Kevin's Watch

IrrationalSanity wrote:I've always maintained that the 2nd should be entitled (or subtitled) "The Chronicles of Linden Avery". But that being said, I like the 2nd overall better than the 1st, and she's a big part of why.

Would that make the Last Chronicles "The Second Chronicles of Linden Avery"? I agree that Linden does a lot towards making the 2nd Chronicles good, but she IS the Last Chronicles, which I also like quite a bit I hated Linden through several readings of the Second Chrons. but somewhere along the line I flip-flopped. (Possibly after Fatal Revenant?)

I really can't say which Chronicles I like the best. It's sort of like picking my favorite Indiana Jones movie. It kind of depends on which one I read (watched) last!

Shuram Gudatetris wrote:

IrrationalSanity wrote:I've always maintained that the 2nd should be entitled (or subtitled) "The Chronicles of Linden Avery". But that being said, I like the 2nd overall better than the 1st, and she's a big part of why.

Would that make the Last Chronicles "The Second Chronicles of Linden Avery"? I agree that Linden does a lot towards making the 2nd Chronicles good, but she IS the Last Chronicles, which I also like quite a bit I hated Linden through several readings of the Second Chrons. but somewhere along the line I flip-flopped. (Possibly after Fatal Revenant?)

I really can't say which Chronicles I like the best. It's sort of like picking my favorite Indiana Jones movie. It kind of depends on which one I read (watched) last!

I understand.

Linden makes the Chronicles better. It's demonstrable.

wayfriend wrote:Linden makes the Chronicles better. It's demonstrable.

Being at hard core THOOLAH member you'd think I'd disagree but I don't.
Linden does make the Chronicles better but also worse.
She's integral as her relationship with TC adds much needed depth to his character as we transition from the first to the second chronicles. However large doses of Linden Avery make me wince.

I've noticed that at least some supporters of Linden are also bigger fans of the second and third chronicles which I find unsurprising.

I was introduced to The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant months before The Wounded Land was released so I became a huge fan of the series solely by reading the first trilogy. I believe this is a major reason why I don't care for Linden taking center stage and of course making the colossal mistake of not being as interesting to me as Covenant is.

I don't know.....I just don't know......I want to still want to hate her but the Last Dark changed everything.

Everything I disliked about her was made beautiful, even the sick killing of her parents brought tears to my eyes when Moksha tried to use it against Jeremiah.....
Damn it!
Covenant credits her with saving everything...
Damn it!!
She kicked serious ass throughout the Last Chronicles....
Damn it, damn it, DAMN IT!!!!!






Damn it all to hell!

High Lord Tolkien wrote:I don't know.....I just don't know......I want to still want to hate her but the Last Dark changed everything.

Everything I disliked about her was made beautiful, even the sick killing of her parents brought tears to my eyes when Moksha tried to use it against Jeremiah.....
Damn it!
Covenant credits her with saving everything...
Damn it!!
She kicked serious ass throughout the Last Chronicles....
Damn it, damn it, DAMN IT!!!!!






Damn it all to hell!

Your comments make me sad.

wayfriend wrote:Linden makes the Chronicles better. It's demonstrable.

(This is an excerpt from an unfinished work titled Thomas and Linden. It's rough, but I am probably never going to finish it. I wrote this back around ... oh, 2008 or so.)

So, to the point:

[edit: I moved my excerpt here. Sorry. Just trying to avoid polluting the forum with the same posts.]

Wayfriend, reading through your commentary I struggle to find anything that I disagree with. Your evaluation is well thought out and reasoned. It is a valuable piece of work and I encourage you to finish writing it.
By the way I wouldn't call it rough.

For myself my dislike of Linden Avery doesn't really have anything to do with what makes her important to the story or why she only makes Thomas Covenant a more dynamic and interesting character.
But that's just me.
The truth is many characters generate a polarized fan base.

Some people actually like Negan from the Walking Dead.

I happen to love broccoli but I know many people that absolutely hate it.

As I've said before I am a dedicated member of THOOLAH because it suits my honest feelings.

Even if one of its founders has strayed off the path...I'm looking at you HLT.

I wasn't arguing against anything you said ... Glurp. I just like posting stuff.

So let's just agree that THOOLAH is silly and move on.

Wayfriend, did you ever finish your cosmology thing you were writing? I thought you were going to put out what you thought the Worm represented and the Elohim....everything.
A Grand Unified Theory of the Landverse if you will.
Was that you or was I just smoking crack?

And if it wasn't you....why don't you?

wayfriend wrote:I wasn't arguing against anything you said ... Glurp. I just like posting stuff.

Its all good, WF.

So let's just agree that THOOLAH is silly and move on.

Yes, THOOLAH is silly but to where will we move on...to?

THOOLAH!!!

Definitely THOOLAH!

The Last Dark changed nothing for me as far as that goes.

Lately I've been thinking that maybe I was wrong about Linden and that she may actually be a worthy...NAH.

THOOLAH!

THOOLAH!

THOOLAH!

Long live THOOLAH!!!

I just love to shout that out every once in a while.

She's not going to be in the new SRD series, is she? Dear lord, I hope not...

-jay

Seems THOOLAH got it wish...
No more Linden Avery in the Land books.

Those who liked Linden got their wish too.
She lived on after the story ends...

Anybody for defunct clubs??

I saw this in a review for Mordant's need. It's about Terisa of Morgan, but I think it applies equally well to Linden Avery the Chosen.

So far so standard - the world of fantasy literature is filled with stories of people living drab, sad lives on Earth, only to become heroes in a fantasy universe. What sets Mordant's Need apart is Terisa's passivity: Donaldson smartly avoids having her Mary Sue into a kick-ass hero upon contact with the magical air of Mordant. For some, Terisa's hand-wringing and confusion at her expected role is frustrating, but for me it creates beautiful tension: her hesitance feels real, and the restrictions it placed on her agency feels like a tightening spring that you know will eventually explode. [link]

Here's to beautiful tension, in all it's forms! Boom.

Great quote, WF.

Why did I just flash on Star War's character Rey who without any instruction whatsoever knows how to wield the Force through intuition, including the "these aren't the droids you are looking for" bit. Maybe she read about that in the best selling novel "How I Did It Until I Didn't" by Obi-wan Kenobi.

Nice attempt Wayfriend .. loved the review but struggling to apply it to Linden.

I fully accept that Linden Avery was essential to both the second and third Chronicles.

I cannot find it in myself to like her, though. I never bonded with her as a character and I would have preferred to have Covenant the main character for the entirity.