The Runes Of The Earth

[Foxbat]

By Stephen Donaldson

Ten years have passed. Thomas Covenant is dead and Linden Avery has an adopted son. All seems well until Roger (Covenant’s son) arrives and demands that Joan, his mother, is released into his care. As events unfold, Roger is unveiled as an agent of the Despiser, and his machinations culminate in Linden’s return to The Land. But there is a catch: Foul has her adopted son and Joan’s white gold ring.

The Sunbane has long since been vanquished and 3000 years have passed since Linden’s last visit. Foul has renewed his attack on the Arch of Time and the Haruchai (he claims) have become his unwitting servants. The staff of Law is lost and Linden must rely on an insane old man for her information on this new peril, but she also knows that time is short. She must rescue her son and save The Land from Despite. Throughout all this, she seems to hear Covenant’s voice in her head.

It’s business as usual for Donaldson’s characters. They suffer and strive to overcome. They fight against their own hopelessness within a land which throws up new problems and possibilities. This is book one of four.

My feelings are mixed about this one. I am a fan of Donaldson’s work. I like the gritty edge he tries to bring to the Fantasy genre. I like even more his Science Fiction epic The Gap Series. But this one has left me somewhat dissatisfied. It’s reasonably well written in his usual gutsy style, but it feels like I’m eating a burger – sure there is some lettuce and tomato there (nice and healthy) – but the meat tastes kind of plastic – kind of processed. I can’t quite figure out the problem.

I think the problem is that it’s kind of what I expected – variations on a theme. First trilogy: The Land is under threat – Covenant is transported there to save it.
Second trilogy: The Land is under threat – Covenant and Avery are transported there to save it.

I presume you get my drift. It’s clever stuff, but it’s all a bit repetitive - particularly when you remember that you can't kill Despite - so where does it all end?

In saying all that, I’ll probably buy the other books – just in case I’m wrong about the burger.

Hey hey hey Boo Boo – smarter than your average Fantasy.
6 out of 10

 

[littlemissattitude]

I just took this one back to the library today. I really tried to get into it, and I couldn't. I got about a hundred pages in and then just couldn't make myself go back to it. I'm kind of disappointed by that, as I've really been looking forward to reading it. I read through the first two trilogies compulsively, finishing all six books in about three weeks.

I will try it again sometime, maybe when I'm in more of a mood for it, or maybe after it comes out in paperback so I can read it at my leisure, digest it a few pages at a time instead of having the library due date hanging over me. I find that some books are like that; they can be taken only in small doses, but are still rewarding if you stick to them.

 

[ommigosh]

Thanks for the review Foxbat.

I have just finished reading Runes of the Earth and found it much more like a delicious seven course meal than a mere burger.

I just loved the book (almost as much as the First Chronicles of TC and that is saying something as that has been one of my favourite works of all time).

Apart from TC himself as a major player, it had everything you would expect of an adventure in the Land (angst ridden characters, the despicable Lord Foul, oaths, vows, inscrutable haruchai, ur-Viles, betrayal, trust, odd alliances, wild magic etc ) and more besides (eg time travel).

Linden Avery was somehow a more engaging character than in her previous appearances. Interestingly Lord Foul appears to be growing more of an interesting personality (He just "nudges things along a bit" these days). There are wonderful new enigmatic characters, the tormented and multi possessed Anele, the ever helpful yet ever betraying Esmer, the cold and disturbing Roger Covenant and poor lost Jeremiah who is trapped inside himself.

The great Thomas Covenant himself lingers like a shadow and haunts the story at its edges and seems set to burst into action in the next book. The whole thing is written in Donaldson's usual tense, dense ("clenched?") colourful and lyrical style which in itself is quite enchanting.

I for one, look forward to the rest of the series even if they are only half as good as Runes.

 

[Karsa Orlong]

I loved it. The man can do no wrong.

 

[Trey Greyjoy]

Im somewhere between Foxbat and littlemiss on this one.

Its engaging enough for me to keep reading and finish, but the theme has gotten a bit repetitive. (I mean, die already Foul!)

Ive always gotten the impression that if you turned over a stone in The Land, there wouldnt be any beetles or earthworms or nasty little crawleys. Everything just feels somewhat incomplete and clean, like the world was generated by computer at random and all the trees and rocks and streams just bear too much a striking resemblance to each other. Communites lay stagnant for thousands and thousands of years without progress or growth, just waiting for someone to stroll by and initiate events that will affect their lives. Even their clothes dont change.

The main characters have always been drawn very well, but the "extras" ,for lack of a better word, are much like cardboard cutouts going through the motions. I felt like I had to swallow a lot of disbelief to accept the premise of the story.

I think Linden is an outstanding protagonist however. Strong and smart. Devoid of Covenants constant bemoaning and doubt.

Its a tossup to me as to whether Ill continue the series or not. At this point, it unlikely. Id rather re-read the first 2 trilogies.

 

[Karsa Orlong]

Ive always gotten the impression that if you turned over a stone in The Land, there wouldnt be any beetles or earthworms or nasty little crawleys. Everything just feels somewhat incomplete and clean, like the world was generated by computer at random and all the trees and rocks and streams just bear too much a striking resemblance to each other.

Got to disagree here, I think Donaldson's world is probably second to none in terms of just how alive it feels, how richly organic and beautiful it is. It's full of variation and diversity too, certainly in the way I picture it at least. "Clean", well of course, the great majority of peoples living in the land can't help but love it, they're bound to keep it clean, and it had to be unusually clean and lush (note: cleanliness surely doesn't detract from a setting's beauty in any way) from Donaldson's perspective for The Land to work as an antithesis of Covenant's nightmare reality.

Communites lay stagnant for thousands and thousands of years without progress or growth, just waiting for someone to stroll by and initiate events that will affect their lives. Even their clothes dont change.

The way things progress is extremely realistic as far as I'm concerned - I don't think what you say is true at all. The people do change rather drastically over the time periods between each of his series, in terms of their traditions and the like - those things which remain the same tend to be attributes fundamentally shared by all communities throughout the ages.

Besides, history is a rather cyclic process which is a theme Donaldson likes to explore I believe, the repetitive nature of The Chronicles... may not please a lot of you but it's based rather solidly in reality methinks, it certainly hasn't come about via a lack of creativity on the writer's part (I follow the man's Q&A on his site, and his thoughts are quite complex and always evolving - everything he does is done for a reason).

I don't think the similarities between this book and previous books are something to complain about, let's put it that way. Donaldson's work is all about the underlying themes, which have most certainly been evolving from series to series. As far as very basic plotlines go, certainly all the series are similar, one might argue that they're quite similar to Tolkien too in a broader sense, but I don't think this detracts from one's overall read so long as one continues to ponder over why he might be doing things this way, rather than wishing he'd done them differently.

 

[Trey Greyjoy]

I mean, thousands of year in between visits and the people of Mithil Stonedown are exactly the same? The Haruchai even wear the same clothes. There are other examples, including the way the people react to Linden...

I can only give my impressions and there they are. I loved and devoured the first two trilogies years ago, heck I even highlighted passages I thought were extraordinarily well written. This one just doesnt do it for me.

It doesnt invalidate the pleasure you derived from your reading. Enjoy!

 

[genisis2]

Very well said TG.

Of Donaldsons work this was the least enjoyable book for me but far from horrible. I think Foxbat gave it a fair assessment of a 6 out of 10.

 

[Trey Greyjoy]

In reading back, it looks like I focused on the negatives perhaps too much.

I do enjoy Donaldson's style and I love Linden as the chief protagonist.

For me its a 5.5 or 6 of ten also.

 

[Status]

Well, after reading this thread I think I'll set my copy back for perhaps a later time (when I've run out of other things to read).

I found the second set not as good as the first (for me) and attributed it to the possibility I was getting tired of so much of it. Perhaps in the near future I’ll give it a try.

 

[Karsa Orlong]

I mean, thousands of year in between visits and the people of Mithil Stonedown are exactly the same? The Haruchai even wear the same clothes. There are other examples, including the way the people react to Linden...

Isolated, simple communities like that do tend to settle into a rut for long periods of time, though. The Haruchai always have that sort of uniformity and consistency about them too, not just in the way they change over the years but in everything, they repeat the same mistakes over and over again, react the same way, simply because it's in their nature to do so - I don't think Donaldson had a choice here. As for the way people react to Linden, why would people in different ages react differently to some alien legendary presence being transported into their midst? They're always going to be fearful, intrigued, etcetc, I think the same reaction would apply to most ancient communities and probably many societies today.

It doesnt invalidate the pleasure you derived from your reading. Enjoy!

I know, will do.