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Jul 23, 2008

Tony rated it:

Ok - this stands out against my other Donaldson ratings because this is the most frustrating piece of "agony-read" I've suffered for a long while.

"Agony read" is having to persist with a book to the very end despite it being painfully awful - I have one rule with books: "finish what you start" - and in some cases this has proven worthwhile (eg. I hated the first 50 pages of WEAVEWORLD by CLIVE BARKER, but after that it really kicks off!)

Anywa More...

2 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 09, 2012

Paul rated it:

Steven R. Donaldson. You either know this author’s works, or you should. And yes I am totally bias. He is second on my list of all time epic fantasy authors, right after only Tolkien himself. So, take this review, if you will, with a pinch of hurtloam.

The Runes Of The Earth is the first book in his “Last” Chronicles of Thomas Covenant which will comprise four volumes when complete. And, though seemingly a slow read, is packed with classic Donaldson wonders, inner turmoil, outer confl More...

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May 05, 2011

Branwen rated it:

OK, lookit. Surgically attaching a thesaurus to your hip does not make you a brilliant writer. When I was younger and reading the first two trilogies it was easier for me to assume that behind the turgid prose was some great mystery that I was just too stupid to figure out. Turns out -- nope, just turgid prose. (And I hear that he took time off between the last series and this one to *improve his writing*? Uh, FAIL.) Donaldson is a crap writer, with characters who revel in their own self-imposed More...

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Aug 15, 2010

Nancy rated it:

In my distant youth, I found the Thomas Covenant books to be quite intense which, combined with my frustration with Covenant and his self-doubt (more than any other characteristics), made for a challenging read. (Well, 6 challenging reads plus, I think, a re-read of the first trilogy.)

I debated long and long (internally, of course) about picking up the new series but backed off, due to the above paragraph, as well as not wanting to get trapped in endless waiting for the subsequent to More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Apr 07, 2010

Meg rated it:

I read the first two series back in high school and/or college--it was the early 90's, anyway, so it's been a while since I've been in this world. I find that finding fantasy I love the way I loved it in high school is so difficult now with 2 English degrees behind me, and I was hoping Donaldson would still hold up.

My answer is...sort of. I still find his prose readable and occasionally even challenging--two English degrees and I can't touch this guy's vocabulary. I like the story More...

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Jul 13, 2009

Mitchell rated it:

Those who have read the first two series may be familiar with the anti-hero Thomas Covenant. He was my favorite protagonist to hate. All through the first 3 books his Unbelief was entirely unacceptable to me. I hated him and loved Donaldson Stephen R. for creating such an absolutely amazing character. One whom I ached to see accept his role and do what he needed to do.

With this book author:Donaldson Stephen R.|426806] has returned to The Land with another cast of characters that More...

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Dec 07, 2007

Prostetnic rated it:

This book is not total garbage. It's an interesting coda to White Gold Wielder. But it reads like a collection of old ideas and plotlines about the pre-history of the Land that Donaldson decided to cobble together in a time-travel framework. Maybe he needed to pay for an addition to his house? The result is a novel that just doesn't have the life or power of the earlier books. And the prose! Wow. So, so bad. Jump in, Donaldson fans, but it's a tough slog.

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Aug 16, 2011

Mathew rated it:

Thomas Covenant Chronicles: Runes of the Earth
Book seven in the saga and … it is very different. For a one there is no Thomas Covenant. Instead the dilemma of the white gold is taken up by Linden Avery which was obvious after the last book as Covenant had died in his own world.
10 years later and Linden Avery now has an adopted who was one of the children used to summon Covenant to The Land last time around. Roger Covenant is all grown up and seeking to take control of his stricken moth More...

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Apr 18, 2010

M and G rated it:

Slow going - it's a big, big book!

Oh dear, oh dear! Many reviewers here rave about Donaldson's enormous vocabulary, but there is a thin line between poetic genius and pretentious use of unusual words and to me this book is not in the first category. Just occasionally his prose paints a picture, but he cannot match Tolkien (despite the cover reviewer's phrase 'Comparable with Tolkien at his best' which just makes me say "Well he is obviously not at his best") nor come an More...

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Dec 16, 2010

Marissa rated it:

Again, i just don't get it. this is the 1st in what i thought was a trilogy, but the trilogy is going to have a 4th book. if you read the other Covenant books then you might enjoy it but i just don't understand Linden Avery. She gets under my skin. i'm not sure if its because Donaldson is a man or if its just the character, but it seems like she's the stereotypical woman. only leading with her heart and thinking of her issues only emotionally instead of logically. i've read a lot of books, More...

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Apr 11, 2011

Leo rated it:

I started this book a few years ago and got about 2/3 through it and needed a break. In the first hundred pages I kept having to look up word meanings because the vocabulary was beyond me, and I majored in English composition in university. I finally gave up looking up the words and got as much meaning as I could from the context.

I like the book altogether. I have a love/hate relationship with Donaldson. He is hard for me to read because he describes the setting to death and I like m More...

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Sep 01, 2011

Craig rated it:

Donaldson returns with the Last Chronicles of Thomas Covenant after a twenty-one-year hiatus - and, overall, he does not disappoint. I must admit it's a bit peculiar to read a Covenant book in which Covenant is not the protagonist, but his presence is definitely felt throughout, and it doesn't feel like a "let's throw a different character in this universe and see what happens" sort of story.

Indeed, one of the best things about Runes is that is just seems like it flows per More...

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Aug 18, 2009

Kathy rated it:

I totally loved the original series THE CHRONICLES OF THOMAS COVENANT, because I am a sucker for a good fantasy series. I have been waiting for years for a follow-up to this series, and Donaldson finally published one. The book did not meet my expectations. I did not find it nearly so gripping as the original books in the series. The main character, Linden Avery, is whiney and feels powerless in much of this book, yet I remember her from the original as much more assertive and confident. Th More...

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Dec 20, 2009

Neil rated it:

Loved it 100% and now need to find Book2 real, real soon.
I love characters that are allowed to make mistakes and where the reader can try and second-guess the character because the process is so expansive. Know-it-all heroes that are whiter than white are boring and horrible to bear. Transporting real (and therefore flawed) people into a strange environment where they have to learn what's happened and make horrible mistakes that come back to bite only much, much later is far preferable to More...

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Dec 29, 2010

Mykl rated it:

Can good be achieved by evil means? i.e. the idea that a loved one is dying and a pharmacy has meds that will provide a cure but you have no money. Is it allright to steal the med? Yes an old concept but it fits well within this series. First book where I find myself caring about Linden Avery. Pace of the book keeps moving and subtely Donaldson has created a detailed world. Logical yet a surprise to see the Haruchi Masters of the land. Consistent theme in the book of negative impact of des More...

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Aug 03, 2011

Simon rated it:

After such a long gap since the last Thomas Covenant book, I had great expectations. Unfortunately I was a bit disappointed, I was hoping for more, but I got more of the same - it was (from what I can remember) just like the Second Chronicles (which from what I can recall were not as good as the First Chronicles). Still I made it to the end, and will probably end up getting the next book to see how things turn out.

The Gap Series is still, by far, the best thing Stephen Donaldson has done. If yo More...

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Aug 03, 2010

Infinite rated it:

As a huge fan of the original 6-book series, I only got through one and a half of these "Last Chronicles" books before realizing there were more important things to do with my life. Many of them. I wonder if, twenty-five year down the line, I would think so highly of the first, Thomas Covenant-based books, and I am guessing I probably would, even if I am loath to go back and see. Linden Avery has no real room to develop, and nowhere near as interesting a back story as Thomas Covenan More...

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Dec 17, 2011

Douglas rated it:

Massively disappointing.
The novel as is conventional centres around its eponymous hero – who more unconventionally had died more than twenty years ago at the end of the previous volume, "White gold wielder". This poses an unusual challenge for a novelist, a challenge which Mr Donaldson doesn't succeed in resolving. The new novel is filled with the sound of pot-boiling and the disagreeable texture of padding. For half of its almost six hundred pages nothing of real interest happen More...

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Jan 13, 2012

Tim rated it:

Over twenty years ago it seemed as though there were not many fantasy books on the bookshop shelves. Mostly it was Science Fiction, but there, alongside Tolkien, were one or two, and some of these were the Thomas Covenant books by Stephen R Donaldson.

A series of two trilogies, The first bracketed under Thomas Covenant The Unbeliever, the second dropped the Unbeliever. They were superb, in some ways having similarities to Tolkien, in others being something new and different, still stand More...

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Jun 21, 2011

Saga rated it:

Uh...where should I even start with this? As much as I love the First and Second Chronicles, this just felt like trying to chew ten meters of sodden carpet and a barrelful of old tires. Granted, the beginning wasn't bad and during the few, final stretches the story gained some of that panache I've learned to expect from Donaldson's works, but...the middle, by all the seven hells and fiery damnations, the middle... Seriously, I groaned, swore under my breath, tried and tried and tried to plough t More...

4 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jul 17, 2009

Alex marked it as to-read

I've just fallen out of love with Stephen Donaldson. Both this and the Gap series are filled to the brim with ideas, and when he's on it - such as the first 10 or so pages of this book - his writing can be incredibly compelling.

Yet, inevitibly his work gets bogged down with by obsession with sadistically tortured female viewpoints. Not that i mind this so much, but every other page of the book is written with this "why is this happening to me"??? kind of internal monologu More...

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May 03, 2008

Ben rated it:

Having only recently read the first two series, I did not have to wait 20 years for Mr. Donaldson's new book. I think that may have affected my enjoyment of it, since parts of this book seem to be a nod to longtime fans who have been waiting for the further adventures of Linden Avery.
This reminds somewhat of Tad Williams' "Shadow" series at this point--it's great to be back in familiar territory, and as a fan both of the author and the genre, I don't really mind that this install More...

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May 11, 2008

Bonnie marked it as to-read

Working on trying to finish this. My sense is that no one gave this book a "deep edit" which is what it needs. Sometimes, (I've heard this and it is definitely not from experience), a good writer is not assigned to an editor that will actually edit him/her closely. In this case, I think this is a major mistake. One line struck me as very telling.

"The abruptly she left the room so that Sandy would not see the sudden tears in her eyes, or notice the lump of love and More...

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Sep 03, 2008

Muzzlehatch rated it:

How depressing. Donaldson keeps going downhill in his writing, with ENDLESS interior monologues that are as repetative as anything in Robert Jordan or Terry Goodkind. It's a shame, the first chronicles was really quite original in many ways and though overwritten, never lost site of the compelling storyline. The second series had more of the writing faults so manifest here, but the core concept was pretty interesting and kept me going. This on the other hand took me a year and a half to fini More...

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Jan 22, 2012

Mark rated it:

Felt like the beginning of the weaker of the three chronicles. Time will tell. The complexity of the characters in the first two chronicles were what made The Land a great place to have an adventure. As Donaldson has obviously matured, he has turned to his more complex vocabulary and even more complex (too complex) characters to replace the refreshing and interesting story telling that he is most notable for. Is it better to burn out or fade away, Thomas Covenant?

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Jun 06, 2010

Cher rated it:

I have already read the other six titles in the Thomas Covenant series, so I have to finish the set. Mr. Donaldson has created a world where Thomas Covenant and Linden Avery have been transported from our world to "The Land" so they can fight the depredations of Lord Foul, The Despiser. Using the power of White gold, ur-Lord Thomas Covenant and Linden Avery Avery the Chosen, attempt to keep the beauty of the Land preserved. Great reading.

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Feb 03, 2010

Craig rated it:

Linden now is the protagonist. I liked her on the last series and I do now. For some reason though the first time I tried reading this I found it too... slow? Depressing? I'm not sure exactly what it was. I guess I need to be in a certain mood to read Donaldson. The second time I thoroughly enjoyed the book. Donaldson at times gets a bit wordy but that is his style. I like where he is bringing us and eagerly await the 3rd book.

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Oct 03, 2011

Don rated it:

after LOVING the earlier Covenant series, and after many years, I tried the new series and found this completely appalling. Surprised I finished it. I did not reread the prior books so maybe I have changed. Covenant was difficult to love but ultimately I did love the first 6 books. Fatal Revenant however fails to get going at all. All introspection and inaction all the time.

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Oct 01, 2011

Luke rated it:

Someone else called this an "Agony read": without a doubt. Hyperbolic, tortured language stretched to breaking ... And very little happens. I was so excited when the Final Chronicles was announced, bought it the day it arrived, settled in to devour it, finally finished it seven years later. Hoping the next one is taut.

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Oct 17, 2010

D-day rated it:

'The Runes of the Earth' is the first book in the 'The Last Chronicles of Thomas Covenant', this coming some 20 years after the publication of 'The Second Chronicles'. It's good to be back in the Land but 'Runes of the Earth' is definitely a weak link in the series. Donaldson is even more verbose than in prior books and the plot moves forward very slowly as the events of the prior books rehashed over and over. The result is that not much new seems to happen in this one. Also not much seems to ha More...

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