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Jun 17, 2009

Adam rated it:

Okay, so I DID get sucked back into this trilogy, but mainly because when we went for a holiday in Skenes Creek, the single-volume hardback of the trilogy was just sitting there on the bookshelf and I thought hell why not? And that's how I lost 80% of my week down the beach.

In the second volume our (anti-)hero finds himself drawn back against his will to The Land as the unwilling last hope in the desperate battle against Lord Foul and his army. But he's still convinced it's all a del More...

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Jun 23, 2010

Junnibeib rated it:

I remember reading this book when i was a bit younger and it was actually by accident as a friend of mine just gave me the first 2 books when i told her that i liked fantasy. i put them in my shelf and read them maybe a year later and i couldn´t put it down.. i found the world that Thomas visited was so wonderful. it has been a long time so i can´t really get into any specifics but i will recommend this collection to everyone wanting a good fantasy ! i read the first 2 books and i searched ever More...

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Dec 17, 2011

Sebastien rated it:

Étant encore sous le choc du premier volume, je n'était vraiment pas sûr si je voulais lire la suite. Oui c'était bon, oui je m'attendais à un héros pas très cool, mais pas à une enfoiré de chialeux fini qui ne sait que s'apitoyer sur son sort à ce point là. J'ai rarement autant espéré qui arrive malheure à un personnage principale à ce point. Thomas Covenant fait des crime impardonnable dans le premier livre et il est toujours traité avec respect par les personnages secondaires qui le voient More...

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Sep 22, 2010

Vomithatsteve rated it:

I enjoyed this one much more than the first one. Covenants motives are explained much better. By the end of this one, I understood why he was so loathe to believe any of what was happening.

It was a lot bleaker than the first one too, which I think is to the book's benefit.

My biggest complaint is that a large portion of the book is told from a different character's perspective, and I felt that interfered with suspension of disbelief. When the entire story is told from Cov More...

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May 17, 2010

Surreysmum rated it:

[These notes were made in 1984:]. The middle book of a trilogy is always the one to watch - can it have some sort of resolution while deferring finality to the last volume? In this case, yes - the War is won, but the battle continues... A curiously uneasy relationship develops between Covenant (still young) and his grown-up daughter, Elena - when is incest not incest? The problem can only be solved by Elena's death, which brings with it metaphysical problems of breaking the chain of death its More...

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Oct 14, 2010

D-day rated it:

'The Illearth War' is the second part of the 'Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever'. In this installment Covenant returns just a week later in real time, to find that 40 years has passed in the Land. Lord Foul is on the move and High Lord Elena has summoned him in the Land's time of need.
Part of the problem with the first installment, 'Lord Foul's Bane', was that Covenant was so bitter and unsympathetic. This time Covenant is basically absent for the middle section of the book, giv More...

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Jul 28, 2009

Gabriel rated it:

Ok, I skipped Lord Foul's Bane and went to the second book. Still, I figured out what I missed and was very impressed with the ideas present in this book. While some of the aspects I was most looking forward to (the possibility that this is just a dream is a little hard to swallow when we follow characters that are not Thomas Covenant for a third of the book) were not present, others were there. It was obvious to me why Stephen King recommends this trilogy in his treatise on horror, Danse Macabre More...

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Sep 18, 2010

Josh rated it:

Occasionally I grew tired of Covenant's constant deals and his unwavering despondency. But I think Donaldson is setting him up for real change. One idea I like was the idea that we are all powerless in the only really important sense ... the power to avoid death.

The only real complaint I have is Donaldson's exceptionally dense vocabulary. Words like "lambent" and "roynish" are as plentiful as they are obscure. It belittles the author to obfuscate his story with s More...

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Dec 02, 2011

Daniel rated it:

This second book of the "Chronicles of Thomas Covenant The Unbeliever" series was good, in some ways better than the first book. Covenant's character has already been established and this book is able to focus more on the nuances of his character. His internal struggles become less confusing (which was my one complaint about the first book).

In ILLEARTH WAR we encounter some characters from the first book, though much time has elapsed between Covenant's visits to the world. S More...

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Jun 28, 2011

Amber rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

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Jun 02, 2010

Mykl rated it:

Immediately drawn in by the impact of "the Land" upon Covenant being back in his own world. Had to suspend belief a bit when again he is knocked unconscious and returns to the "Land."

Interesting knowing the author was a conscientous objector and the role of the Oath of Peace in the story. Who is to define when it is time to resort to violence, whether to maim or kill?

The destruction of the Giants was a surprise and I do like that cause and effect tak More...

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Jul 17, 2010

Jess rated it:

Yeah, I really didn't like the first book. But this, surprisingly, really grew on me. I even found myself craving this book at the times where I couldn't afford to spend time reading. I was literally in love with this book. LOVE. As in, one of my favourites. Seriously.

Firstly, I'd like to comment on the writing. The prose was clear and yet deliciously descriptive. I could visualise everything perfectly, and then some. I felt myself drawn to every moment. It had the same complex quali More...

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May 01, 2008

Gary rated it:

Some reviewers have commented on the Donaldson books that he tends to annoy by going out of his way to use English words that rarely ever appear in print. I have a pretty extensive vocabulary, but Donaldson was a Uni professor and his subject was English, so no surprise! I admit he pulled out quite a few words that I had never enountered before. I took it for a learning experience! As for The Illearth War, Covenenant the Leper finds himself back in the Land, where he has no choice but to be. Aga More...

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Oct 16, 2007

Scott rated it:

This, the second book in the first trilogy, may be my favorite of the entire series. Donaldson delivers great writing, story and allusiions with depth and conviction few others can attain. His use of Cause & Effect throughout the series is nothing short of masterful. His characters have depth and motivations beyond most writers'.

lets face it, Thomas Covenant is a bitter, twisted jerk. He's started a chain reaction that will change this alternate world and continually looks for ways More...

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Oct 29, 2009

Frank rated it:

Covenant is called back to the Land by the new High Lord, Elena. He meets Troy, a blind man from his world that has gained the power of vision even though he has no eyes.
A large part of the tension in this book is the way the two men respond to the realities of the land.
I enjoy these stories because I love the charaters in them, including the Land itself. The characters have flaws, especially Covenant and High Lord Elena.
Lord Mhoram is my favorite character.

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Mar 12, 2009

Andrew rated it:

I picked this up a year or two after the first novel. I had been sufficiently perplexed to ask my friend the conditions under which Covenant's magic activated, and he spelt it out factually.

It was all very clear, yet unsatisfying. I read the book, and this time I fell into it. It was a different kind of fantasy, with allegoric hints that I still couldn't comprehend.

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Oct 13, 2011

Willis rated it:

Second in the Thomas Covenant series. Good plot with the unusual twist of blending a man's real world problems with the problems in his fantasy world. Standard good versus evil. Throughout the series Donaldson does a good job of leading us into the inner workings of his main character. The main character and the fantasy world are the main attractions here.

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Sep 21, 2011

Brianleedurfee rated it:

#31 THE ILLEARTH WAR by Stephen R. Donaldson: Durfee's top 50 novels countdown. This is Bk#two in the CHRONICLES OF THOMAS COVENANT (nine bks and counting) in the series. I actually equally liked Donaldson's sci-fi GAP series and his MIRROR OF HIS DREAMS Series. I chose ILLEARTH WAR for my list cuz I liked the blind-man character Hile Troy

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Feb 04, 2010

Fred rated it:

Or the story of how Thomas Covenant didn't change and the reader finds out that no, the cliché world building, inexplicably fanboyish attitude of the fantasy world's inhabitants toward Thomas and the unsufferable parody of an anti hero are just that, rather than some intriguing flower blossoming in slow motion

A waste of perfectly good trees

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Nov 14, 2010

Rusty rated it:

And the epic continues. Fighting Lord Foul, enemy of the land, the Council of Lords find their spells useless. Can Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever help? It's a most imaginative world with interesting characters and a fun plot. Keep reading about Thomas Covenant the believer. You's feel as if you are walking beside him.

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Oct 06, 2010

Mark rated it:

I read this when I was 14 or so and remembered little. Now I've just reread it and found it amazing. The main character is a great anti-hero. In this book he take much more time explaining why he can't believe in the fantasy world because of his leprosy.
This would make a great movie if Terry Gillium directed it.

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Feb 11, 2010

Topher rated it:

When I heard he was doing a third trilogy I decided to go back and re-read the first two. Intellectually, the idea of exploring what it would mean if your messiah is an asshat is cool; reading it, it's very hard to keep reading a story in which the protagonist is an unlikable jackass.

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Jan 08, 2010

Amanda rated it:

You have to be a hardcore fantasy fan to like this book. Characters speak spells in their own language and have impossible-to-pronounce names. The book is populated with a variety of creatures and magical beings; the history and political weavings throughout the book require dedication to untangle. Still, the world Donaldson creates is fantastic, and Thomas Covenant, although whiny, is a great anti-hero.

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Feb 19, 2011

Mike (the Paladin) rated it:

Thomas is back in THE LAND, though he continues to refuse to believe it's real and continues to cry (or even wail) woe is me, life is awful. In so doing he drags his feet and causes consternation, confusion, and frustration all around.

You know if I'm in a dream, even if I'm sure I'm in a dream I usually participate and don't run around in the dream refusing to participate...oh well. Enjoy, if you can. Not horribly written, but not (in my opinion) great either, certainly not worth the More...

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Oct 22, 2009

Xopowo rated it:

I didn't like this series (6 books) for one simple reason: the main character is a depressed whiner who refuses to believe in the fantasy world or his tremendous power. Even if it were all a dream, he should have used his power (for good) instead of being a coward.

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Aug 12, 2011

Daniel rated it:

Second time reading through this series, have been reading them so far on plane trips for some reason. Reading Donaldson is at times like reading a thesaurus and the high-fantasy language of the land can become grating at times, but the story and world are fascinating.

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Jul 21, 2007

Rob rated it:

Another series I did in one long weekend, this was probably one of the most influential series I read during high school. For some reason I absolutely hated the main character Thomas Conevenant (probably because he was an ass) and my one driving passion was to keep reading until he was killed off. Until of course the last book in the second series where I got over it and decided he should live and then he was killed off.

As an interesting aside, this series made it remarkably less li More...

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Nov 24, 2011

John rated it:

I found The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant quite slow when I read through the series the first time. I tried reading it again some years later, and it really dragged. The three books should have been trimmed down to one.

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Sep 02, 2010

Gaetan rated it:

Second read for me. After reading the first two Final Chronicles books, it is easy to see how far Donaldson has come as a writer. The old books feel like reading history. Still good in the grand scheme of fantasy.

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Feb 07, 2011

Rick rated it:

Tough to rate this series. It kept me reading and i plugged on despite many issues i have with the story. Is the purpose behind it to make you despise Thomas Covenant or feel sorry for him?

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