You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.3 AVERAGE
3.3 AVERAGE
Written in 1977 (the year I was born incidentally), [b:Lord Foul's Bane|219205|Lord Foul's Bane (The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever 1)|Stephen R. Donaldson|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172802672s/219205.jpg|958463] reads more like a Tolkien novel, and I don't mean that as a compliment.
It's dry and slow. I never really gained affection for the protagonist - and while I found him being a leper a unique foil, I grew tired of him not realizing that the Land had "cured" him; he still whined about it.
Donaldson's prose is riddled with fantastic vocabulary - making him quite possibly an MFA-holder!
I will likely NOT be visiting this series again.
It's dry and slow. I never really gained affection for the protagonist - and while I found him being a leper a unique foil, I grew tired of him not realizing that the Land had "cured" him; he still whined about it.
Donaldson's prose is riddled with fantastic vocabulary - making him quite possibly an MFA-holder!
I will likely NOT be visiting this series again.
I feel like it’s likely I’m the only person who found the leprosy/real world more interesting to the Land.
Just no. I lost my will to live reading this book. The prose is very over written. The character is unlikeable and is just along for the ride, he doesn't contribute anything. There is a rape very early on the book that is unnecessary, awful, and for which the main character never faces a reasonable set of consequences. Don't waste your time
dark
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Pedophilia, Rape
I was basically hate reading this book by the halfway point. I didn't want to finish it, but I also didn't want to just leave it there to mock me. Enough has been said about how awful the main character is that it doesn't need repeating. I will add, that it's annoying how Covenant Forest Gumps his way though the entire book. No matter what he does or says, it basically all works out for him because every character he interacts with is like "you're weird, but you seem to have a rare magic ring, so you must be tolerated and pampered". I've been told later books are better but that's not something I'm going to find out for myself.
“Take back the ring. Be true. You need not fail.”
He took the ring and replaced it on his left hand. Then he said, “Everybody fails. But I am going to survive-as long as I can.”
I got through the description of the child rape and the periods of self pity but the journey itself was unbelievably long and uninteresting.
He took the ring and replaced it on his left hand. Then he said, “Everybody fails. But I am going to survive-as long as I can.”
I got through the description of the child rape and the periods of self pity but the journey itself was unbelievably long and uninteresting.
This was not what I was expecting... what was I expecting? The reviews seem to jump between one and 5 stars - either you love it or hate it.
Some of the complaints seem irrelevant to me - sure, Covenant is an ass, and does some despicable things - but compared to most of the characters in (say) Game of Thrones or other similar books, he's pretty tame. But what I do really like is that this is (trying) to explore something I've not really seen - "Do one's actions in dreams have any real significance?". This also seems to come up in discussions about computer games and the like - if its not real, why cant i act like a complete ass? Why cant I go crazy and kill and destroy everything. Its only a game, I'm not really like that....
Its an interesting idea to follow - this is a man abused by the world, a leper who is rejected by everything and everyone in his little country town. His own wife leaves him, taking his child. Somehow this man wakes up in a literal fantasy world - where he is some kind of second coming with a mystical ring that is (supposedly) all powerful... This is a world that is full of obvious health, which is in danger from a ancient corruption (all seems very symbolic and possibly cathartic...)
He thinks he's dreaming - unconscious and delirious. Now he's waiting to wake up again, and trying to keep a grip of his sanity so he wont go crazy when he wakes up...
Do any of his actions in this world count? Are these figments of his imagination actually valuable?
Its a weird way to look at a fantasy world, and Covenant slowly finds ways of dealing with his situation, but makes some serious mistakes along the way.
I think that this could have been a 5 star book - but the language just kills it for me. There seems to be an excessive amount of description, and a lot of word usage that actually had me pulling out a dictionary to double check meanings. Many times the odd use words just didn't make sense and just pulled me out of the story. I kept wanting the writing to just get out of the way :)
Covenant is a fascinating character. He IS NOT a hero by any stretch of the imagination, no matter how much the inhabitants of this "Land" want to believe him to be. So much of this book (or all of it, depending on point of view) is in his head. The real story isn't the quest for an artifact or whatever, the real story is about Covenant trying to find a way to relate to this fantasy world without loosing his grip on the harsh logic he needs to survive in the real world.
I might continue with the series, and hope like hell the writing improves.
Some of the complaints seem irrelevant to me - sure, Covenant is an ass, and does some despicable things - but compared to most of the characters in (say) Game of Thrones or other similar books, he's pretty tame. But what I do really like is that this is (trying) to explore something I've not really seen - "Do one's actions in dreams have any real significance?". This also seems to come up in discussions about computer games and the like - if its not real, why cant i act like a complete ass? Why cant I go crazy and kill and destroy everything. Its only a game, I'm not really like that....
Its an interesting idea to follow - this is a man abused by the world, a leper who is rejected by everything and everyone in his little country town. His own wife leaves him, taking his child. Somehow this man wakes up in a literal fantasy world - where he is some kind of second coming with a mystical ring that is (supposedly) all powerful... This is a world that is full of obvious health, which is in danger from a ancient corruption (all seems very symbolic and possibly cathartic...)
He thinks he's dreaming - unconscious and delirious. Now he's waiting to wake up again, and trying to keep a grip of his sanity so he wont go crazy when he wakes up...
Do any of his actions in this world count? Are these figments of his imagination actually valuable?
Its a weird way to look at a fantasy world, and Covenant slowly finds ways of dealing with his situation, but makes some serious mistakes along the way.
I think that this could have been a 5 star book - but the language just kills it for me. There seems to be an excessive amount of description, and a lot of word usage that actually had me pulling out a dictionary to double check meanings. Many times the odd use words just didn't make sense and just pulled me out of the story. I kept wanting the writing to just get out of the way :)
Covenant is a fascinating character. He IS NOT a hero by any stretch of the imagination, no matter how much the inhabitants of this "Land" want to believe him to be. So much of this book (or all of it, depending on point of view) is in his head. The real story isn't the quest for an artifact or whatever, the real story is about Covenant trying to find a way to relate to this fantasy world without loosing his grip on the harsh logic he needs to survive in the real world.
I might continue with the series, and hope like hell the writing improves.
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The main character was a very frustrating guy. I am not into fantasy at all and with that in mind this has been the best fantasy book I have read. I do not think I will read the sequel but if I was into fantasy I am sure I would. So kind of ignore my rating if you like fantasy.