(With a nod to Foxbat for his review of The Runes of the Earth, which review matches my take on that book quite well).
The books of Stephen R. Donaldson are among my earliest ventures into Fantasy literature. A friend in high school pointed me in the direction of Lord Foul’s Bane, and I was hooked. I devoured the first series, then suffered along with other Donaldson fans in between the books of the second Covenant series. I was quite eager, therefore, to pick up the book which preceded Fatal Revenant, The Runes of the Earth.
Alas, my read of The Runes of the Earth, while enjoyable, often felt as though Donaldson was trying to find his way back to Linden Avery, Thomas Covenant and The Land, rather than retaking his place at the helm of yet another masterwork. This feeling lingered, and caused me to put off the acquisition of Fatal Revenant for almost two years after its release. I thought, “There’s plenty else out there that’s likely to grip me better.”
What a mistake! Fatal Revenant continues what seems to be Linden Avery’s final visit to the Land, but with none of the hesitancy and plodding pace that crowded Donaldson’s sub-plots for most of Runes. Instead, Avery begins to put the pieces of her son’s abduction by Lord Foul together in a caroming ride through The Land’s Past and Present that is sure to be satisfying to all who ever wanted more about the characters handed down in The Land’s legends or who only had cameo roles in the previous Covenant books. She also discovers yet another mysterious centuries-spanning race known as The Insequent in the process, and finds both friend and foe among these beings, too. Meanwhile, Donaldson remembers more of the different races and creatures that made his first two series successful, and restores them to the story in Revenant with a decisiveness that will have long-time fans cheering. What Avery learns about the deeds of her growing cast of foes galvanizes her resolve in a way that is unprecedented for a Donaldson protagonist (although, perhaps reminiscent of a prior supporting character to Covenant), and leaves the reader wondering right up to the very end how she will choose to act on her newly acquired knowledge.
To be sure, some things remain the same. Avery agonizes over and relives many nuances of statements made previously by her companions, foes and chance encounters, one of Donaldson’s favorite devices to reveal what (and more importantly, HOW) his main characters are thinking. And, as is the case with ALL of Donaldson’s work, his lofty command of the English vocabulary is on full display within Revenant. To me, this is a wonderful, if somewhat trying, trademark of Donaldson’s prose, but those who do not delight in uncommonly-used words like “sortilege” and “thetic” will occasionally find cause for distraction within Revenant. Finally, like the succeeding books in Donaldson's previous two Covenant series, it is difficult to grasp the full nuance of the story unless you've read Runes. Interested parties who've not read any of Donaldson's previous Covenant books, at least Runes, should NOT start here!
Fatal Revenant is powerful, high fantasy worthy of sharing shelf space alongside the best of Donaldson’s previous Covenant novels. It is a significant improvement over Runes; I give it an 8 out of 10, maybe an 8.5.
The books of Stephen R. Donaldson are among my earliest ventures into Fantasy literature. A friend in high school pointed me in the direction of Lord Foul’s Bane, and I was hooked. I devoured the first series, then suffered along with other Donaldson fans in between the books of the second Covenant series. I was quite eager, therefore, to pick up the book which preceded Fatal Revenant, The Runes of the Earth.
Alas, my read of The Runes of the Earth, while enjoyable, often felt as though Donaldson was trying to find his way back to Linden Avery, Thomas Covenant and The Land, rather than retaking his place at the helm of yet another masterwork. This feeling lingered, and caused me to put off the acquisition of Fatal Revenant for almost two years after its release. I thought, “There’s plenty else out there that’s likely to grip me better.”
What a mistake! Fatal Revenant continues what seems to be Linden Avery’s final visit to the Land, but with none of the hesitancy and plodding pace that crowded Donaldson’s sub-plots for most of Runes. Instead, Avery begins to put the pieces of her son’s abduction by Lord Foul together in a caroming ride through The Land’s Past and Present that is sure to be satisfying to all who ever wanted more about the characters handed down in The Land’s legends or who only had cameo roles in the previous Covenant books. She also discovers yet another mysterious centuries-spanning race known as The Insequent in the process, and finds both friend and foe among these beings, too. Meanwhile, Donaldson remembers more of the different races and creatures that made his first two series successful, and restores them to the story in Revenant with a decisiveness that will have long-time fans cheering. What Avery learns about the deeds of her growing cast of foes galvanizes her resolve in a way that is unprecedented for a Donaldson protagonist (although, perhaps reminiscent of a prior supporting character to Covenant), and leaves the reader wondering right up to the very end how she will choose to act on her newly acquired knowledge.
To be sure, some things remain the same. Avery agonizes over and relives many nuances of statements made previously by her companions, foes and chance encounters, one of Donaldson’s favorite devices to reveal what (and more importantly, HOW) his main characters are thinking. And, as is the case with ALL of Donaldson’s work, his lofty command of the English vocabulary is on full display within Revenant. To me, this is a wonderful, if somewhat trying, trademark of Donaldson’s prose, but those who do not delight in uncommonly-used words like “sortilege” and “thetic” will occasionally find cause for distraction within Revenant. Finally, like the succeeding books in Donaldson's previous two Covenant series, it is difficult to grasp the full nuance of the story unless you've read Runes. Interested parties who've not read any of Donaldson's previous Covenant books, at least Runes, should NOT start here!
Fatal Revenant is powerful, high fantasy worthy of sharing shelf space alongside the best of Donaldson’s previous Covenant novels. It is a significant improvement over Runes; I give it an 8 out of 10, maybe an 8.5.
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