Chronicles of Thomas Covenant The Unbeliever

[Amelia Faulkner]

miscellaneous helplessness

Great name for a band...

 

[farntfar]

Donaldson has a great deal to say about atonement, both positive and negative, in his various series. Both the Mirror of her dreams series and the Gap series speak of it a lot.

Incidentally, I think the GAP series, which is science fiction rather than fantasy is his best work. If you read it then struggle through the first book, The Real Story, which isn't very long. It does a lot of context setting for the others, which are bigger than the Covenant books.

 

[Stephen Palmer]

Great name for a band...

I loved their debut album Random Agog.

 

[HareBrain]

I have seen it claimed in the past that Tomas Covenant is one of the first examples of a commercially successful fantasy with an antihero as the protagonist and could have influenced later books that move away from the classic High Fantasy template. If it was published today it would probably be stuck with the 'grimdark' label.

The Land and its inhabitants are pretty much classic High Fantasy, I think, with only a few morally grey areas to spice things; it's only the protagonist that deviates from the template. Where it differs from grimdark is its emphasis on natural beauty and health as positive things that are worth striving to protect. Even Covenant at his most cynical never argues with this. His self-loathing could easily have made him turn against the Land and try to destroy it, but Donaldson never heads in that direction.

 

[SPoots]

What I think is that Covenant is a deliberate reaction against the High Fantasy genre. It's almost parodic in points, juxtaposing this almost sickeningly perfect fantasy world where nearly everything is wonderful and anything that isn't is down to quanitifable evil, with a just plain unpleasant, mundane figure who completely rejects any kind of beauty. It's like two extremes together, but no middle ground.

I'm hesitant to try the Gap books. My dad was the one who first recommended the Covenant series to me when I was a teenager, but he has been quite scathing about the Gap series in the past, and our tastes tend to be quite matched.

 

[Fried Egg]

Donaldson has a great deal to say about atonement, both positive and negative, in his various series. Both the Mirror of her dreams series and the Gap series speak of it a lot.

Incidentally, I think the GAP series, which is science fiction rather than fantasy is his best work. If you read it then struggle through the first book, The Real Story, which isn't very long. It does a lot of context setting for the others, which are bigger than the Covenant books.

You've very much hit the nail on the head. We see from much of his work that he likes creating characters that are thoroughly detestable and then spending the rest of the series trying to redeem them. He does this in the Thomas Covenant series and he does it in the GAP series with Angus Thermapyle.

 

[Fried Egg]

I'm hesitant to try the Gap books. My dad was the one who first recommended the Covenant series to me when I was a teenager, but he has been quite scathing about the Gap series in the past, and our tastes tend to be quite matched.

I didn't really like the Thomas Covenant books but I loved the GAP series. Wonderfully gripping. You can quite easily just read the first part which is only a short novella (and stands alone) and see how you go with that. If you want more, carry on with the series.

 

[farntfar]

he does it in the GAP series with Angus Thermapyle.

And to a lesser extent with Morn, but certainly with Warden Dios.

Meanwhile in the Mirror books Terisa spends most of the time failing Geraden because she allowed pretty boy watsisface to seduce her.

In these 3 cases thay weren't detestable, but each mucked up or suffered because of their feelings of guilt.

Mr. Donaldson must have done something terrible to the goldfish as a schoolboy and he has never forgiven himself.

 

[picklematrix]

I first attempted to read Thomas Covenant when i was too young to gain any enjoyment from a series of that sort.
Tried the first trilogy again years later and found them decent, though i have no real urge to go through the rest of Donaldson's bibliography. His prose, characters and setting are all interesting, but i just dont get pulled into his stories.