You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.3 AVERAGE
3.3 AVERAGE
Interesting and mostly dislikable main character. Some fascinating themes-- the ability to see/feel health/illness in the world around--and interesting moral issues raised. The writing felt really overwrought at times. Better than a run of the mill sword'n'elf epic, but I doubt I'll ever read the rest of the series.
What can I say about this book?
Let me start with the pros:
1) Exceptional world building. A world in which you can relate to and long for.
2) Interesting characters. The council members and villains in particular are very interesting and dynamic characters.
3) The plot as a whole is very well conceived.
Now the cons:
1) a terrible protagonist in Thomas Covenant. Aside from having a cool name that is just about it. Despite the facts that he has leprosy, is a rapist, yells at everyone the thing that makes him a terrible character (in fact so bad that you start longing for him to get killed off somewhere around page 200 or so) is that he constantly wines. He doesn't believe in himself and thinks that being an ass is going to help him wake up from his dream.
2) The story borrows a bit to much from Tolkien. Just about every fantasy writer does but the monsters,the questing, the high council are all a bit to familiar. The book should share a co authorship with Tolkien.
3)The poems are terrible. Not sure what Doaldson was thinking with the poems but all of them are pretty difficult to read through save yourself some time on the book and just skim over them.
Let me start with the pros:
1) Exceptional world building. A world in which you can relate to and long for.
2) Interesting characters. The council members and villains in particular are very interesting and dynamic characters.
3) The plot as a whole is very well conceived.
Now the cons:
1) a terrible protagonist in Thomas Covenant. Aside from having a cool name that is just about it. Despite the facts that he has leprosy, is a rapist, yells at everyone the thing that makes him a terrible character (in fact so bad that you start longing for him to get killed off somewhere around page 200 or so) is that he constantly wines. He doesn't believe in himself and thinks that being an ass is going to help him wake up from his dream.
2) The story borrows a bit to much from Tolkien. Just about every fantasy writer does but the monsters,the questing, the high council are all a bit to familiar. The book should share a co authorship with Tolkien.
3)The poems are terrible. Not sure what Doaldson was thinking with the poems but all of them are pretty difficult to read through save yourself some time on the book and just skim over them.
"Hellfire! this was an annoying book to get through," I say in my rheumy voice. Kept thinking that at some point the eponymous character would stop his whining and saying it was all a dream...but nope. Very confused how it has received so many stars. I found the main character boring, supporting characters were barely even two-dimensional at the best of times, dialogue was stilted. I feel like Donaldson doesn't understand the Hero's Journey and tried to write an anti-hero's journey and it just didn't work well. Then he wakes up and it *was* all just a dream.
*Update-after reading through some of the other reviews I see that I'm not the only one who found the character whiny.
*Update-after reading through some of the other reviews I see that I'm not the only one who found the character whiny.
I've probably read this series at least 3 times. The first time, when I was high school, I fell in love with the series and for years, the 6 books that told the story of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever were my very favorite books. This time, for some reason, the books didn't click. I had a difficult time connecting with an antihero who is always angry and who, to be honest, it seems as though even the author doesn't care for very much. Whatever my younger self saw in these books, my older self couldn't find, which was disappointing, given the memories I have of being immersed in the story.
Някакъв умрял сайт за книжни вкусове ми препоръча тоя автор като близък до стила на Абъркромби и аз, за нещастие, му повярвах. Не стига това, ами и книгата я има издадена на български под името "Прокобата на господаря Гад" и понеже предпочитам да чета фентъзи на български взех, че си я купих.
Не знам дали Абъркромби като цяло ме развали за всякакви други фентъзита, като ми показа колко добри могат да бъдат всъщност и че не е нужно да са безмозъчни, писани на конвейр еднакви историйки подобни на рпг игра в която героя почва 1 ниво и вдига левъл с всеки том, но...
Та тая книга е детска, наивна и като цяло изключително неинтересна. Честно казано учудвам се че написах 3 абзаца ревю, толкова ми е meh
Не знам дали Абъркромби като цяло ме развали за всякакви други фентъзита, като ми показа колко добри могат да бъдат всъщност и че не е нужно да са безмозъчни, писани на конвейр еднакви историйки подобни на рпг игра в която героя почва 1 ниво и вдига левъл с всеки том, но...
Та тая книга е детска, наивна и като цяло изключително неинтересна. Честно казано учудвам се че написах 3 абзаца ревю, толкова ми е meh
I'm really unsure about this book. Covenant is an awful person and so grumpy through all of the book (and he obviously never played D&D). I also really don't like the Wizard of Oz conceit, it cheapens everything including his awfulness. However the story in the land is really interesting and the magic is super cool. I'm going to finish the first trilogy because I want some pay off for the Lord Foul story and to see if the premise wraps up in a more satisfying way.
HELLFIRE!
HELLFIRE!
The first person to show kindness to him and who manages to cure of his leprosy...he rapes. And then he thinks she did him a favor for not telling anyone. It's only 60 pages in. Fuck this book and fuck this author.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Rape
My first exposure to the glory of the anti-hero. You want to grab Covenant by the scruff of the neck and shake him into sense through 90% of this series. But, oh, the pain is worth it.
So, this book has been on my shelf for quite a long time and I have never gotten around to reading it. I needed a book to fit a task for the Seasonal Reading Challenge I do here on Goodreads and this fit the task.......I'm I ever glad it did. The story is about a leper who has been cut of from the world due to being ostracised by the people in his town. After meeting an old man he finds himself in an alternate or fantasy world. Thomas is not an easy character, he rapes the first woman he meets and spends most of the time feeling sorry for himself and trying to avoid responsibility. But to him this is a dream and not real. The writing is incredibly descriptive and reminds me of J. R.R. Tolkein. The prose is rich and I felt myself sucked into the story hoping that Thomas would be able to redeem himself. I'm looking forward to the rest of the series.
I remember liking this series more when I read it in the 1980’s, Thomas seems whiny and a bit boring now. Hopefully the next two hit me better.