Lord Foul's Bane (First Chronicles Series #1)

A powerful, moving, timeless epic

This is without doubt the best fantasy story I have ever read. It is complex,has amazing depth and takes readers on a journey that they will never forget. I read the entire series in about three weeks it would have been less but I started slowing down at the end because I didn't want to finish. It was like having to part with old friends that you had been through heaven and hell with. Well done Mr Donaldson for giving the world such a beautiful and complete human story- so dark in places and yet ultimately a brilliantly graceful message. Thanks so much.

3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

What A Mistake!!

When i first read all the glowing reviews for this series, I thought I had found a winner. I purchased all of the first three books of the initial trilogy. I assumed with so many great recommendations I couldn't go wrong. Boy was I wrong! The hero?, Thomas Covenant, whines, cries and rages his way thru page after page after page. Covenant is one of the most despicable characters I have ever come upon. A quarter of the way into the book a young, innocent girl of 16 tries to befriend Covenant, takes him to her home to eat and meet her family, and he repays her by losing his temper and raping her. At this point I threw the book down and refused to read anymore. The image of a leper molesting a child was too much for me. After a few days I decided that something must radically change in the plot because the book has so many good reviews. There must be some redeeming change in his character to make him worthy of being the hero. So I decided to read the rest of it.
I shouldn't have bothered. Covenant doesn't alter his behavior one bit. He whines, he cries, he argues, he rages. When attacked, his first inclination is to hide and cower. He doesn't find the will to fight until he loses his temper from fear. And then he's ashamed of himself because he's killed. I found myself rooting for the bad guys, hoping one of them would lop his head off. That way the story could continue without him in it.
I threw the book in the trash along with parts 2 & 3 unread. I won't have that kind of drivel on my bookshelf. Someone might come across it and think I enjoyed it!
If you enjoy fantasy that doesn't follow the usual tired and overused plot lines, you should check out a series by Kate Elliot called "Crown Of Stars". It's everything intelligent fantasy should be.

2 out of 11 people found this review helpful.

Unlikeable Unbeliever: Hoping Sequel Is Better

How does one start a review on a book one despised for the first 376 pages, and wavered between love and hate for the last 98? Because that's my general feeling about Lord Foul's Bane. It's a nice long book with a fantasy story, a made up land, a strange language, people with pointy ears, people who live in trees, horses that seem smarter than your average horse, giants, mountains, a ring that glows, old men with long beards and special staffs (staves?), and a creepy underground dwelling "cavewight" who yearns for power. Sound familiar? Yes, it's a lot like The Lord of the Rings. But it's a little different: it's slightly easier to read. But that doesn't make it great. The writing was slow and sluggish at times, far too much expository description for locations which could have been understood better with less detail, "less is more" sometimes rings so, so true.

Thomas Covenant's journey is both physical, and mental, as well as emotional for him. The entire span of the book he's convinced he's dreaming. You would think he'd catch on that The Land had helped heal his leprosy, but he's in serious denial. It's one long mental crisis that peaks three-quarters of the way through when Covenant realizes he needs to pick a side, make a decision, but he doesn't do it right away. He has kept moving only because moving forward through the "dream" is the only way he can survive. but when he's met over and over again with those defining moments where an action from him will make him a hero, he cowers and shakes, and runs away. Perhaps that makes him the most realistic fantasy character I've ever read. He doesn't become the hero overnight, in fact, he may not be the hero at all. He doesn't make his own choices because he wants to, he's pushed into a corner where the only thing left is to appear as though he's made a decision. I am not sure if he ever really did decide to be the good or bad guy, or if he did the only thing he could do because that's all there was. He's flawed, and that's real.
Overall, I'm going with a neutral 2 1/2 stars out of 5 on this one. I really did not like most of the book, but the end (slightly) redeemed itself.

2 out of 6 people found this review helpful.

Disgusting

The 'hero' is a rapist! The story is slow and uninteresting. Horrible, horrible book.

2 out of 9 people found this review helpful.

Stands the Test of Time

Like other reviewers here, I read all these books when they first came out and have just begun rereading them. This is not light reading and does require some thought on the part of the reader but the payback is a story of depth and beauty and Thomas Covenant, himself, is a complex, troubled individual. A word on this...there has been some criticism on his behavior early on in this book and, yes, it is impossible to justify. However, remember this is a man who has attuned himself to feel nothing emotionally and, by nature of his disease (leprosy) already feels very little physically due to the destruction of his nerve endings. He is thrust into a world where ALL feeling and perception is vivid and painted in the brightest of colors and hues. His reactions are understandable if not justifiable. I don't want to give too much away but if you are tired of the standard fantasy about handsome/beautiful kings/queens, bad wizard vs good wizard, dragons, dragons and more dragons. Well, try this. It's depth is amazing.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Why are we so polarized?

Without a doubt, my all time favorite series of books (The First AND Second Chronicles). I, like a lot of other reviewers, read the books some time ago and am now rereading them. I can't wait to get through them again. I'm now finding all kinds of foreshadowing gems in Lord Foul's Bane that I couldn't have recognized the first time through. Anybody who doesn't like these stories is truly incapable of appreciating Donaldson's sense of imagination and storytelling. I've heard people describe his writing style as 'strangled,' 'dense,' etc., but as a professional writer, I believe that his writing style is necessary for story he tells. Other people have called him a 'Tolkein wanna-be,' and even a 'Dostoyevski wanna-be.' These people know not that they honor him by making these claims. All good authors are inspired by their predecessors, but Donaldson adds his own style and his intense imagination to the genre that is unequalled, I believe, by anyone I've yet read. I finished reading the chronicals about 8 years ago the first time, and I still think about the characters all the time. Like others, my heart has been riven from my chest by the horrors of the Wounded Land, but I was absolutely spellbound nonetheless! I am still in awe of Nom, the sandgorgon, an utterly fascinating Second-Chronicals hero. Too many others to itemize here. I still can't believe that anyone who likes fantasy did not absolutely love this series. If you don't believe me, read it...but beware, it isn't Tolkien.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Depth of Emotion and Beauty

I read the Covenant series for the first time about 10 years ago, and have reread them several times since. I have read an enormity of titles by countless authors, but never has any literary work by any author ever touched my soul so deeply. My sister had a rare genetic disorder and since she was exremely limited in physical ability, she devoted her entire being to loving her family and READING. These books are indeed pensive and incredibly sad at times, but the EMOTION that the LAND seems to fill the reader with is beautiful beyond compare. My sister and I read the series together and held each other amd cried as though written into the story, and able to touch, see, and feel the characters, which Donaldson makes so human, so vulnerable. Read this book, and you will never forget the likes of Saltheart Foamfollower, Lord Morham, Bannor, Trell(who has much pain), Atirian, and countless others whose fates become all so important to us, the reader. Thank you Mr. Donaldson, your books are one of the few great joys that my sister was allowed to cherish.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Lord Copyright Infringement's Bane

This book is one of the most vile and despicable means of making money. To think that Lord Foul's Bane could actually be published is as easy as thinking that the sun rises in the west and sets in the east. The concept of Del Rey, a publishing company that only accepts great works of art, would allow such trash to enter the mainstream world of books is astoundingly wretched. Stephen R. Donaldson cannot even be congratulated on his copying technique, since it is so blatantly obvious that he can think of no ideas on his own, relying solely on the works of literary masters. Thomas Covenant starts out with a ring made of white gold and if you take out the word 'white', you have something very similar to Tolkien. He travels through a strange land meeting Elves who live in a symbiotic relationship with the trees, exactly like the Elves in Lothlorien. He then is taken by a giant (hmm...Ent) to a large city with many levels (Minas Tirith). He then goes with a clan of horse people (Rohirrim) and in the end goes inside a large volacno, where the ring starts to wear on him. Imagine that! Well, actually, Tolkien did. My advice to you; go read the original.

1 out of 9 people found this review helpful.

why do readers like this book so much?

Too derivative of tolkien...the ring, the descent into the mountain, the rituals, the despiser....all found in tolkien, who, i must add, writes in a much lighter and clearer ( i.e. more readable) style.

1 out of 4 people found this review helpful.

Brilliant writing but extremely dark often depressing imagery

Donaldson is definitely brilliant. He creates an incredible world, has fantastic imagery and tells a great story. However, as fantasy goes it sure isn't the good guy wins and all live happily ever after. When it is absolutely darkest and you can't possibly imagine that anything else bad/evil can befall the good guys, then the the final stroke falls. As a writer Donalson is immensely talented, but as a fantasy reader more accustomed to the likes of Anne McCaffrey and Mercedes Lackey, he is just too dark and depressing for me. I read the entire Illearth War series hoping for some positive outcome and only felt like crying when I put the last book down. The ability to awaken that level of depression obviously says he got thru to me and the fact that I read succesive novels says I liked something about him. However, I would recommend a heavy dose of Prozac before embarking on a major read of Donalson.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

This is a terrific accomplishment by a literary mastermind. Fo

This is a terrific accomplishment by a literary mastermind.

Forget the one star reviews. It's obvious that these readers can not grasp the concept of "Anti-Hero".
Thomas Covenant is labeled the unbeliever, he travel the Land not believing what is happening to him. He thinks it is all a dream and if so he cannot be held accountable for any and all vile acts he commits.Thomas Covenant is not meant to be likable, he is a scourge, an unwilling component necessary to make the circuit complete.

The true main character of these books is the Land. Yes, the world Donaldson has created actually has a life of it's own. Everything in these books revolves around the Land, from the ailiantha to, The Dance of the Wraiths.

There are those who have compared this to The Lord Of The Rings? Obviously the for mentioned reviewer is a die-hard Tolkien fan. I find it funny that most die-hard fans of Tolkien like to compare other epic works to TLR and claim them to be rip-offs. Comparing the Giants of Sea Reach to the Ents of TLR is absurd.

Perhaps the die-hard fans of TLR should do some research and see who inspired Tolkien. His ideas where not new to fantasy when he penned TLR.

This is a truly unique work of art.

Didn't finish

The main character is so completely unlikeable! I don't know how anyone could possibly want to read about him. He whines, moans and groans through the book, dragging his feet and against just about everything. I made it about half way through and gave up. That's a first for me. I never gave up on a book before. So yea...waste of time and money.

0 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Definitely not a hero...

I didn't enjoy this book as much as I would have thought. I read many of the reviews before purchasing this book and the review that I find myslef agreeing with the most is the most negative of the bunch. Donaldson doesn't spend a great deal of time on character development and while I realized in the end that the story itself called for it, I still found it frustrating. The only character that is even remotely developed is Thomas Covenant himself and he is not at all likeable. I hated him within the first 20 pages and that feeling did not change by the end of the story. In fact, despite considerable efforts I could find nothing redeeming about him in the entire 475 pages. I wouldn't reccomend.

0 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

The Unveliever Holds True

This book came highly recommended by a friend and at first I wasn't sure why...Thomas is a leper who has lost his family, friends and all touch with society due to his unexpected illness. He is constantly finding ways to stay in touch with a world which wants nothing to do with him any more. While taking a walk through his town he his hit by a police car and falls into an alternate reality. Thomas assumes through out the story that he is just dreaming and the only way to wake up is to follow the "story" the way each character pushes him to. Thomas is pitted against an evil foe which he first encountered on his way into this alternate world. Thomas is the unbeliever because he will not accept his part which needs to be played in the story, so that the good side will win. There are many delightful characters introduced in the book, each wanting their "world" to be saved by Thomas for different reasons. Thomas learns something from each of these characters, but is not able to fully appreciate the new knowledge or his role until the end. Thomas is able to balance on a fine line between reality and alternate world in order to temporarily save the alternate world he grew to care about. I appreciated the dive into leprosy since I have heard very little regarding this disease. The world and it's characters are developed very well and become real and substantial as the story moves along. It is the "real" world characters and memories which take on the "alternate" false world feel. I look forward to reading more books in the series. B+

Awesome

This has got to be my favorite series...

Hate it

I'm not going to say much here because I pretty much agree with the other one star reviews. It was a waste of my evening.

0 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

This is a great series

I read the first three books when I was a kid back in the late 70's and bits and pieces of it would pop in my head once in awhile over the years. I have rediscovered why it left an impression on me. The main character leaves a lot to be desired...definately not your normal hereo. He whines and blunders through events, he hurts people, yet as the series progresses, you start to pull for him. The Land is rich and full, the people who live there are good. The character development is very indepth for many of the players in the stories. A very worthwhile read.

One of the most incredible literary works of our time! The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever is a wonderful tale for those of us who love fantasy, fiction, and everthing else that falls inbetween!

The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever is a wonderful tale for those of us who love fantasy, fiction, and everthing else that falls inbetween! I am elated to find that Mr. Donaldson has continued the saga with The Last Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever. This collection of books is one of the most literate and well-written works of fantasy that I have had the privaledge of reading. I look forward to any and all of Mr. Donaldson's writings. He has yet to disappoint me!

2nd Best Series I have read (Tolkein being the Best,... of course)

This was an awesome series. Got a little rusty at the end but the first 3 books especially were fantastic. The first 3 really should be a movie, much like the Lord of the Rings. Fanstastic characters.

Terrific Saga

I have fallen in love with this story and can't wait to read the following novels! Thomas Covenant is an intricate character as are the people he meets! Very good book especially if you like epic stories.