then of course there's also the dark emotional journey of Linden Avery and the demons of her past to contend with--crazy stuff for a 13-year old to read about, heh. So the depth and breadth of the journey in TOT, both physical and psychological, just overwhelmed me. And that felt damned good.

Those are the two I most regret not being able to vote for. At one point, I considered TOT my favorite book of all books, for all the reasons you mention. And TIW has Amok, Caerroil Wildwood, the Unhomed, EarthBlood, and Mhoram having some pretty awesome moments.