The Power That Preserves: (#3) (Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever) (Paperback)

by Stephen R. Donaldson (Author) "THOMAS COVENANT was talking in his sleep..." (more)
Key Phrases: graveling pot, lomillialor rod, graveling pit, High Lord, Lord Foul, Thomas Covenant (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review
'An irresistible epic imagination, heroism, excitement, made all the more real by Donaldson's deft handling of the rich history of the Land.' Chicago Daily News 'Donaldson has a vivid and unrestrained imagination he writes well and wields symbols powerfully.' Washington Post 'Something entirely out of the ordinary you'll want to go straight through Lord Foul's Bane, The Illearth War and The Power that Preserves at one sitting' The Times 'The Thomas Covenant saga is a remarkable acheivement which will certainly find a place on the small list of all true classics' Washington Post 'A feast for epic fantasy addicts' Publishers Weekly --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Description
The concluding volume in The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, the Unbeliever, now part of the Voyager Classics collection. Twice before Thomas Covenant had been summoned to the strange other-world where magic worked. Twice he had been forced to join with the Lords of Revelstone in their war against Lord Foul, the ancient enemy of the Land. Now he is back -- to a Land ravaged by the armies of Lord Foul. The Lords are besieged and helpless. No place is safe and Foul's victory seems certain. Only Covenant can avert it. Desperately and without hope, he sets out to confront the might of the Enemy. With him go a Giant, a Bloodguard and the madwoman he has wronged. And in Foul's Creche, Lord Foul grows in power with each new defeat for the Land. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Del Rey (June 23, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 034541845X
• ISBN-13: 978-0345418456
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.3 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (56 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #135,272 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Best Book in the Series, November 19, 2003

By	not4prophet (North Carolina) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Power That Preserves (The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever, Book 3) (Mass Market Paperback)

Wow.

Just wow.

"The Power that Preserves" is amazing. Astonishing. Breathtaking. The sort of fantasy novel that you expect to find once a decade, if it's a particularly good decade. This is the culmination of a story that so big you can barely believe it fits in three books, so intense that it seems amazing that any person could actually have written it. It is a story you will never forget.

One portion of the novels follows Lord Morham as he attempts to save the Land from total destruction in a final battle against Lord Foul's forces. The giant reaver Satansfist has Morham and the other wizards and defenders of the Land under siege at the castle of Revelstone. This contest is in amazing piece of virtuoso writing, perfectly melding several great action sequences with intense psychological passages to create something dazzling. I feel perfectly comfortable saying the Donaldson is the only fantasy author who has ever equaled Tolkien in writing battle scenes. The emotional triumph at the conclusion of this one is, well, words just can't describe it.

Any lesser author would have devoted an entire book just to that. For Donaldson, however, it's just the prelude to the main event. The main event, it's no spoiler to say, is the final showdown between Thomas Covenant and Lord Foul. And what a showdown it is. When Donaldson started writing this trilogy, the most important decision he made was that his main character would not be a standard fantasy hero. Thomas Covenant, of course, is the most deeply sympathetic and real character ever to appear in any fantasy novel. Having created a person as amazing as this one, of course, poses the problem of how to provide a satisfying conclusion while still remaining true to the character. Probably nobody alive could have pulled it off as well as Donaldson, but then again no one other than Donaldson would ever have attempted a fantasy series this ambitious anyway.

So in conclusion, read it, love it, be amazed by it.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars And so Conclude the Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever , December 28, 2005

By	The Peruvian Wunderkind (Mississauga, ON Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Power That Preserves (The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever, Book 3) (Mass Market Paperback)

By now, the reader is quite familiar with the deus ex machina conceit of Covenant's entering the Land by losing consciousness in the `real' world. Tired, angry, increasingly physically/psychologically diseased, and ill equipped for the journey, Covenant nevertheless dares to venture into the heart of darkness and destroy Lord Foul in this, the final addition to the First Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever series.

A good portion of the book divides itself into two threads: the siege of Revelstone, led by Foul's top minion, Satansfist; and Covenant's progress towards Foul's Creche. The text skilfully skips from one to another, treading the delicate line of taking the sufficient time to develop each plot, but not lingering too long where we lose our interest in/recollection of the other story. I particularly enjoyed the latter thread; Covenant runs into some rather unique situations and characters, foremost amongst these being the dolorous `soft people,' the jheherrin. Again, however, as is wont in much of the Covenant story arc, there are many (unintentional?) references to the Lord of the Rings. Here we have the man with a powerful ring that secretly journeys through the evil part of the land, entering a volcanic mountain with the help of an altruistic friend, resulting in a climactic showdown. Perhaps such references are unavoidable, as Tolkien essentially developed the fantasy template that successive authors drew upon.

The Power that Preserves unfortunately did not maintain the momentum, excitement, and scope of its predecessor, The Illearth War, which was the best book of the three. The pacing is more plodding and deliberate than the chaotic sequence of events that made the Illearth War such a blast to read. At times, it seems as if Donaldson is running out of steam and holding on for dear life to reach the end. And once the conclusion did arrive, I contentedly closed the book, without any further desire to revisit or reconsider what I read. Although enjoyable, and well written, the Power that Preserves ultimately fails to tap into the seemingly inexhaustible supply of verve and creativity that made its predecessors such bright stars in the fantasy constellation.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Groundbreaking Event, October 26, 2004

By	Inchoatus.com "Inchoatus.com" (Greeley, CO United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Power That Preserves (The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever, Book 3) (Mass Market Paperback)

Back in the 1970's it was Donaldson and Terry Brooks who proved that an audience for the genre of fantasy existed. It was Donaldson who proved that an author could publish, sell well, and still write something of definitive literary merit. While it is indisputable that Tolkien brought the genre of fantasy into existence it was still widely regarded as something for children (something fantasy fiction still struggles with today) and it is Donaldson who first wrote something that can only be aimed at adults. The Chronicles' influence over the last three decades has been and can be traced to Eddings' Belgariad, Feist's Riftwar Saga, and any of a host of crossover fantasy novels published in the genre. It's only defect and what prevents it from receiving our highest recommendations is the patina of ugliness that Covenant inevitably breeds. It's an irony about the word because it is the ugliness of Covenant that elevates the rather routine plot into something of literary merit but at the same time it will prevent The Chronicles from being the most cherished in people's minds.

WHO SHOULD READ:

For anyone who has complained that fantasy novels are too lighthearted or too childlike, Donaldson has answered your complaint with a staunch challenge. His Chronicles are a gladiatorial arena where in the pit metaphysics slugs it out not in the pristine abstractions of philosophers but in the blood, sweat, and madness of the arena. It is a terrific blend of pulse-quickening action immersed in carefully constructed philosophy. Any reader versed in philosophical discourse in either free will or ethics will be profoundly moved by Covenant's struggles. At the same time, readers with no taste in philosophy whatsoever who are firmly grounded in a sense of black/white and right/wrong will be equally moved by these books because the battles and action will mean something to them rather than events occurring like so many special effects in some rotten film starring Sylvester Stallone or Jean Claude Van Damme.

WHO SHOULD PASS:

The reader should beware of the content. It's very popular to accuse George RR Martin of having some kind of monopoly on books where bad things happen to really good (and popular) characters. That's not the case at all: next to Donaldson he is a child. Real crimes are committed and terrible sacrifices are made and it is something that the delicate should avoid. Additionally, many readers have been upset with the dense prose and idealized setting of The Chronicles. This is something that's rather important to what the book is about but that doesn't lessen the irritation that some people feel. If you have knee-jerk (and perhaps unwarranted) reactions to overt echoes of Tolkien or have a severe allergic reactions to similes (Donaldson cannot seem to write without liberal use of simile) then you might seek elsewhere. But really, these books were a groundbreaking event in fantasy publishing and shouldn't be missed.

READ THE ENTIRE REVIEW AT INCHOATUS.COM