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The Runes of the Earth

(The Last Chronicles of Thomas Covenant #1)

Stephen R. Donaldson

3.77 · Rating details · 6,757 ratings · 298 reviews

The triumphant return of the New York Times-bestselling, critically acclaimed fantasy series that has become a modern classic.

Since their publication more than two decades ago, the initial six books in The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant series have sold more than 6 million copies and have been published in ten countries around the world. Now, starting with The Runes of th ...more

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Hardcover, 533 pages

Published October 14th 2004 by G P Putnam's Sons (first published October 2004)

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May 05, 2011 Branwen rated it did not like 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 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 victimization and alienation and whose best course of action, more than searching out any arcane remedy, would be to enroll in some good old-fashioned cognitive behavioral therapy.

The needless and incessant self-hatred and self-flagellation is really old and tiresome now, and I no longer have the slightest bit of patience for it -- especially because it is of the characters' own making. I want to slap Linden on just about every page. And as far as the vocabulary goes, a five-syllable word is not inherently better than a one-syllable word, especially when it smells like it's been yanked out of the thesaurus just to up the page count. If I have to hear the word "puissance" again (I listen via audiobook, and you can hear the embarrassment in Scott Brick's voice every time he has to say that word -- I understand that he is not narrating an audiobook version of the 2nd book in this series and I hope it is because he refused to read any more of this pap) -- anyway, if I have to hear it again, I might go postal and start stabbing my car CD player. Dear Scott Brick, I enjoy your readings of other works, because you know how to heighten melodrama just enough to still keep it interesting without making it apparent what poor melodrama it is. It is not your fault that this series makes it impossible for you to pull that off. I am sorry you had to put up with this dreckitude. Please come back to the Pendergast series; we miss you over there.

I don't put up with people who needlessly wallow in self-imposed victimization in real life, so I don't see why I should waste my all-too-sparse leisure time doing so either. Unfortunately, I like the Land, so I will probably stick out the series to its conclusion just to see how things are resolved. I don't have high hopes, however, which is unfortunate. ...more

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Feb 26, 2011 Saga rated it liked it · review of another edition

Old review from 2011 below. Although still the weakest tome of the Last Chronicles, a re-read grandly improved it. (~2014)

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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 s ...more

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Jul 23, 2008 Tony rated it did not like 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!)

Anyway, this book contains all that was miserable and terri ...more

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Mar 14, 2018 David Firmage rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Shelves: abandoned

I am barely reading a chapter a week, just cannot get into it. A step too far Lord Foul has won.

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May 04, 2012 Johnny rated it really liked it

Shelves: fantasy

Can you accomplish good by doing evil? It’s a conundrum as old as the Adam and Eve narrative and that one clearly answers in the negative. Stephen R. Donaldson takes us back to “the Land” of the original six books of The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever and offers us layers of nuance on the question. What if your society needs the stability represented in a commandment (in this case, represented by an artifact known as the Staff of Law) but the only way to re-establish this commandme Can you accomplish good by doing evil? It’s a conundrum as old as the Adam and Eve narrative and that one clearly answers in the negative. Stephen R. Donaldson takes us back to “the Land” of the original six books of The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever and offers us layers of nuance on the question. What if your society needs the stability represented in a commandment (in this case, represented by an artifact known as the Staff of Law) but the only way to re-establish this commandment was to initially go against the commandment (in this case, it would risk the architecture of time itself in order to guarantee that time would continue—don’t ask, just go for the ride) in order to eventually establish the commandment? What would you do?
Donaldson reveals some of his suspicion of institutional religion (I would see this even if he hadn’t verbalized it to me at a World Fantasy Convention one year) in the way he presents characters (in this case the Haruchai) who are so committed to the Law (like the worst cases of Pharisees, Puritans, or Fundamentalist Christians and Muslims) that they miss the purpose of the Law in terms of enhancing life and relationships (both with the divine and the merely human). He also presents people (perhaps, like Donaldson’s self-sacrificing medical missionary parents) who are so devoted to “duty” and “service” that they never really seem to have the chance to live. All believe that they are doing what they are supposed to be doing, but they may be missing the valued life in front of them.
And if you haven’t read any of the Thomas Covenant stories, I highly recommend them for people who are intrigued by dynamics between what we know as empirical reality and what is perceptual reality. One gets the feeling that all of the protagonists in these stories which move from our world to “the Land” are psychologically unbalanced in some way. Does “the Land” represent mental health? Does it represent a healthy ambition for vision for life and accomplishment? I’m not positive. Donaldson seemed stunned by my suggestion that “white gold,” the source of “wild magic” in these tales, might be a metaphor for faith. At first, he seemed to resent it because he identified faith with the institutional church. When I explained that just as “white gold” represents “commitment” and “relationship” in these stories (even though it is the symbol of failed relationships in most, if not all, of them), faith is not possible without relationship and just as the “wild magic” doesn’t always work like Covenant expects, faith isn’t tantamount to magic because those wielding faith can’t really control the results. They are dependent upon the relationship. I’m sure I didn’t convince him, but he conceded that the notion was intriguing if not forced too far. This was a very brief discussion at a convention, so please don’t take my side of it as definitive with regard to what this great writer was hearing as I tried to express what I’ve just written. “On further review,” he might have decided I was a religious crackpot and that what I perceived as interest was the fastest way to get rid of me. (smile)
Still, I find myself fascinated by the relationship between the bookend narrative that takes place in the familiar world we know and the high fantasy events within “the Land.” What is Donaldson trying to tell us? Is it that we all have destructive and formative powers within us? Is it that we need to trust ourselves more than tradition without cutting ourselves off from tradition and that we need to trust ourselves to use the power (social, economic, political, spiritual) at our disposal without allowing the hubris to abuse it? It seems like these novels speak to me of all of these and more.

One more thing before I offer the summary (which will be very short lest I risk spoiling the story). Not since I first read William F. Buckley, Jr. have I encountered a writer who forces me to learn new words. In The Runes of the Earth, the protagonist has need of a febrifuge (easy to discern in context) and, at more than one point, experiences formication (with an “m” not an “n”) as in having ants or insects crawling over or under the skin. Revelstone Keep was also said to have had “groined ceilings,” which I had to look up and discover was the combination of two vaults at right angles to each other. I also marked the following: “Covenant had once said, There’s only one way to hurt a man who’s lost everything. Give him back something broken.” (p. 342)

Although labeled “The Last Chronicles of Thomas Covenant,” these are really the stories of Linden Avery the Chosen (Covenant’s beloved colleague in the second trilogy) because Covenant died at the close of the second trilogy. In what represents “our reality,” Avery has never quite dealt with her grief over the death of Covenant and she resolves part of it by caring for Covenant’s demented ex-wife and an adopted son who was tortured as part of the ritual summoning Covenant to the land during the last trilogy. Frankly, I don’t think this series is going to mean much to the reader or make much sense if one hasn’t read the first two trilogies.

In this installment, Covenant’s biological son Roger precipitates the action which causes the transmutation to the land. Yet, the health of the land isn’t the only issue. Linden Avery must save the land in order to save her adopted son. Yet, the land is affected by both a physical blight and a spiritual one. Those who were once dedicated to protect the land are now party to an ignorance that threatens the “Land” more than Lord Foul’s Bane himself (or are they in league with the Despiser?). The Staff of Law is missing and the rigid structure which has taken its place may be more dangerous than the despair it staves off. As a result, Linden Avery tries to heed her dreams and apparently voices from the dead spoken through a possessed individual in order to both do something unexpected and to trust in herself. Do something unexpected? Trust in yourself? It sounds like reasonably good advice and I would wager it’s a recurring theme throughout the books.
...more

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Feb 21, 2014 Branwen Sedai *of the Brown Ajah* rated it really liked it

Shelves: fantasy-science-fiction

"No one makes you what you are. You have to choose."

"Good cannot be accomplished by evil means."

It has been ten years since Linden Avery was last in the Land. Ten years since her beloved Thomas Covenant died defending the Land from Lord Foul. Linden has picked up the pieces of her heart and carried on with her life, content with her job as a doctor at a mental hospital and with her adopted son, Jeremiah. But the Land is not quite done with Linden. And when unspeakable evil reaches out its hand a ...more

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Jan 26, 2019 Kostas rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, epic-high-fantasy

8.5/10

With more than two decades since the publication of his first two classic fantasy trilogies that gave him a wide critical and commercial success, selling millions of copies across the world, and a number of other works that expanded his imagination to other horizons, Stephen R. Donaldson returns to the Land for the last time, taking us in The Runes of the Earth, the first of four instalments of the Last Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, in a story of Masters, nomads, great horses, giants wolv ...more

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May 10, 2009 Alex rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fantasy

2020 Thoughts

Donaldson’s output over the years has not exactly been prolific, I’ve always got the sense that he’s the kind of guy who will only write a series of books on his own terms. When he wants to and when he’s got a strong idea for one. Still, when this third chronicles of Thomas Covenant was announced back in 2005 I still had this overriding feeling that it was a cash-in and destined to be fucked up. Afterall, what more was there to be said not just about The Land, but Thomas Covenant hi 2020 Thoughts

Donaldson’s output over the years has not exactly been prolific, I’ve always got the sense that he’s the kind of guy who will only write a series of books on his own terms. When he wants to and when he’s got a strong idea for one. Still, when this third chronicles of Thomas Covenant was announced back in 2005 I still had this overriding feeling that it was a cash-in and destined to be fucked up. Afterall, what more was there to be said not just about The Land, but Thomas Covenant himself? The guy is dead, afterall.

Nevertheless, Donaldson navigates at least he first installment of this now overextended trilogy of trilogies with aplomb and, just as he did with The Wounded Land, he’s actually doubled down on the idea of making the sequel that you didn’t expect and giving us everything we didn’t know we didn’t want. If the original conception of the leper racist – the outcast, the sinner, the unbeliever – can’t ever be matched, don’t worry because Donaldson is keen to find yet more ways to put his cast of characters through the ringer, experiencing more existential crises than you can count on a half-hand.

Of course, the focus is on Linden this time around, ten years in the future which, we know, is about to become a billion years into the Land’s future. The opening scenes are a delight as we meet the somewhat unsavoury Roger Covenant and his vegetating mother Joan. We never get a chance to enjoy quiet time with Linden and she’s quickly plunged into a nightmare that sees Donaldson creating something more shocking than in previous installments openings (though nothing near Gap-level) and he brilliant throws the momentum of the story into the Land as mystery piles upon mystery and new faces drawn from old mythologies time and again prove to not quite be what they look like and Linden is unsure who to trust or how to get what she wants. The Land, of course, is facing another crisis unlike anything we’ve seen before, and whilst the Sunbane was the high point of Donaldson’s imagination in this regard the new – shallwecallit – situation will delight fans of the series and the pages turn themselves in a bid to reveal just what’s going on.

It’s amazing that after 730 pages the book left me on yet another mystery I’m keen to get answers to. If there’s a criticism of the work, well, aside from the fact that it is definitely a little too lengthy and it left me at points lacking faith that there was an ultimate direction of travel as opposed to a wander, it’s that Donaldson is so much in plate-spinning mode that we never get to settle in and have an adventure. He almost doesn’t trust himself this time and he’s so desperate to prove these books worthy and worthwhile that he’s perhaps eschewed some of the worldbuilding these books are well known for. Another slight gripe is Lord Foul the bad guy. Sure, he’s a little different this time around but in my head he’s becoming this recurring comic-book villain “surprise, you defeated me twice, but I’m baaaaack and this time I’m totally destroying the Arch of time busters!”

I don’t like to ruminate or rate too much on a book 1 of 4 since there’s so much left to tell. As a start to a new series though I can only say that I’m pretty damn impressed so far.

- Odd review from 2009
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 monologue which you've heard once, you've heard 1,000 times. Morn Hyland killed her dad, got raped, got raped again, had her son taken by aliens why why why??? There's enough intensity in just letting those events happen - stop telling the reader that we're supposed to care. Of course we do.

I was hoping that Runes of the Eatrh would lead us down another route, but Donaldson seems content to litter the pages with "Lord Foul has taken my son" exclamations every other page. There's a lot going on this story, so much so that it's difficult to take it all in - if he'd breeze through it a bit more and give you a chance to enjoy the history of the land and the central conflicts that are emerging, this'd be a cracking read. But I'm bored with the histrionics, so I'm quitting half way through... for now. Still curious to see where this goes, though. ...more

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Jan 09, 2012 Paul Darcy rated it really liked it

Shelves: fantasy

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 conflict and insi 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 conflict and insidious underpinnings. A fantastic start.

To get you up to speed on what is what, Donaldson gives wonderful written account of all major events which took place in the first and second chronicles. Suffice it to say you should experience them in full and not rely on the synopsis provided, but if you don’t you will soon get the gist of what has transpired in the past. Basically Thomas Covenant is dead, but the Land is in more trouble than ever before.

The main character is Linden Avery, whom we are familiar with in the second chronicles or the synopsis as having been in and had a huge part in saving the Land in the past. Strange things begin to happen to her in the real world which leads her to believe there is once again trouble in the Land, and that Lord Foul and now even fouler things are stirring again. I don’t want to give anything away really since it is so well worth the read.

So - general impressions. Hella good read, very imaginative with ample mystery and familiarity wrapped into the appropriate Donaldson package. And, the author did it to me again, after the last chapter I was shaking my fist and cursing his name - in a good way - then immediately scouring the internet to find out when volume two was coming out.

My only hint, if you haven’t yet read it - is, why do you think this series is called the “Last Chronicles of Thomas Covenant”?

Are you still hear reading this - run, run now and buy, then consume this book. You will not be sorry you did.

End of bias ravings - much more and I may create a caesure . . . ...more

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Jul 13, 2009 Mitchell rated it really liked it

Recommended to Mitchell by: Pleasant Grove Library

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 are just as rich ...more

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Jan 01, 2013 Victor T rated it it was ok

Shelves: fantasy

Way back in the 80's I discovered Donaldson and Thomas Covenant, unfortunately it was in the initial publication and I had to wait between books to continue the storyline. It was a enjoyable wait. Then I discover that there has come a third trilogy, but as the major character was no more, it continues with an offshoot in the persona of Linden Avery. I detested Linden in the second trilogy, she whined, she moped, she made me truly dislike her.
Now Mr. Donaldson was always a bit of a word whore, ma ...more

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Jul 13, 2018 Danie Ware rated it liked it

Gods, this was a struggle. A thirty-plus year love of the Land kept me reading to the end - but six hundred pages of nothing happening would try anybody's patience. It was lovely to see all the character types and what had become of them, but it just had no story. It was a purposeless dither of too many variables - like everything from the past had been thrown in together, with no real idea what any of it was doing.

Love him or loathe him, Covenant never lacked for fire, fury or forward motion. ...more

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Dec 07, 2007 Prostetnic rated it did not like it

Recommends it for: hardcore Thomas Covenant/Stephen Donaldson fans

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. ...more

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Oct 27, 2013 Andrea rated it liked it

Shelves: my-collection, fantasy

When it was first published I flicked through and decided to wait until the final volume was published. It seemed slow, repetitive, dull at times...such a contrast to how I eagerly devoured the first series. Now that the last volume is winging its way to me, I have started what now feels like an obligation, not a delight. It is indeed slow, repetitive and mainly dull, but does have flashes of the former brilliance.
What a shame. I still have shivers when I think of the utterance "Nom". ...more

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Feb 28, 2011 Suzanne rated it liked it

Shelves: geocaching-challenge-2016, around-my-bookshelf-year-3, sci-fi-fantasy

Stephen R. Donaldson's The Tales of Thomas Covenant was my initiation into the world of Fantasy/Science Fiction many years ago when the best-selling six book series was published. Since that time I have enjoyed a number of different books within that genre, and I have Stephen R. Donaldson to thank for it. I was excited a few years ago, when I discovered that Donaldson had decided to write a sequel series - The Last Tales of Thomas Covenant - but as with most books I'd like to read, it takes me a ...more

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Jan 06, 2008 Muzzlehatch rated it did not like it

Recommends it for: nobody

Shelves: fantasy

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 finish; ...more

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Dec 15, 2009 Neil rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: donna

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 books ...more

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May 04, 2014 Christoffer Lernö rated it it was amazing

First time I read this book, it was long after reading the first two chronicles.

Unfortunately, that hampered my enjoyment of the book more than I would have expected.

This time around, I read it after rereading the first two, and suddenly I saw it in a different light.

I would definitely recommend this classic to anyone enjoying the first two chronicles.

And make sure you recently read the first chronicles to fully enjoy this one.

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Jan 03, 2010 Coralie Bourne rated it it was amazing

This is definitely one of my favorites. Thanks to Rob for recommending it. I loved the anti-hero Thomas and plot. Great character development. A must read series.

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May 18, 2020 Tony Calder rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy

After a break of some 20-odd years, Stephen Donaldson returned to The Land for the Final Chronicles of Thomas Covenant who, it should be remembered, (view spoiler).

This time around Linden is not so filled with self-loathing as she was in the previous trilogy, so that's a good thing, and does make the book easier to read. Also, Donaldson is no longer referring to his thesaurus every 3 or 4 paragraphs, also a plus. However, Donaldson seems to have ...more

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Feb 06, 2019 Michael Battaglia rated it it was amazing

Thanks to a compulsive need to own nearly every book I ever want to read, at one time or another pretty much every book that I read during my formative years has found a place somewhere on my bookshelf (and probably stayed there, I only just the other day added Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman's "Darksword" and "Rose of the Prophet" trilogies to the donation pile, so its not exactly a merry-go-round on there). But thanks to a job throughout my teenage years at the local public library, and a fant Thanks to a compulsive need to own nearly every book I ever want to read, at one time or another pretty much every book that I read during my formative years has found a place somewhere on my bookshelf (and probably stayed there, I only just the other day added Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman's "Darksword" and "Rose of the Prophet" trilogies to the donation pile, so its not exactly a merry-go-round on there). But thanks to a job throughout my teenage years at the local public library, and a fantasy section that surprisingly had both in stock, one of the few absences was Stephen Donaldson's two trilogies about that happy-go-lucky hero Thomas Covenant.

I had been through Tolkein already so my young mind had some vague idea of what fantasy was supposed to be like but Donaldson's two series were something else. Starring a literal outcast hero thanks to his leprosy, Covenant was abrasive and surly and extremely reluctant, convinced over and over that everything around him was part of some elaborate delusion (and there was sometimes evidence it might have been). The contrast between someone who was deeply cynical and the life-giving Land that he found himself in made for some fun tension, even if it ran the risk of being that guy who comes with you to the magic show and points out how every trick is done under his breath. It was a fantasy story featuring someone who didn't even want to be in a fantasy story and was doing his best to get out of it, and the fact that Donaldson was able to get not only one but two trilogies out of it is pretty amazing.

And both were good. Even if I don't remember the details, I remember them fondly and maybe part of it is in that magic hour drenched haze of my younger days when everything from back then seemed good, but heck, I'll take it. Even though it was draped in the trappings of epic fantasy, it seemed more "adult" somehow, despite featuring a villain named Lord Foul, which is like what kids in the locker room would call the kid with the chronic flatulence problem. Covenant, for all his faults, felt like a real person stuck in a bad situation and after realizing he can't get out of it, trying to make the best of it.

Thing is, the second trilogy seemed to cap things off nicely. Covenant traveled to the Land to save it one more time, assisted by new ladyfriend Linden Avery who developed her own special abilities. At the end he sacrificed himself to save the day and Linden returned to our world on her own, heartbroken but willing to carry on his memory.

It was a good place to leave it and then suddenly in 2004, twenty years after the last book was published, Donaldson decided to come back with a new four book series. By and large I tend not to read series books as they come out because I'm strange, but in this case I'm glad I got to it when I got to it because it appears it took nine years to publish the entire series (the first two trilogies took about three years apiece to appear) and I still somehow managed to miss the fourth book, so that's on my shopping list.

With all that said, is it possible for all of us to revisit the past. Could Donaldson recapture the blend of magic and surly grittiness that wowed my teenage mind? Would I still be receptive to it, now my brain is that much closer to becoming an ossified paperweight? I should point out in the interim I had read two other Donaldson series, and had mixed feelings on both (while "Mordant's Need" had its moments, "The Gap Cycle" was one of the few series where at several points I would have been okay with every character being horribly killed), but this was his baby, the original hit, the cheesy song you can never dislike because it reminds you of shopping trips with your mom when you were seven. I'm not going to pretend it was my favorite thing but its embedded pretty deeply. Like peak Phil Collins, I'm unable to be objective about it.

Alas, dozens of years and hundreds of books later, its a little harder to impress me than it once was and while this one works hard, I think its going to be an uphill battle. We open on Linden Avery ten years after the last series ended. Covenant is still pretty dead and while Avery is grieving she's tried to move on . . . devoting herself at work to a mental hospital she's opened up and directing her energy at home to raising Jeremiah, her adopted son who was traumatized into near complete withdrawal in the last series. Unable to speak or even interact he sits around mimicking Richard Dreyfuss in "Close Encounters of the Third Kind", making structures that seem to evoke mountains and castles that Linden saw in the Land.

In the meantime she's dealing with Covenant's now adult son Roger, who wants to take his mother out of Avery's hospital and doesn't seem to have a dictionary with the word "no" in it. One thing leads to another and before you can say "Connecticut Yankee" Avery has endured the requisite major trauma and wakes up to find herself back in the Land once again. Quickly she discovers that since time runs faster than back home, thousands of years have gone by since her last visit and while things aren't Sunbane level bad, they aren't great either. The Land had turned into LA and been covered in sense deadening smog, the Haruchai have become "Masters" of the Land and basically outlawed history courses, and there's a weird guy without a memory that she soon discovers has "weird" as a baseline and only gets stranger from there. Oh, and Lord Foul is back in prime "moo-hoo-ha-ha" mode, which seems like a problem everyone should be taking care of, but no one is. Looks like its up to Avery! Except she can't make a decision. Oh geez.

I'll have to agree with the people who felt like could give good ol' winter molasses a run for its money in a footrace for last place . . . while my memories of the first two series are admittedly not pristine I certainly remember them being a bit snappier in execution, and its not like I was known in those years for my boundless patience. While the buildup to the return to the Land is gradually ratchets up the tension, it feels like Donaldson is going over old ground over and over again (and its not like he needs to, a "What Has Gone Before" section opens the book, and is pretty detailed), killing time until Linden is inevitably catapulted into the Land once again.

But even there things don't remarkably improve. The conflict, at least at first, seems kind of nebulous and we hear more about what jerks the Haruchai have become since her last visit, and how they won't let anyone have any fun. Amnesiac Anele spices things up with random crazy stuff, the Ramen get dragged in, followed by Magic Horses and before long it feels like a reunion thrown together at the last minute in the local park without anyone remembering to book a caterer or entertainment, and everyone is more interested in blaming everyone else than actually organizing anything. It would benefit greatly from a central protagonist who drove the action a bit more but Avery at least so far isn't that person. Covenant, for all his reluctant faults, had a sense of direction but Avery is more interested in reiterating to herself how much she wants her son back and waiting around until events make a decision for her. Being that everyone else is reacting as well, it makes for an oddly muddy experience, with everyone slogging through scene after scene that are clearly struggling for forward momentum even as the book seems to be actively working against them. Avery doesn't know what to do (admittedly, I wouldn't know either, but at least she's been there before), the Masters don't want to do anything, Anele has no idea what the options are and everyone else is waiting on Avery. Not a great combination for exciting action, but if you like circular introspection, this may be the book for you. It does fall in line with how Donaldson treated his main female protagonists in both "Mordant's Need" and "The Gap Cycle", neither of whom were excellent at standing up for themselves. Maybe Avery was always like this but I didn't notice back then, or maybe Covenant's spiky attitude masked it.

Its not like we need her to be the stereotypical kick-butt action hero, but it'd be nice if someone stood out if she's not going to. She seems to have a literal crowd following her around but throughout the book everyone seems to be speaking in monotone and various shades of greyscale, and while sometimes a battle breaks out or they fall into a timehole to break up the pondering it doesn't really feel like anyone is going anywhere except where the book wants them to. And the book isn't concerned if they get there quickly. It needs a little more zip, which does happen but rarely, mostly when moody adult teenager Esmer shows up to both help and harm in equal measure. He may not make much sense in the scheme of things but he sure does liven things up.

And that what can make this frustrating. There are strains of interesting ideas here and there, and snippets where the story threatens to take off into a true adventure. But its like everyone is staring at a huge map of possibilities and are more concerned with figuring out how many dots per inch the paper is holding. No matter how hard it tries to climax or spark itself, its working with damp wood and nothing catches fire. Even a chase and battle that should be exciting seems to be described almost obliquely, like we're being sent postcards from the front lines while we're standing on the frontlines. The recovery of an important object should be fraught (and might have been the central plot of the book in the good old days) and tense but comes across as one more thing on the checklist, resolved about as easily as I go to the grocery store.

Now its a four book series, and he's playing with a lot of threads here, but after five hundred pages you'd hope that something would emerge from the morass as a definite direction. It doesn't quite happen, although a surprise appearance toward the end (from someone I half expected at some point, it was just a question of when) may give the series a much needed injection of fire. Longtime fans are going to want to see where he goes with this but anyone just stumbling into this cold may wonder what all the fuss is about and perhaps, even worse, call into question anything I ever praised as a teenager. As if. ...more

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Jul 09, 2020 David Katzman rated it it was ok

This review is for all ten books in the series. My re-read of the first six books was colored through the lens of nostalgia. The first two trilogies affected me a great deal as a youth—I read them at some point during high school. When I saw that Donaldson had completed the story arc with The Last Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, a four-book tetralogy, I decided to return to the originals and read them all in sequence.

I regret the decision, but now at least I’ve completed them. I do believe that b ...more

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Feb 09, 2017 Geoff rated it really liked it

This is my second read, as I wanted to catch up before reading the second book. Now, the first time that I read the book, I didn’t care that much for the story. The ending got me juiced up, but I felt that the book was just setting up the story for the series, so I wasn't that impressed.

With the second reading, I gained a better appreciation of the book. Some of the smaller parts in this book, became more relevant, and I now understand their positioning within the story. Whereas, I might have n This is my second read, as I wanted to catch up before reading the second book. Now, the first time that I read the book, I didn’t care that much for the story. The ending got me juiced up, but I felt that the book was just setting up the story for the series, so I wasn't that impressed.

With the second reading, I gained a better appreciation of the book. Some of the smaller parts in this book, became more relevant, and I now understand their positioning within the story. Whereas, I might have not thought much of them during the first reading. So, it opened me up to a lot of things that were going on within this book, that I might have just skimmed over while reading it the first time, or missed them altogether. So after the reread, I now have a better appreciation and understanding of this book. And, there’s a heck of a lot going on! This book is much more complex than any of his previous Thomas Covenant books. I feel a reread is almost necessary to make sure that you get all of what is happening. This is a great read, and I'm excited about the next three books!

Now, you can find out about the story in other reviews, but I will say it follows the same themes as before: Anti-hero, despair, and saving The Land. But, this is supposed to be the final confrontation with Lord Foul, so this time it is really saving The Land for good. And, I will say that the despair is worse than ever. So, it's not a happy story, but none of the previous books in this series have been happy (the slaughtering of the Giants, for example). Fascinating stories, yes! But, not happy stories. Donaldson usually shows you how beautiful everything is, then he destroys everything that was beautiful, and only then can Thomas or Linden overcome Lord Foul, and save The Land. So far, it looks to be the same, but even more so. Also of note; through his previous books, the mistakes made by the characters, with good intentions, always come back to bite them in a future book. It is also the case with this book. It's the same type of book as the other books in this series, but this one is much more complicated. ...more

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Aug 15, 2010 Magill rated it liked it

Shelves: sci-fi-or-fantasy-and-similar-such

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 tomes. Then I ...more

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Oct 15, 2017 Cams rated it really liked it

I don't quite know why I waited so long to read this. I've read the first chronicles twice and the second thrice. I love those books so much. So why did I wait?

At first I was simply unwilling to start another series before they were finished. I've done that before and it's a pain. Are you listening GRRM? Then I kind of fell out of reading much other than in audiobook format, which AFAIK this first final chronicle is only available abridged. Why do they even do that?

But a recent reread of the se ...more

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Oct 10, 2016 Kelly rated it it was amazing

Shelves: science-fiction

To read Thomas Covennt Chronicles is to love language and the use of words. While the conversational language is terse, the descriptions and inner emotional thoughts are lyrical.
It has ben. 10 yrs since Linden Avery returned from The Land without Covenant and she has attempted to build a life for herself honorjng his sacrifice and memory. Now his estranged son is forcing his wishes on her. Linden the Chosen One recognizes the hand of Lord Foul in the young man's actions. When he kidnaps her son ...more

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Nov 01, 2018 Robert2481 rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Ok, I give up. I can't take any more of this author's self- loathing & self-doubting "heroes". I read the 1st Covenant series & it was great. I read the 2nd, which became great in the middle of the 2nd book. I also read one more. That didn't become great until the last (4th) book. A self-loathing hero is their common denominator. I must be too old to wait for Linden to wake up this time. Also, Donaldson is in dire need of an editor. Really, he's another one who must be getting paid by the word. ...more

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Aug 06, 2010 Michael rated it really liked it

I just finished reading this one.It took me several days longer than most books of similar length. Although I enjoyed being transported to "The Land" once again, I was reminded of the Second Chronicles by the slow pace. There is a lot of imagination in the book, but a lot of the book is filler explaining what has gone before. That being said, I am looking forward to the next book which I plan on reading next. ...more

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Apr 12, 2020 Jonathan O'Brien rated it really liked it

I have read this book before, but I am continuing with my re-read of the entire series. I have only read the Last Chronicles one time, though--right after each book came out. I recall not really liking them that much, though I did think The Last Dark wrapped up the series effectively. On this re-read, I can say that I enjoyed this book far more than I recall enjoying it on the previous read. I think that because I have read the entire series much more rapidly, I have gotten a better sense of the I have read this book before, but I am continuing with my re-read of the entire series. I have only read the Last Chronicles one time, though--right after each book came out. I recall not really liking them that much, though I did think The Last Dark wrapped up the series effectively. On this re-read, I can say that I enjoyed this book far more than I recall enjoying it on the previous read. I think that because I have read the entire series much more rapidly, I have gotten a better sense of the overall story arc. I read this book at a 50-page-a-day clip in hard copy, not crazy fast but very consistent, and I am also reading other things. With that pace, there is enough time put into a 50-page read to create some strong pacing and connection to the story. One thing I have noticed that I am starting to value highly is the integrity of Donaldson's world in this entire series. The Runes of the Earth does not really feel patched onto the series for me. If feels like a natural extension, the presence of the caesures being quite consistent with the issue of the integrity of the Arch of Time that has been an issue throughout the series. So it makes sense to me. Also, this integrity extends to the characters--the Bloodguard/Haruchai are now Masters and of course, why wouldn't they be? Their choices are very consistent with their nature. I think this is a key theme of the series, how that absolutist thinking, often based in fear, actually undermines its ostensible goals. Also, think of the problems of Esmer's nature and the unreality of good/bad dichotomies that the wild magic of the ring seeks to undercut through its paradoxical nature. I like how the Ramen are foregounded in this book as a form of virtuous service in contrast to the Masters, mainly because of their lack of arrogance. The twist at the end is really good too. I recall reading that last line with my jaw falling to the floor when I first read the book years ago. The mysterious nature of the Mahdoubt warning Linden right before that scene is really important to what comes next. I like how that Linden, a scientific mind, realizes that only her loves have ever been certain to her, which is a key to the series. When the Mahdoubt says, "Be cautious of love. It misleads. There is a glamour upon it which binds the heart to destruction" (p. 511), I think Donaldson is showing the paradoxical nature of love. I take this series to be really about the ways to overcome despair, and I think paradox is Donaldson's answer-paradox in love, commitments, ethics, morals. We must attach ourselves to things/idea/people/nature that we adore in order to find purpose and meaning and avoid despair, but that act can itself be cancerous, destructive, and selfish. Anyhow, like always, you will either love the theme-and character-driven aspects of this series or you won't. It's not really a frolicking good time and it's not militaristic or highly plotted and descriptive of its world. It's richly interior, though, and there are a lot of people like me who come to love it for that reason. ...more

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Jun 03, 2018 Steven rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy

This novel is the first in a 4-book series that concludes the Thomas Covenant saga. Ten fictional years have passed in "our" world since the events of White Gold Wielder, the last novel before this one, and as usual, more than three thousand have passed in the Land. But also, more than 20 years had passed between the publication of the last book and this one, and more than thirty since the first time I read the original two series. When I saw that Donaldson had returned to the Land once again, I This novel is the first in a 4-book series that concludes the Thomas Covenant saga. Ten fictional years have passed in "our" world since the events of White Gold Wielder, the last novel before this one, and as usual, more than three thousand have passed in the Land. But also, more than 20 years had passed between the publication of the last book and this one, and more than thirty since the first time I read the original two series. When I saw that Donaldson had returned to the Land once again, I was filled with both excitement and trepidation. He's written numerous other novels since the last Covenant book - the Mordant's Need serries, the Gap series - and to be perfectly blunt, I haven't really liked any of them. His writing style is wildly different in everything else he does, and I worried that he would not be able, after all this time (and after getting out of practice by writing in other styles) to return to his former "Covenant" form.

My worries were groundless. Donaldson's unique and highly enjoyable writing style don't miss a beat. I have no idea how he can turn it on and off like that -- I sure couldn't! -- but this novel reads like he started writing it the day after he finished White Gold Wielder.

The story itself is a page-turner if there ever was one. Assuming one enjoyed the prior novels and liked the earlier characters and races such as Waynhim, stonedownors, and Haruchai, there is much to love in this first installment. Chief among these things to love is the main character, who once again is Linden Avery, the Chosen. She's been in our world for ten years, and the changes wrought into her character by the last series are clearly evident. But she is immediately confronted by a daunting foe -- Covenant's son Roger. Linden begins to suspect that Ravers or Foul are at work in Roger and his mother, Joan, who has been under Linden's care for ten years. And once again events conspire inevitably to call Linden to the Land, that magical place of wonder and Earthpower.

I won't supply any more details of the plot here, as they would simply spoil things. Suffice it to say there are many twists and turns, and many surprises. There are moments of deep grief... and moments when you will want to cheer.

This novel also has the biggest cliffhanger ending of any Covenant book. Originally three years separated the publication of each novel. When I saw this book in stores back on its first publication, although tempted, I decided to wait until the series was finished so I could read them all at once. I'm so glad I did -- because if I'd had to wait 3 years instead of 3 hours to start the next book I might possibly have gnawed off my own arm.

If you enjoy the Covenant books, this first novel of the last series is definitely for you. Once again, it feels like this series should have been called the Chronicles of Linden Avery rather than of Thomas Covenant, but that's just fine with me -- I like Linden better anyway. ...more

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About Stephen R. Donaldson

Stephen R. Donaldson

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Stephen Reeder Donaldson is an American fantasy, science fiction, and mystery novelist; in the United Kingdom he is usually called "Stephen Donaldson" (without the "R"). He has also written non-fiction under the pen name Reed Stephens.

EARLY LIFE AND EDUCATION:

Stephen R. Donaldson was born May 13, 1947 in Cleveland, Ohio. His father, James, was a medical missionary and his mother, Ruth, a prostheti ...more