Homage to Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever and author Stephen Donaldson

[Valesin]

I received the first book of the Final Chronicles of Thomas Covenant today and wrote this little 'Ode to the Unbeliever' in honor of it and the author Stephen R. Donaldson. It is to the tune of the old Spiderman theme song and contains some spoilers relevant to the first 2 Chronicles of Thomas Covenant.

Covenant, Covenant
Got the new Thomas Covenant.
Donaldson, brilliant guide
His books may lead you to suicide.

Oh yes, I got the Covenant.

Stalwart Giants, they're all dead.
They took an Illearth Stone to the Head.
Lords all gone, Bloodguard too
Can't count all the people that Lord Foul slew.

Oh yes, I got the Covenant.

He will pierce your soul with his prose like darkest night
You'll succumb to Despair so why put up a fight?

Covenant, Covenant
Final chapter of Covenant.
Make you cry, make you wail
Have no doubt that good will fail.

Oh yes, here comes new Covenant.

 

[Nightfall]

Any chance spoilage about this book?

 

[Null Boundry]

Any chance spoilage about this book?

Don't threads about these books always end badly?

Poster 1: I don't like these books because of X.
Poster 2: Thats because you didn't understand X.
Poster 1: Yes I did undertand it, I just didn't like it.
Poster 2: You are stupid, X is what makes them great.
Poster 1: You're a monster for liking X.

And so on.

By the way X is the guy is a rapist.

 

[drnuncheon]

I don't recall people saying 'X is what made them great', except for a different value of X - that being 'Covenant is a whiny b******d'.

Question about the final chronicle though:

Spoiler

From what I remember of the end of the second Chronicles, Covenant was dead on Earth and had been turned into some kind of protective disembodied guardian of the Land. How the heck is he continuing the story?

 

[mattcolville]

It's about Linden Avery.

So far, I'm only 50+ pages into it, and it's very good. It's already wrapping up a lot of loose ends about events in the real world. Things that he kind of glossed over in the second trilogy.

And I really like the fact that Linden is aware she's in a Stephen R. Donaldson novel. She knows what to expect. In fact, at several points, she reassures herself that she's not going to get sucked back into the Land because every time that happens, it's preceeded by the old beggar accosting someone. No beggar, so she must be safe.

Then, she gets really pissed off when it happens anyway.

Also, Donaldson is about 50% better at writing a female character. I'm still conscious of a certain level of remove between the writer and the character, but it's less pronounced. Also, the characters speak more believably. Which is to say; they swear. They also parse sentances like normal people do.

But there is still a high degree of unreality to the events in the real world. This town and these people feel like they're from the 50's, not the 70's/80's/90's. And they don't react to events like normal people sometimes.

 

[dreaded_beast]

Cool.

Although I was quite satisfied when the series ended, it's always interesting (for me anyways), to see how the story could have been continued.

Now, I wonder if anyone would make a Bloodguard PrC, hehe. The embodiment of "Lawful Neutral",

 

[Krieg]

Now, I wonder if anyone would make a Bloodguard PrC, hehe. The embodiment of "Lawful Neutral",

Oathsworn core class, Monte Cook's Arcana Unearthed...oh yeah, there are giants too.

 

[devilish]

Oathsworn core class, Monte Cook's Arcana Unearthed...oh yeah, there are giants too.

I remember when I first flipped through Arcana Unearthed thinking, "Hmm.
these Giants and Oathsworn certainly seem familiar..." and then catching
the intro in the beginning where Monte says that one of the inspirations
for AU was Thomas Covenant novels.

Picked up Runes of the Earth and *love* it...still in the "Pre-Land" part
of the book, but, to echo mattcolville, it feels different -- more real.
It's not the "Oh woe of Despite and Ur-Ill" that people would complain
about in the early series (which I loved anyway) but it feels more
modern day. Feels cozy to be back in Haven Farm.

-D