The Runes Of The Earth

[Foxbat]

- the title of the opening salvo of Stephen Donaldson's continuation of his Thomas Covenant Chronicles. Apparently this next set will consist of four volumes and the aforementioned Runes is published on October 17th.

I know there are a few of us on the boards who quite like this series so I just thought I'd mention it.

 

[brightcrow]

Yes, I really liked the first trilogy of the series, the second not so much. I'm looking forward to more, but may wait until the whole series is out. However, he's coming to the con I'm going to, so I may read it in case I get to meet him or hear him read/talk.

 

[littlemissattitude]

I'd like to read the new book, if for no other reason than to see how he handles it. I wasn't crazy with how the second trilogy ended. It took me forever the read the last book because I knew what was going to happen and I didn't like it one bit. So, it'll be interesting to see how he transitions into a new series.

 

[Foxbat]

I agree with both your comments on the second trilogy (particularly White Gold Wielder). But it did have some redeeming points - The Wounded Land and the imaginitive changes the Sunbane caused, as well as the Clave and the need for blood I thought were particularly well done.
Hopefully this new set will be as good as the first

 

[Rane Longfox]

Bumping this... do you need to have read any previous Covenant stuff to read Runes of the Earth and understand all of it? Because Runes... looks quite good, but I haven't read any of his previous stuff.

 

[Foxbat]

I think reading the previous stuff would definitely help to understand the world and how Covenant's Leprosy moulds his participation within The Land.

 

[Rane Longfox]

I was afraid you might say something like that

 

[GOLLUM]

I've read all of the T Covenant series including Runes and YES you really need to read the previous series to get the most out of it.

It's not everyone's cup of tea but for me it's a landmark series in the fantasy genre that essentially deals with the psychology of the human condition in a fantasy setting.

A nice change from the standard fantasy fare one sees these days.

Good stuff!!

 

[Andyhug]

What has happened to me!? I Remember the first chronicles of Thomas Covenant as the greatest set of books that I ever have, and probably ever will, read. I thought the Gap series was just as good and I enjoyed the 2nd chronicles very much. But I tried to read Runes and I havent even gotten up to the land yet. I found myself reading and thinking "Nothing is happening...Will something happen soon?...Something happen for god sakes!". The weird thing is this book seems to be at the same kind of pace that all the others were. Time has moved on and maybe I have with it =(

 

[GOLLUM]

What has happened to me!? I Remember the first chronicles of Thomas Covenant as the greatest set of books that I ever have, and probably ever will, read. I thought the Gap series was just as good and I enjoyed the 2nd chronicles very much. But I tried to read Runes and I havent even gotten up to the land yet. I found myself reading and thinking "Nothing is happening...Will something happen soon?...Something happen for god sakes!". The weird thing is this book seems to be at the same kind of pace that all the others were. Time has moved on and maybe I have with it =(

Yep, being a huge Donaldson fan I've read Runes Of The Earth and enjoyed it. After the first 100 pages or so we return to The Land, although things have obviously changed from before..

Ciao for now.

 

[Novocaine]

Didn't Runes of the Earth outsell Lord of the Rings? It's what I heard, so I am sure as hell picking up that series.

 

[GOLLUM]

Didn't Runes of the Earth outsell Lord of the Rings? It's what I heard, so I am sure as hell picking up that series.

Runes Of The Earth is certainly worth a read IMHO. Just make sure you read the first two chronicles of T. Covenant (trilogy X 2), otherwise you won't get all of Runes. I think it's on the link of fav books I sent you?

Ciaoo for now..

 

[Rahl Windsong]

Aye well I think I screwed myself on this series I found The Runes of Earth at my local bookstore and when I was browsing it I noticed it said something about it being the First of the last...and like a fool I figured well if its the first it must be ok to read it so I did...good book I really enjoyed it but most likely now the previous parts will not be as good?

Rahl

 

[GOLLUM]

Aye well I think I screwed myself on this series I found The Runes of Earth at my local bookstore and when I was browsing it I noticed it said something about it being the First of the last...and like a fool I figured well if its the first it must be ok to read it so I did...good book I really enjoyed it but most likely now the previous parts will not be as good?

Rahl

Actually the previous books are on a similar par so do check out the First and Second Chronicles of Thomas Covenant (2 trilogies). Knowing what you know from Runes shouldn't spioil things too much as there's still plenty of story in the earlier series.

By the time you've got through them and all the other books I recommended to you you'll be ready for the next Malazan book afte Bonehunters...

 

[GOLLUM]

Hi folks.

By way of an update the second book Fatal Revanant is near completion but requires further editing. Below are suggested tentaive dates for the remaining books in the Final Covenant series:

Fatal Revenant - 2007
Shall Pass Utterly - 2010
The Last Dark - 2013

So the message here is, make sure you have plenty of other stuff to read in the meantime...

 

[Panamon Creel]

The thing that bugs me is that he says on his website that he has had the idea of writing this final Covenant series for about 20 years, that being the case why is it taking him so bloody long to write them.

 

[GOLLUM]

The thing that bugs me is that he says on his website that he has had the idea of writing this final Covenant series for about 20 years, that being the case why is it taking him so bloody long to write them.

Well don't forget there's a big difference to thinking about something and actually getting down to commit that something to paper. It's also quite common for authors to have ideas mulling around in thier head for years before they feel the time is right to make the kind of commitment necessary to produce a story. Also Donaldson's world and writing is reasonably well crafted, so for some people it takes longer than others to achieve the standard they're after.

My advice is to stay patient but also read other quality works whilst you await further books in the final series....

 

[Panamon Creel]

Well don't forget there's a big difference to thinking about something and actually getting down to commit that something to paper. It's also quite common for authors to have ideas mulling around in thier head for years before they feel the time is right to make the kind of commitment necessary to produce a story. Also Donaldson's world and writing is reasonably well crafted, so for some people it takes longer than others to achieve the standard they're after.

My advice is to stay patient but also read other quality works whilst you await further books in the final series....

I'm not too bothered to be honest. As per the recommendations on this site, I've just started the second book of George RR Martins, Song of Ice and Fire series, which I'm thoroughly enjoying and consider him a far better writer then Donaldson. After that, I'm looking forward to getting stuck into Steven Erikson's, Malazan series.
I'm just curious to know what happens next in the Covenant series but I'm not a huge fan of Donaldson. I still think 3 years is far too long between books.
Taken from Donaldson's website;

Actually, I've had the story for "The Last Chronicles" in mind for at least 25 years. When I first began to imagine "The Second Chronicles of Thomas Covenant," the ideas for this final project struck me at the same time. As a result, while I was writing "The Second Chronicles" I was able to prepare the way for "The Last Chronicles" by creating all of the loose ends and back doors I would need.

When I wrote the original "Covenant" trilogy, I had no intention of pursuing either the characters or the setting further. The story seemed complete to me as it stood. But my editor at that time was Lester del Rey, and he was the King of Sequels. As soon as I finished working on The Power that Preserves, he began to push for more "Covenant." Ignoring my protests, he tried to prod me by sending me ideas for a second trilogy. Well, these ideas were all bad (I thought they were inherently bad, but they may simply have been bad because they weren't mine). And they got worse as Lester pushed harder. Finally he succeeded at sending me an idea so bad that before I could stop myself I thought, "No, that's terrible, what I really ought to do is--" And there, almost involuntarily, I conceived the stories for both "The Second Chronicles" and "The Last Chronicles."

As I imagined it at the time, "The Second Chronicles" was a logical extension of the first "Covenant" trilogy. In the same way, "The Last Chronicles" is a logical extension of the second.

 

[GOLLUM]

I'm not too bothered to be honest. As per the recommendations on this site, I've just started the second book of George RR Martins, Song of Ice and Fire series, which I'm thoroughly enjoying and consider him a far better writer then Donaldson. After that, I'm looking forward to getting stuck into Steven Erikson's, Malazan series.
I'm just curious to know what happens next in the Covenant series but I'm not a huge fan of Donaldson. I still think 3 years is far too long between books.

Yep I know that qoute well. I agree that Martin and Erikson are probably more talented writers than Donaldson but at the time the original Covenant series was coming out in the late 70s and early 80's it was a bit of a gem at that time for me to read as there wasn't that much Fantasy avaialble at my local bookshops. I still enjoy the Covenant books quite a bit though.

Interesting you mention Martin because his latest book Feast Of Crows represented a 5 year gap before his previously published book in the series Storm Of Swords. Along with Erikson and R. Scott Bakker these are the modern masters of the EPIC Fantasy IMHO. Also the current book is really only half of the completed novel as it features only 50% of the POVs, the next book (due out late this year/early next year) contains the remaining POVs for the current story arc. It simply got too big to publish as 1 novel and the fans of course were becoming a little toey about a 5 year wait b/w books.

Erikson is my fav fantasy author of all time, the Malazan books certainly the best Fantasy series I've ever read. The other amazing thing about Erikson is that he pretty much stated he'd write 10 books in 10 years (part of his contract) and gave all 10 Titles upfront. To date (with a minor exception/dealy in Bk 6 Bonehunters) he's been true to this plan in addition to writing several novellas and being engaged on other projects during this same time. Given the length and quality of the books so far this blows me away a little.

Please do post your thoughts on the Erikson subforum when you get to read the books, will be interested in your comments...

 

[Panamon Creel]

I didn't know about Martins 5 year gap as I've only just started reading his stuff, although he does seem to have put out some other stuff during that gap unlike Donaldson as far as I know.
I also read the Covenant series in the early 80's and have a bit of a soft spot for it as at the time I hadn't read anything like it and its one of the main reasons why I've continued to read this type of fiction over the years.
I am looking forward to reading Erikson but I've put it to one side until I've finished Martins books.
Incidently, are there any other books by Martin worth reading and who is R. Scott Bakker?