The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant

[Black Omega]

There are some great ideas. The Bloodguard. How he handles giants. Even the idea of a hero with little power, but who still has to figure out how to help the people who see him as a savior would be good.

The problem is the protagonist is easy to dislike. In fact, it's easy to imagine the book would be much better if the good guys hammered him over the head with a club, took the one item that made him special, and dumped him somewhere. The world and the books would have been better for it.

 

[Gallowglass]

THomas Covenant, Stephen Donaldson etc

For me, the best thing about the six Covenant books were Covenant, and in the last three Linden Avery. So much fantasy literature is pompously self-righteous "find the hero inside" crap that basically lies to people about how much control they can actually achieve in their lives. the Covenant books take a normal everyman, and in both the real world and a fantasy world confront him with "epic" problems. And in the end, none of the (then) standard fantasy tropes or plot coupons succeed to vanquish the foe... I'll say no more, to avoid spoilers, but at the end of both trilogies, I liked Covenant, not as a hero on a pedestal, but as a human being I had sympathy for. Which considering how he starts out in the first trilogy was a GOB-SMACKING reversal the first time!

As for for Dave Langford: he's been flogging that horse for twenty odd years, mainly I think because Donaldson's chosen style in the Chroncles is deliberately verbose and esoteric, so there is a plethora of obscure words (all used correctly!!). I like it but it can be a bit hard work, and it has allowed Mr Langford some golden opportunities for hilarious parody. Personally I prefer Donaldson's style in the Chronicles to the minimalist style of the first GAP book which felt so flat and wooden to me that I gave up, and have still never managed to read the rest.

Other Donaldon's worth a look are the Mordant's Need duology (Should have been edited down to a single volume IMO, but an easier read than Covenant) and the short story collections Reave the Just and Daughter of Reagals. The later is important because no matter what sins Donaldson commits in his other work he earns absolution for ALL of them with the story "Unworthy of the Angel" which is just brilliant...

 

[SableWyvern]

Hey, Gallowglass:

The style Donaldson used in the first Gap book is not indicative of the entire series. In fact, right from book two, things change dramatically.

Read the whole series, and you won't regret it. Absolutely brilliant.

 

[Edena_of_Neith]

It is hard to know where to begin or end with The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant.

I can give some opinions:

Both trilogies involve High Fantasy
Both trilogies have a truly awful Antagonist
Both trilogies have genuine heroes and heroines
Both trilogies feature something truly worth fighting for
Stephen Donaldson is very bright, and it shows in his works
Stephen Donaldson has a lot of insight and experience in certain fields of medicine, psychology, and culture, and it shows in his works

Thomas Covenant is an exercise in frustration.
This is not a person who gets things done. You can kick him in the rear all day, and he won't budge from where he sits.
Thomas Covenant becomes the worst sort of criminal early in the first book of the first trilogy. And you, the Reader, have to live with it.

If you like happy endings, do not look for them here.
Tragedy and angst are as much a part of the story of Thomas Covenant as his leprosy is a part of his life.

In another thread, they are debating paladins.
Thomas Covenant, is the opposite of a paladin.
Thomas Covenant is neutral, if neutrality exists.
Thomas Covenant does not believe in causes, helping people, being courteous, being reasonable, or in anything else I can think of - he does not believe in the existence of the people he is interacting with in the story! (Thus his name, the Unbeliever.)

Linden Avery is featured in the Second Chronicles.
Linden Avery is not a criminal, in the sense that Thomas Covenant is, but Linden Avery is crazy.
That's right. Crazy. Not right in the head. Nevermind she is legally sane, and is a doctor to boot.
How is she crazy? Why did she go crazy? What does her lack of sanity cause to happen in the Second Chronicles? Read them and find out!

Thomas Covenant is a criminal.
Linden Avery is crazy.
And these are the two main Protagonists of the Chronicles.
Prepare yourself for a long, complicated, convoluted, and sometimes appalling ride.

 

[Edena_of_Neith]

THERE IS A SPELL ...

By the way, there IS a spell for summoning Thomas Covenant into your D&D campaign.
Or, if it does not summon Thomas Covenant himself, it will summon someone exactly like him, with conditions and altitudes similar to those of Thomas Covenant, relative to your campaign.
It will also summon the White Gold, or an appropriate (to your campaign) power of ultimate might ... and ultimate futility.
Whoever is summoned, will react to the campaign and the player characters in a way similar to the way Thomas Covenant reacted to The Land and it's people.

The spell is called Summon Unbeliever, is a 2nd level arcane spell, and was published in White Dwarf Magazine.

So, if you, the DM, become sufficiently fed up with your game-breaking, rules-lawyering, power-mongering players, and you really want to throw a real curve ball at them, give the mage the secrets of this spell.
Anyone who has read the Chronicles will tell you that summoning Thomas Covenant into the party of Player Characters will poise a challenge for them.

 

[Eternalknight]

When I read the part about Thomas's crime, I imeeduaitely knew that what people had said here about the series was absolutely right. I am enjoying it though.

 

[King_Stannis]

On four separate occasions over the space of 16 years, i've tried to get through Lord Foul's Bane. I've never made it to the end. I really wanted to like the book, but there's something that keeps me from finishing it. Yeah, the hero is really sort of a sleazeball, but that's not it. Some things are probably just not meant to be, I suppose.