Customer Reviews

The First Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever: Lord Foul's Bane; The Illearth War; The Power That Preserves

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I have read this series six times. A complete world is created in the mind of a man or is it all within another reality? This is a highly thought provoking look into the rules and structure that a leprous person must deal with. Plus a ton of fantasy with creatures you never dreamed of.

there is not really too much that I want to say about the thomas covenant series of books --- I love epic fantasy and after tolkien i think donaldson's 6 books plus of thomas covenant and "the land" is the next best read. truthfully, donaldson wrote the first 2 sets (6 books) in the late 70s --- I have read these 6 books perhaps 30 times since then --- I don't think I need to say much more than that...

on top of everything, donaldson is a very down to earth and nice guy --- altho he is a bit harder to reach now after all these years --- the last book of thomas covenant (that would make 9) is coming out this fall I think...

5 stars is not enough for this epic --- i would do 5 stars for each of the first 6 books...

As the title implied, but that it alright. It's one big book, all three stories are inside. It's big, it's thick and it's 3 stories. I read this as a teenage kid, so I got it for my grandson who is a little younger, but has a good imagination.

The first Thomas Covenant series was an extraordinary find to me while I was in high school. Since then I am reading this series for the 3rd time, which is something that I can say about no other series of books except for Lord Of The Rings. Yes, I say this series is comparable to Lord Of The Rings in its themes, storyline, mythical beings, magic, and underlying worldly history. An unbelievably well thought out story line that you may not fully appreciate until you have finished at least the 2nd chronicles. I highly recommend this book above all other fantasy books and the first novel "Lord Fouls Bane" stands on its own fairly well if you just want to test out the books. You will fall in love with the characters, look past Covenants whiny nature and appreciate his complexity while the characters around him are well developed and entertaining. Love it. A+++. Also, the authors website is 2nd to none... he is a very involved author.

Overall this is a good trilogy of novels. It is a very character driven series, focusing more on the inner workings of the main character than the plot. Overall, this is a strength to the series, not a weakness. The plot itself is solid enough.

Essentially, Thomas Covenant is a leper and an author in our world who is pulled into another realm to help be the savior of the land. Covenant is a very wounded main character, the result of his leperosy in the real world.

Here is what I disliked about the novel: Thomas Covenant is the biggest whiner I have ever read. The guy is so self centered and pathetic, its hard to care about him. I am a doctor, have been to leperosy camps, and have also suffered with cancer for 2 years. I have never met a patient with any disease who took it as poorly as Thomas Covenant does. It bordered on unbelievable to me that someone could tackle a disease as poorly as this guy does. Covenants first act in the new world he comes to is to rape an underage girl.... Wow, great way to make me care about the protagonist. Not only do I hate rape and the character who did it, but the act itslef was completely out of character from everything else Covenant does. While he is pathetic and whiny, he is not aggressive or a rapist. I just didnt understand this plot point. It had little to do with the overall story and really alienates the reader so far from caring about the protagonist... Also, he basically refuses to help out or do anything usefull for the entire 3 books. That is until the very end where he decides suddenly to go to the "dark lord's" territory and end everything. This sudden change of attitude made no sense and wasnt developed. I could go on and on about this, but I wont.

So overall an interestnig trilogy. Recommended for those who like character driven fantasy (ie Robin Hobb, ect). Those people who hate these books almost universally feel this way because of the way the character of Thomas Covenant is written. Its not easy to read or care about him.

I thought this story was very "dry" and hard to follow. I lost interest and never finished.