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greaydean's review against another edition
2.0
I guess I still enjoy these. At this point, I'm sort of finishing... because I've come this far.
I will probably read the final 2 books in the series.
Essentially, Stephen R. Donaldson is incapable of writing a story where the character triumphs without exhausting torture of the soul.
Good things: great word use, awesome descriptions, yes, he makes you feel the agony.
I will probably read the final 2 books in the series.
Essentially, Stephen R. Donaldson is incapable of writing a story where the character triumphs without exhausting torture of the soul.
Good things: great word use, awesome descriptions, yes, he makes you feel the agony.
brasey's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
scheu's review against another edition
5.0
The Covenant series has always been my favorite epic fantasy series. Donaldson rewards the patient reader, and this volume is no exception to that. I had the opportunity to hear Donaldson discuss the series in person, and he noted that he'd envisioned the end of the final book - _The Last Dark_ - when he began to outline _The Wounded Land_, over 25 years ago. You have to admire that kind of foresight, if only because such foresight seems to be lacking in other series fiction.
Donaldson brings back a number of familiar ideas from the earlier Covenant books and drops subtle hints as to the direction of the overall story. I'm a big Donaldson fan, and even I found some surprises. _Fatal Revenant_ emphasizes that this is Linden Avery's story, although Thomas Covenant plays a bigger role than he did in _The Runes of the Earth_. There is, of course, much gnashing of teeth and melodrama, but frankly if you didn't enjoy it you wouldn't be reading this book. Donaldson is skilled at making the reader feel for characters that oftentimes don't deserve it.
I hope that I can wait another three years for the next volume.
Donaldson brings back a number of familiar ideas from the earlier Covenant books and drops subtle hints as to the direction of the overall story. I'm a big Donaldson fan, and even I found some surprises. _Fatal Revenant_ emphasizes that this is Linden Avery's story, although Thomas Covenant plays a bigger role than he did in _The Runes of the Earth_. There is, of course, much gnashing of teeth and melodrama, but frankly if you didn't enjoy it you wouldn't be reading this book. Donaldson is skilled at making the reader feel for characters that oftentimes don't deserve it.
I hope that I can wait another three years for the next volume.
scheu's review against another edition
5.0
The Covenant series has always been my favorite epic fantasy series. Donaldson rewards the patient reader, and this volume is no exception to that. I had the opportunity to hear Donaldson discuss the series in person, and he noted that he'd envisioned the end of the final book - _The Last Dark_ - when he began to outline _The Wounded Land_, over 25 years ago. You have to admire that kind of foresight, if only because such foresight seems to be lacking in other series fiction.
Donaldson brings back a number of familiar ideas from the earlier Covenant books and drops subtle hints as to the direction of the overall story. I'm a big Donaldson fan, and even I found some surprises. _Fatal Revenant_ emphasizes that this is Linden Avery's story, although Thomas Covenant plays a bigger role than he did in _The Runes of the Earth_. There is, of course, much gnashing of teeth and melodrama, but frankly if you didn't enjoy it you wouldn't be reading this book. Donaldson is skilled at making the reader feel for characters that oftentimes don't deserve it.
I hope that I can wait another three years for the next volume.
Donaldson brings back a number of familiar ideas from the earlier Covenant books and drops subtle hints as to the direction of the overall story. I'm a big Donaldson fan, and even I found some surprises. _Fatal Revenant_ emphasizes that this is Linden Avery's story, although Thomas Covenant plays a bigger role than he did in _The Runes of the Earth_. There is, of course, much gnashing of teeth and melodrama, but frankly if you didn't enjoy it you wouldn't be reading this book. Donaldson is skilled at making the reader feel for characters that oftentimes don't deserve it.
I hope that I can wait another three years for the next volume.
gtv3rules's review against another edition
3.0
Not sure why, but this book was more of a labor to get through than the others... Hopeful that the next in the series will be better.
steven_v's review against another edition
5.0
This is the 2nd book of the Last Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, and is a solid addition to the Covenant series as a whole.
It is difficult to review this book without providing massive spoilers, both for this one and for its predecessor. Even telling one what the basic plot is about, can spoil Runes of the Earth (book 1 of the series). Therefore, I will not summarize the plot here. I also urge readers not to peruse even the blurb on the book jacket. If you value being surprised as the author intended, then read only the book's interior.
I make these warnings because there are some real brain-twisters in this novel. Donaldson pulls out all the stops to tie up previous loose ends in entirely surprising ways. He also creates new dangling threads, of course, and these will lead into the last couple of novels.
Perhaps my favorite aspect of this book, and its predecessor, is that despite the fact that we are 3,500 years since the second Chronicles, 7,000 or so years from the first Chronicles, and about 10,000 years since the time of Berek Half-hand, Donaldson manages to find ways to provide us with ever increasing detail about the ancient times in the Land. I don't know if he had everything mapped out all those years ago, or if he has made up the material just for this story, but if he did the latter, he was brilliant about it -- at least on a first reading, I could detect no plot holes, no flinches in the continuity. Everything fits; everything works. Even the revelation of a second, powerful Elohim-like race, which it seems should have been hinted at in the first two Chronicles, is adequately explained.
Donaldson is also adept at bringing us back to our old favorite locales, but in new ways. In this novel, Linden visits at least a half-dozen places we have seen before. And many old characters and races of characters have returned. From Waynhim to Gilden tress to Revelstone, the Land is present in all its past glory. If you loved the Land from the first two Chronicles, you will enjoy reading this book.
That isn't to say, of course, that everything is peachy. Far from it. This is a Donaldson novel, after all. Linden has hardly two minutes together to rest throughout the entire 600-ish pages of this book. One crisis follows on another without hardly any respite. But the setting Donaldson created in 1977 and continued throughout the early 80s, is fully present and realized as always. In that sense, he doesn't miss a beat.
Donaldson's prose remains a thing of beauty. Few writers possess his ability for descriptive metaphor, and he has largely retained that talent over the years. I will admit, there are a few chinks in the armor this time -- he uses certain 50-cent words just a little too often and it becomes noticeable. A few paragraphs clearly needed a little more revising -- something I don't recall ever noticing in the original 6 books. But these are minor trivialities that occur a few times in nearly 600 pages. With this volume of material, I can't blame him for a handful of lapses that amount to less than half a page of text combined.
Overall this is a highly enjoyable novel. Although I can't help but give all of the Covenant books 5 stars, because they are so head-and-shoulders above anything else in the genre save Lord of the Rings, and picking among them is almost like picking your children, I would have to rate this one a little bit lower than the previous novel (Runes of the Earth). It's not quite as tight as Runes, mostly because the two "parts" of this novel really feel like two completely different novels, whereas this was not the case in book 1. It's still excellent of course, but not quite as wonderful as Runes of the Earth.
It is difficult to review this book without providing massive spoilers, both for this one and for its predecessor. Even telling one what the basic plot is about, can spoil Runes of the Earth (book 1 of the series). Therefore, I will not summarize the plot here. I also urge readers not to peruse even the blurb on the book jacket. If you value being surprised as the author intended, then read only the book's interior.
I make these warnings because there are some real brain-twisters in this novel. Donaldson pulls out all the stops to tie up previous loose ends in entirely surprising ways. He also creates new dangling threads, of course, and these will lead into the last couple of novels.
Perhaps my favorite aspect of this book, and its predecessor, is that despite the fact that we are 3,500 years since the second Chronicles, 7,000 or so years from the first Chronicles, and about 10,000 years since the time of Berek Half-hand, Donaldson manages to find ways to provide us with ever increasing detail about the ancient times in the Land. I don't know if he had everything mapped out all those years ago, or if he has made up the material just for this story, but if he did the latter, he was brilliant about it -- at least on a first reading, I could detect no plot holes, no flinches in the continuity. Everything fits; everything works. Even the revelation of a second, powerful Elohim-like race, which it seems should have been hinted at in the first two Chronicles, is adequately explained.
Donaldson is also adept at bringing us back to our old favorite locales, but in new ways. In this novel, Linden visits at least a half-dozen places we have seen before. And many old characters and races of characters have returned. From Waynhim to Gilden tress to Revelstone, the Land is present in all its past glory. If you loved the Land from the first two Chronicles, you will enjoy reading this book.
That isn't to say, of course, that everything is peachy. Far from it. This is a Donaldson novel, after all. Linden has hardly two minutes together to rest throughout the entire 600-ish pages of this book. One crisis follows on another without hardly any respite. But the setting Donaldson created in 1977 and continued throughout the early 80s, is fully present and realized as always. In that sense, he doesn't miss a beat.
Donaldson's prose remains a thing of beauty. Few writers possess his ability for descriptive metaphor, and he has largely retained that talent over the years. I will admit, there are a few chinks in the armor this time -- he uses certain 50-cent words just a little too often and it becomes noticeable. A few paragraphs clearly needed a little more revising -- something I don't recall ever noticing in the original 6 books. But these are minor trivialities that occur a few times in nearly 600 pages. With this volume of material, I can't blame him for a handful of lapses that amount to less than half a page of text combined.
Overall this is a highly enjoyable novel. Although I can't help but give all of the Covenant books 5 stars, because they are so head-and-shoulders above anything else in the genre save Lord of the Rings, and picking among them is almost like picking your children, I would have to rate this one a little bit lower than the previous novel (Runes of the Earth). It's not quite as tight as Runes, mostly because the two "parts" of this novel really feel like two completely different novels, whereas this was not the case in book 1. It's still excellent of course, but not quite as wonderful as Runes of the Earth.
kvothesduet's review against another edition
2.0
This book contains shovelfuls of the two things that bug me most about this series: pages and pages of repetitive, angsty discussions among the main characters, and big words deployed without care. Sentences like "tears ran like stridulation down her cheeks" do not good writing make.
gorbag's review against another edition
3.0
Overwritten, as Stephen Donaldson tends to be, but more so. Needed a good editor.
elkneedshelp's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
hotsake's review against another edition
challenging
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
This was a very difficult book to read and rate. I have never liked the character Linden and in this book some of her chapters were torturous. Now I never liked Thomas Covenant either, but while he was unlikable and frustrating be was understandable, but Linden just pisses me off and is more irritating than frustrating. While this book was the first miss of the series for me, there was just so much excellence in it as well and it was wonderfully written overall. But the length of the book mixed with the sheer amount of time dedicated to Linden and her inner voice kept me from liking this book all that much.
All the positives of the book worked hard to balance my dislike of the book and barely made it.
All the positives of the book worked hard to balance my dislike of the book and barely made it.