04-10-2002, 02:24 PM | #1 |
Hobbit
Join Date: Apr 2002
Posts: 33
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Thomas Covenant
Anybody like the 2 Trilogies of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever by Stephen Donaldson?
On the surface there are many similarites to LOTR but it is in fact a separate invention that has many fascinating ideas and characters. It is even darker than the LOTR with an Anti-Hero as the protagonist. One particularly interesting creation is the Bloodguard who have sworn an Oath of allegiance that is so strong that the Oath makes them immortal.
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the Gremlin |
04-10-2002, 09:25 PM | #2 |
Elven Warrior
Join Date: Feb 2002
Location: Orillia, Ontario
Posts: 221
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It's been a long time since I read both trilogies( in the 70's), but here's my comment on what I can remember. The first trilogy I really liked. I always enjoy a 'fish out of water' story, and Thomas didn't know about the new world he woke up in. You knew his ring was special, but not why. The second trilogy had a dark and hopeless feel to it. I found it depressing. Middle-earth is never that devastated. There is always the triumph of good, even when the land itself is destroyed - as in the scouring of the shire.
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04-10-2002, 10:08 PM | #3 |
Elf Lord
Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: 2nd star to the left.....
Posts: 566
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I also read them a long time ago. I like the first for much the same reason as Elvet. The second I don't remember well. But I can tell you that I still have the first trilogy on my bookshelf and I didn't bother to keep the 2nd.
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04-11-2002, 04:13 AM | #4 |
Hobbit
Join Date: Apr 2002
Posts: 33
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Interesting reactions. Maybe if you had read the second when you were older like I did you wouldnt have had the objections?
I liked the seond trilogy even better. THe first one was more "standard." Reminiscent of many Quest stories but, of course, having its unique anti-hero and ideas. The second trilogy had an amazing idea called the "Sunbane." In it the Land cycled thru days of Rain (floods), Heat (desert), Wild Growth (Jungle), and Fertility. The inhabitants had to gear their lives to survive in this insanity. The Sunbane was created by the Evil in the world and was controlled thru traitors that kept their own people subjugated. It was a particularly hopeless situation, as you said, yet Covenant triumphed in his unique anti-heroic way.
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the Gremlin |
04-11-2002, 08:18 PM | #5 |
Elf Lord
Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: 2nd star to the left.....
Posts: 566
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But I read them when I was "older" so that makes me really, really old now! Sunbane was an interesting concept but I liked the first trilogy much better.
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04-14-2002, 05:48 PM | #6 |
Elven Warrior
Join Date: Apr 2002
Location: My mother would say somewhere between the adult mystery section and the YA sci-fi
Posts: 489
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I read them and adored them. (well everything except the ending) How could they kill poor Thomas?
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05-01-2002, 09:01 AM | #7 |
Elven Warrior
Join Date: Apr 2002
Location: the banks of the Royal Blue Mersey
Posts: 247
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Did anybody else just want to give Covenant a good slap - I did enjo both sets of books , I enjoyed the darkness of them , to a certain extent their realism and Covenants obstinacey,I read them a few years back and tend to dip into them occasionally still - an overwhelming sense of depression descended on me whilst reading them , I really did want to shake him , suppose any reaction from a book is a good one - the fact he was not gungho and 'good' , but a flawed normal bloke ( apart from having leprosy that is ) I found fascinating.
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05-02-2002, 06:56 PM | #8 |
Elven Warrior
Join Date: Feb 2002
Location: Scunthorpe, UK
Posts: 166
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Have you read his book of short stories? It's good, and shows a lot more of the ideas he's had. I can't remember the title I'm afraid. Well worth a look, and if you're hacked off with the Second Chronicles of Thomas Covenant (long, at least!) it'll restore a little faith in the author.
Speaking of short stories, I liked Burning Chrome (William Gibson) but less so State of the Art (Iain Banks). For those who wanna know.
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05-05-2002, 06:37 PM | #9 |
Enting
Join Date: Aug 2001
Posts: 52
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The first started OK but by the end he was so spineless and unsympathetic I didn't bother with the second.
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