Anyone read The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, the Unbeliever?

[Lone_Star_Dem]

I purchased the first trilogy more than twenty years ago as a gift for a friend. She loved them and especially loved to be irritated at the protagonist. She often encouraged me to read them but from her descriptions of the protagonist I just couldn't imagine actually enjoying the read.

She's now passed away and her son has given the books back to me. I'd like to finally read them, but before I do I thought I'd ask here as to others opinions on the story and writing.

If you've read them, what did you think?

[Glorfindel]

1. Yes, I read all of them

When they were first published. The writing is superb, but Thomas Covenant is probably the most unsympathetic, infuriating hero in the history of fiction. I almost wound up rooting for Lord Foul. But the books are worth reading, and if you memorize all the big words you'll improve your vocabulary. :evilgrin:

[silverweb]

2. Love 'em.

I've been rereading the whole series lately, currently half-way through the final book, "White Gold Wielder." Can't discuss now from work, but I'll check back later.

:hi:

[Tyrone Slothrop]

3. I read them when I was in high school (10-15 years ago)

They certainly made a lasting impression on me. I can still remember (fairly specifically) several scenes from each book.

You will probably find yourself despising Covenant himself at several points along the way, but that's part of the point. (IMHO, anyway!)

Also, for what it's worth, the first book was my least favorite (probably as Covenant is very reprehensible in the beginning; he believes he is in a dream and acts and reacts without thought of consequence); I liked the other five much more.

[Love Bug]

4. This reminds me of a costume entry at a local SF convention years ago

when the books first came out. During the costume contest at this SF convention, this guy walks out in a large chicken suit. The announcer then says the name of this entry is "Lord Bane's Foul"

There were loud groans heard all around...

[OwnedByFerrets]

5. I have read all the Chronicles three times.....

and can recommend them heartily. They are the Second epic fantasy that I ever read, The LoTR being the first. I love all of Donaldson's work. The Mirror of her Dreams is another great epic fantasy and then there is his Science Fiction , The Gap series, which is one of the best ever.

[Bitwit1234]

6. What I can't understand about this is....

Steroids were not illegal til lately...so if these guys took steroids they weren't illegal. It showed lack of judgment and they were very unethical but not illegal.

[buczak]

7. White gold rings...

Thomas Covenant's actions should be considered illegal and unethical, especially when he tries to steal those art works from the MET.

:)

BTW, I really enjoy the Covenant books. I read them as a teenager and I recently picked them up again from a used book store.

Tvb

[Igel]

8. Yes. Recommended.

Didn't like the "Mirror" series, and couldn't finish book one of the "Gap" series.

But the First and Second Chronicles of Thomas the Unb., I liked. He's an anti-hero, and you'll have to deal with it; anti-heroes were all the rage in the '70s (still are, to some extent), when they finally broke free from "good" literature and made it into pop culture. Bad things happen and at times it looks bleak--without the implicit "it'll all work out okay" that I always got in LoTR, even at its bleakest. You actually think there's not just a good chance it'll all go to pieces, but you're hard put to see how it could go any other way at times.

My best friend in high school and I read them in parallel and wound up spending our free time in the evenings and weekends discussing them and projecting out how they'd develop. Better than hanging out on the street corner, in all probability. But it did nothing for our social life.

It's a great series of books, with the second series being perhaps a bit more difficult than the first. I didn't get the psychosexual business that I think is there when I read it, I was too nerdy of a high school student. But for somebody 20+, I'd recommend it.

I seem to recall having trouble "getting into" a few of the books, though. Usually if I'm not hooked by p. 50 I wind up not reading it (hence my "Mirror" and "Gap" disaffection); IIRC, sometimes the 'hook' in a Thomas book might be a bit later. It's worth hanging in there, and making sure the second series is in the wings for when you're finished the first.

[Orrex]

12. FWIW, Book One of the Gap Cycle was the worst

All exposition and set-up.

After that it gets much more interesting.

[silverweb]

9. Did you know there's a third Covenant trilogy?

I only recently learned that there's a third set, The Last Chronicles of Thomas Covenant -- with book #2, Fatal Revenant, recently hitting the NYT Bestseller List.

Got 'em on my wish list... along with Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy.

Okay, back to work.... x(

[sailor65]

10. I read them, the first two trilogies anyway....

very well written, but I agree with most that Thomas Covenant is one of the most infuriating characters in my memory.

[Greyskye]

11. best example of an "anti-hero" that I can think of

I read them when they came out - think I was in high school at the time. I still have them in 1st edition hardcover.

I loved them at the time - they were fascinating reads. I'm not sure if I could force myself to re-read them now though, as it is so frustrating to get through TC's "unbelief".

The books did teach me all I know about leprosy, however. Know any other fiction books that have the main character a leper? I still remember vividly the sections talking about "VSE" (Visual Surveillance of Extremities) that you must continuously do to survive if you have leprosy.

I wasn't aware that any other books past the 1st two series had been written. Next time I'm out of books, maybe I'll try re-reading the series again to see if I want to try out the new ones. :shrug:

Both of my wedding rings have been made of "White Gold", however. Guess they made some kind of impression on me! :evilgrin:

[LWolf]

13. I read the first 3, at least, almost 20 years ago.

While my memory of details are foggy, I do remember that they were attention grabbing.

[Orrex]

14. Now that I think about it, I have a few complaints about Donaldson's style

They're comparatively minor, but I'm curious to see if anyone else shares them...

1. Powerful female characters tend to get killed, go insane, or turn (or turn out to be) evil (or all three). Linden Avery arguably escapes this trend.

2. He conspicuously repeats certain phrases without apparent benefit. Next time you read the firt two series, count the number of times he writes "turns on his/her heel and strode out." I informally clocked it at somewhere around a zillion.

3. He routinely has characters quote lengthy patches of dialogue verbatim. After the first few times, this became so conspicuous and unbelievable that I just couldn't overlook it anymore.


As I said, they're not the end of the world, but after 2000 pages or so, they kind of stick out at you.

[lepus]

15. Morn Hyland from the gap series?

I like Donaldson. He is a very good author and does not write from a set script like many authors do.

A few of his female protagonists may have met bad ends, but that is not generally the rule.

[Orrex]

17. Are you saying that Morn did or didn't meet a bad end?

Gap sickness (in the form of self-destructive psychosis), victim of horrific zone implant abuse/addiction, raped for months by Angus, forced to play the role of eager concubine for Nick, forced to surrendered to the Amnioni, etc. etc. etc.

Although she achieves a measure of redemption, the path she follows to get there is brutal and damaging. Not that any characters in the Gap Cycle really come out unscathed, but she certainly qualifies as an example of an abused female protagonist.


But you're right that Donaldson's works don't read like scripts--an all too rare quality!

[Iggo]

16. "Leper! Outcast! Unclean!"

Read these books.

[LWolf]

18. I read the trilogy, about 20 years ago.

I remember some of the basic plot, and I remember that I liked it.

[Scout]

19. I remember Saltheart Foamfollower (i think)....

they were all right, but i lost interest after the first trilogy.

Thomas Covenant, endless whiner