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3.3 AVERAGE
3.3 AVERAGE
I have only one reason to thank the author of this book: he taught me that it's OK to not finish a book when it isn't worth reading. Before starting Lord Foul's Bane I had always struggled through to the end of every book I'd started, even on books I didn't particularly care for, but this one was so bad that I couldn't force myself to finish it.
Man, this is probably my favorite series of all time. This is my third time reading it (maybe fourth) and I think I enjoyed it more this time. There are several scenes that are just amazing, like when Covenant meets Foamfollower and the giant asks him to talk about himself, or when Bannor assesses the Ramen methods after the killing of the kresh. (I'm trying to be non-spoiler about it.)
I find Bannor to be one of my favorite characters, and the Bloodguard in general are so rich. As are the Ramen, and Saltheart Foamfollower is not only one of the great characters, but one of the greatest names ever.
I've often heard people say that this book is slow because it needs to provide the background for everything and suffers from "origin story syndrome" but I just find the world-building to be so imaginative and solid and rich. I've used that word twice now, but that is the best word for it. Going from our world to The Land must be like going from watching an old grainy black and white television to seeing a hi-def 3-D television. I do favor the second and third books in the series over this one, but I truly enjoyed this rereading.
I find Bannor to be one of my favorite characters, and the Bloodguard in general are so rich. As are the Ramen, and Saltheart Foamfollower is not only one of the great characters, but one of the greatest names ever.
I've often heard people say that this book is slow because it needs to provide the background for everything and suffers from "origin story syndrome" but I just find the world-building to be so imaginative and solid and rich. I've used that word twice now, but that is the best word for it. Going from our world to The Land must be like going from watching an old grainy black and white television to seeing a hi-def 3-D television. I do favor the second and third books in the series over this one, but I truly enjoyed this rereading.
2nd read, after maybe 30 years. This did not stand up that well. The Land is still beautiful, but for whatever reason the ongoing crisis of Thomas Covenants unwillingness or inability to use his power just didn't work for me any more.
I had completely forgotten that Covenant, after his arrival in the Land and after healing his leprosy, loses control and rapes the teenager girl who had been taking care of him. If this were a new work I might have stopped reading right there. I kept wondering if there would be any consequence, and there kind of were minor consequences, and he does seem to feel kind of bad about it at least once, but basically his actions are just lost in the plot. At least for book one. I wonder if Donaldson wants that one back.
I stuck with three stars because of history, but if this were a new work by an author I didn't know well I am sure I would not be so generous.
I had completely forgotten that Covenant, after his arrival in the Land and after healing his leprosy, loses control and rapes the teenager girl who had been taking care of him. If this were a new work I might have stopped reading right there. I kept wondering if there would be any consequence, and there kind of were minor consequences, and he does seem to feel kind of bad about it at least once, but basically his actions are just lost in the plot. At least for book one. I wonder if Donaldson wants that one back.
I stuck with three stars because of history, but if this were a new work by an author I didn't know well I am sure I would not be so generous.
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Was a tough one to finish. Covenant is an unpleasant character to see the world through. Wanted to finish to see if I could.
adventurous
dark
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
What a difference 30 years makes!
The last time I read this, I was a Junior in High School. I continued to read the series through the Second Chronicles, and I can honestly say that I remember very little about any of them, except I'm pretty sure I enjoyed them. This time, however, this book, not so much. It certainly wasn't horrible, terrible, poorly written or any of that. It just seemed so ponderous, like it could have taken less time to get where it went. I don't remember Thomas Covenant being the personality that he was. Perhaps my high school mind couldn't absorb that, but I found him, his personality and his behavior to just be annoying. Nothing hateful, and I get that he is a very human protagonist. I think the thing that bothered me most was his really out-of-place oath/curse-swearing of "Hellfire!" and the like.
Basically a long journey with several action sequences along the way to build up to the big spectacle at the end. The various Land-vocabulary entries and the seeming significance of elaborate names felt really contrived and over-wrought in a sense. I'm not sure from what they were derived, but they did seem derivative and just a bit "too much," at times almost cringe-worthy.
Based on this re-reading, it is unlikely I will undertake re-reading the rest of the series, at least in the near future. I liked it well enough to not pan it, but not enough to recommend it or continue the saga.
The last time I read this, I was a Junior in High School. I continued to read the series through the Second Chronicles, and I can honestly say that I remember very little about any of them, except I'm pretty sure I enjoyed them. This time, however, this book, not so much. It certainly wasn't horrible, terrible, poorly written or any of that. It just seemed so ponderous, like it could have taken less time to get where it went. I don't remember Thomas Covenant being the personality that he was. Perhaps my high school mind couldn't absorb that, but I found him, his personality and his behavior to just be annoying. Nothing hateful, and I get that he is a very human protagonist. I think the thing that bothered me most was his really out-of-place oath/curse-swearing of "Hellfire!" and the like.
Basically a long journey with several action sequences along the way to build up to the big spectacle at the end. The various Land-vocabulary entries and the seeming significance of elaborate names felt really contrived and over-wrought in a sense. I'm not sure from what they were derived, but they did seem derivative and just a bit "too much," at times almost cringe-worthy.
Based on this re-reading, it is unlikely I will undertake re-reading the rest of the series, at least in the near future. I liked it well enough to not pan it, but not enough to recommend it or continue the saga.
So, after reading Up the Line by Robert Silverberg, I literally threw it in the trash so there would be one less copy out there in the world. I didn't throw out Lord Foul's Bane, but this is only one star higher.
I picked this up at my fave used bookstore for my Among Others bibliography reading list. Do I regret it? I guess not. But there were so many reasons I didn't enjoy this book.
1. Thomas Covenant is incredibly selfish and pessimistic. It is awful to spend a whole book reading about someone with these traits who doesn't really change or grow. Yes, he has been through a lot of awful stuff when the book opens. Yes, he occasionally shows little flashes of thinking about people other than himself (like the Bloodguard, or Llaura and Pietten). But throughput the whole story, you have to sit there and watch him do mental gymnastics to convince himself of all the reasons he can't help, doesn't have powers, shouldn't be forced into things, too weak, blah, blah, blah. No matter that people will die right in front of him, no matter that the Big Baddie will take over the world and kill or enslave absolutely everyone, Thomas Covenant still has to be cajoled, yelled at, begged and physically moved into place to even TRY to ATTEMPT to do something. Then he somehow decides he can't kill anyone, like it's a morality issue, and we're supposed to support that and admire it? I dunno, man.
2. The infamous rape scene. He literally rapes a 15-year-old girl who has been nothing but kind to him and just cured his frigging leprosy..... and then he apparently forgets he did it for the vast majority of the book? And then we're supposed to feel for him because when he remembers, he feels bad about it? Sigh.
3. The purple prose, oh, the purple prose. I would like to never hear "incarnadine" or "laval eyes" or "lornly" ever again. And you had to say "arras" instead of "tapestry"? There are words in here (like "inconsidign" and "inanition" WHICH ARE NOT EVEN IN THE DICTIONARY.COM APP. Plus a lot of the names are ridiculous - High Lord Kevin? Drool the Cavewight? And "the Ramen" probably sounds funnier in 2024 than it did when this book was written and maybe ramen wasn't a grocery store staple everywhere?
So, why did it get any stars at all? I think one star is entirely for Saltheart Foamfollower, the awesome Giant. Even though he was so similar to an Ent that I kept picturing him like a giant Groot and had to remind myself that wasn't right.
The second star is for the creativity of writing a fantasy story about a leper. From the sounds of it he knew a lot about the subject through his father's work,and I definitely got a new perspective on what some of the trials and tribulations would be for someone diagnosed with leprosy in a modern society.
Now I'm off to Wikipedia the rest of this series so I can avoid reading it.
I picked this up at my fave used bookstore for my Among Others bibliography reading list. Do I regret it? I guess not. But there were so many reasons I didn't enjoy this book.
1. Thomas Covenant is incredibly selfish and pessimistic. It is awful to spend a whole book reading about someone with these traits who doesn't really change or grow. Yes, he has been through a lot of awful stuff when the book opens. Yes, he occasionally shows little flashes of thinking about people other than himself (like the Bloodguard, or Llaura and Pietten). But throughput the whole story, you have to sit there and watch him do mental gymnastics to convince himself of all the reasons he can't help, doesn't have powers, shouldn't be forced into things, too weak, blah, blah, blah. No matter that people will die right in front of him, no matter that the Big Baddie will take over the world and kill or enslave absolutely everyone, Thomas Covenant still has to be cajoled, yelled at, begged and physically moved into place to even TRY to ATTEMPT to do something. Then he somehow decides he can't kill anyone, like it's a morality issue, and we're supposed to support that and admire it? I dunno, man.
2. The infamous rape scene. He literally rapes a 15-year-old girl who has been nothing but kind to him and just cured his frigging leprosy..... and then he apparently forgets he did it for the vast majority of the book? And then we're supposed to feel for him because when he remembers, he feels bad about it? Sigh.
3. The purple prose, oh, the purple prose. I would like to never hear "incarnadine" or "laval eyes" or "lornly" ever again. And you had to say "arras" instead of "tapestry"? There are words in here (like "inconsidign" and "inanition" WHICH ARE NOT EVEN IN THE DICTIONARY.COM APP. Plus a lot of the names are ridiculous - High Lord Kevin? Drool the Cavewight? And "the Ramen" probably sounds funnier in 2024 than it did when this book was written and maybe ramen wasn't a grocery store staple everywhere?
So, why did it get any stars at all? I think one star is entirely for Saltheart Foamfollower, the awesome Giant. Even though he was so similar to an Ent that I kept picturing him like a giant Groot and had to remind myself that wasn't right.
The second star is for the creativity of writing a fantasy story about a leper. From the sounds of it he knew a lot about the subject through his father's work,and I definitely got a new perspective on what some of the trials and tribulations would be for someone diagnosed with leprosy in a modern society.
Now I'm off to Wikipedia the rest of this series so I can avoid reading it.
What can you say about all these Land book? They are brilliantly written, possibly the best written fantasy books of all time, the only competition is Tolkien. This is a top 5 series in fantasy (fantasy? bah, this is top stuff in any genre) and an absolute MASTERPIECE. Everything Donaldson writes is magic it seems, the guy is just incapable of putting out anything but the finest quality stories ever. I can name half a dozen of the so-called best writers of the last century that aren't even within viewing distance of him. He's that good, and this story is that good.
adventurous
reflective
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This is NOT at all my idea of an epic fantasy. The main character is absolutely the worst I have come to read about. I have no feelings, except loathing, for him. The magic system was practically non-existent and when it did appear, it was very confusing. After about 100 pages, I found myself hoping that each page would be the last (since I am the type of person that can never leave a book unfinished). I don't know who would like this book, and perhaps I am one who enjoys "clichéd" fantasy, but i can't recommend this to anyone. It is much to in depth in the wrong ways. i could not get to know any of the characters but I was well versed in the "Land" to the point where I didn't even want to know anymore.