Does anybody recommend Donaldson?

[GOLLUM]

Yeah, eventually, I guess. But there's just so much other stuff I've gotta read in-between, it may take as much as a year.

Better late than never......

 

[Munkeygames]

Just to throw in my 2 cents....
That was only after I had started the first one 2 or 3 times and stopped. I had a great deal of trouble moving past the rape scene near the beginning.

Well your going to really shudder if you read the Gap Series, there is some really evil stuff going on there. These terrible abhorrent things do give power to the story though. Its Donaldsons ability as a great storyteller that turns it all on its head. For Instance

POSSIBLE SPOILER!!!

One of the lead characters in the Gap series is amongst other things - a murderer, a rapist, a slave trader but at the end, am i routing for him - hell yes, im whooping with delight as this monster pulls off the impossible

 

[Rosemary]

Well, I enjoyed The Covenant trilogies. Certainly different to the books I usually read. This was certainly, from MPOV, rather a psychological book, looking into his thoughts and changes of attitude.
It was a while ago now, so am I right in saying that The Gap is a new one this year? (Can't find your list gollum!)
Have also read The Mirror of Her Dreams and A Man Rides Through. Nowhere near as good as The Covenant. I thought they were rather strange!

 

[dwndrgn]

I had a bit of trouble with that same scene the first time I read it but moved on and enjoyed the series. That was over 15 years ago I believe. I tried to re-read it again recently (last year I believe) and couldn't get through it at all. I found it boring, flat and the main character got on my nerves so badly that I just couldn't finish it.

 

[Rosemary]

I had a bit of trouble with that same scene the first time I read it but moved on and enjoyed the series. That was over 15 years ago I believe. I tried to re-read it again recently (last year I believe) and couldn't get through it at all. I found it boring, flat and the main character got on my nerves so badly that I just couldn't finish it.

I won't be re-reading the older series prior to checking out the new one, dwndrgn. I thought The Covenant was good but not that good.
I have re-read other authors when they publish another book in a series. Like to refresh my memory of the characters, countries and the storyline itself.

 

[GOLLUM]

I won't be re-reading the older series prior to checking out the new one, dwndrgn. I thought The Covenant was good but not that good.
I have re-read other authors when they publish another book in a series. Like to refresh my memory of the characters, countries and the storyline itself.

Good news Rosemary, the new book Runes Of The Earth (final Covenant series of 4 books) which I've read has a very good summary on the series so far. Most helpful!!!!

 

[Munkeygames]

so am I right in saying that The Gap is a new one this year? (Can't find your list gollum!)

The Gap series is unrelated to Covenant - Its a Sci Fi series of books

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/stores/series/-/89332/mass_market/002-6801391-6427261

 

[GOLLUM]

The Gap series is unrelated to Covenant - Its a Sci Fi series of books

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/stores/series/-/89332/mass_market/002-6801391-6427261

Rosemary,

Munkeygames is correct, GAP series was a sci fi series , the only one I haven't read by Donaldson.

As per my previous post above Runes Of The Earth which I've already read is the title of Book 1 of the final Covenant quartet. Should still find in bookshops...

 

[Rosemary]

Rosemary,

Munkeygames is correct, GAP series was a sci fi series , the only one I haven't read by Donaldson.

As per my previous post above Runes Of The Earth which I've already read is the title of Book 1 of the final Covenant quartet. Should still find in bookshops...

I thought I had read somewhere that GAP wasn't like the Covenant, so thanks for confirming it, the both of you.

Yes I remember that Runes of The Earth is Book 1 of the final Conventant. Well if, as you say, there is a good summary of the previous Covenant books, then maybe I will consider getting it. It's only that I didn't keep any of The Covenant Books, didn't want to spend more money to get them back if the Runes of the Earth was not much more than just another volume. (Does that make sense??) So will she or wont she? That is the question!!! Anyway thanks for the info and will see you around in the Forums.

 

[GOLLUM]

Rosemary as you know I don't make a habit of rereading books as this is no exception. I'd read the Donaldson books about 15 years ago and had no problem with picking up where the story left off thanks largely to the Intro. It's only about 10 pages or so long but just read it a few times and when you're reading the new book and things wil start to sink in again...

In a sense this first book is the start of a new story so it doesn't matter if you can''t rememberr all the details of the previous works as long as you have a genreal idea of what happened before and just enjoy the new book which after all is the start of a new series/story arc.

 

[Brys]

I thought Covenant, as a character was excellent, as was pretty much everything to do with him. However, I thought the Land, as a world, was a carbon copy of Middle Earth, the plot was a copy of Lord of the Rings, and the writing didn't flow very well, because Donaldson as an author seemed uncomfortable with the fantasy setting IMO, as his bits on earth were immensely better than the rest of the novel.

 

[Rosemary]

Rosemary as you know I don't make a habit of rereading books as this is no exception. I'd read the Donaldson books about 15 years ago and had no problem with picking up where the story left off thanks largely to the Intro. It's only about 10 pages or so long but just read it a few times and when you're reading the new book and things wil start to sink in again...

Thanks for that Gollum The Intro sounds a great idea, wish more authors would do that.
Oh well, that's made the decision easy - I shall get Runes of the Earth !!

 

[cyborg_cinema]

...another vote for Chronicles of Thomas Covenant. He writes science fiction and fantasy.

 

[GOLLUM]

Thanks for that Gollum The Intro sounds a great idea, wish more authors would do that.
Oh well, that's made the decision easy - I shall get Runes of the Earth !!

HMMM.. hope this means you won't beat me around the head if you end up hating the book LOL!..

 

[Rosemary]

HMMM.. hope this means you won't beat me around the head if you end up hating the book LOL!..

Of course not precioussssssssss
You're the one with the latex hose and the basement remember, not me!!

 

[Allanon]

i love donaldsons writing, i cant wait for next covenant book it's like wainting for the last installment of the dark tower, that was killing me.

 

[newt2]

Hi all, just found this forum. This is my first post.



I've been a Donaldson fan since before I was ten years old. I probably had no business reading Lord Fouls Bane at the age I did, but those books started me on the path of loving the genre for the next 25 years of my life.



Anyway I highly recommend his work as long as you’re not squeamish and/or prefer heroic and noble characters. All of Donaldson’s works are stories of redemption, and you can't have that when the main character is a nice guy. Donaldson tears his characters down, and is downright cruel to them only to build them up later in the series. Everything by him follows that pattern, even his later mystery works. He's a master of making you hate a character at first and then making you rethink that judgment later. I can only think of one fantasy author that does that at well and that's George Martin.



Another thing that Donaldson does real well is the action sequence. His action and battle scenes leave you gripping the book with white knuckles. The Gap Series was full of them and the IllEarth War has one of the better running battle scenes in any fantasy book that I've read.



If there's one criticism about him it's that book one of any series of his is slow, depressing and sometimes downright offensive. You have to struggle through that to get to the good stuff later on.

 

[Brys]

Newt, you suggest that I'd really like it through that, but I ended up being ambivolent on it - enough so that I'm continuing to read the series, but I didn't find the Covenant series to be one of the best out there, just a good series. I like "slow, depressing and sometimes downright offensive" books - Mervyn Peake's Gormenghast and Michael Moorcock's Gloriana come to mind immediately - but my problem was that the idea was too simple for the length of it - I'd have preferred him to do a fully original series with the main character as a leper, rather than inserting a leper as main character into the Lord of the Rings, more or less.

 

[GOLLUM]

I thought Covenant, as a character was excellent, as was pretty much everything to do with him. However, I thought the Land, as a world, was a carbon copy of Middle Earth, the plot was a copy of Lord of the Rings, and the writing didn't flow very well, because Donaldson as an author seemed uncomfortable with the fantasy setting IMO, as his bits on earth were immensely better than the rest of the novel.

Well I must admit I just didn't quite see it that way. I agree that the plot was a bit LOTRish but the actual land and groups who populated it were different to a LOTR clone for me anyway. Also I thought a lot of his writing was very good and that the books flowed really well and that there were several interesting themes he explored and I particularly enjoyed the psychological aspect of the story along with the excellent charterization of Convenant himself. Reasons for why it appears in my top 5 list as for me the time it was written (late 70's) made it something of a modern landmark series in the Genre.

 

[NWRDevil]

Yes I do.
I am reading Runes of the earth at the moment, and have read the first two chronicals twice. As much as I love LOTR I have always enjoyed these books more.
I have had to wait over 20 years for this new book and so far ite more of the same. I love it.