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3.3 AVERAGE
3.3 AVERAGE
I totally mean to read this. I've started it twice, but then get distracted by things like Jasper Fforde and Firefly.
Stopped after 15 chapters due to characters and locations frequently introduced without sufficient background. Character and locations were referenced so much I consulted the Unbeliever wiki for any background information. However, the wiki is incomplete and unhelpful.
I've been told for years now that this book is one of the pillars of fantasy. If that's true, then the whole genre is due to collapse any day now. The man is addicted to adverbs, and his writing is loose and weak. The storyline is almost slavishly Tolkienite. There are some creative touches (the hero is a leper) but I don't feel like it's original enough to merit being a "pillar." Also, it's poorly written, poorly plotted, and horribly insulting to women.
I hope people don't judge fantasy novels based on this one. It's really awful.
I hope people don't judge fantasy novels based on this one. It's really awful.
This is actually my third or fourth time reading this, but it has been close to ten years since the last go around and honestly I had forgotten a lot of the detail in this one compared to the later books in the trilogy.
I remember reading this for the first time when I was a young teen, and even then I did not really like the character of Thomas Covenant. This read through didn't change my opinion. I honestly kept shouting internally at the pages at how a simple explanation would probably have saved a heck of a lot of pain and suffering, but instead all we have a is grimacing and "don't touch me". Sigh...
Even with all that the book and series remains one of my favorites, I always enjoyed the world building, and while it will never be as complex as JRR's, it will still occupy a soft spot in my memory.
I remember reading this for the first time when I was a young teen, and even then I did not really like the character of Thomas Covenant. This read through didn't change my opinion. I honestly kept shouting internally at the pages at how a simple explanation would probably have saved a heck of a lot of pain and suffering, but instead all we have a is grimacing and "don't touch me". Sigh...
Even with all that the book and series remains one of my favorites, I always enjoyed the world building, and while it will never be as complex as JRR's, it will still occupy a soft spot in my memory.
I’ve DNFed this several times now. I may update my rating if I ever power through it as I hear that it grows on you.
I had read Lord Foul's Bane a long long time ago. Other than the basic premise, I remembered little of the story after all this time.
Thomas Covenant lives in the modern world (well, the modern world of the late 1970s) and suffers from leprosy. One day he travels into the main town to pay a bill, where people actively try to avoid him and discourage him from coming to town. At one point, he steps off a curb and is seemingly hit by a police car. When he wakes, he is in an alternate world, known as The Land, where he is is mistaken for the mythic Berek Halfhand, an ancient lord who had defeated the eponymous villain in the long ago past. He had been summoned from his home world by the ridiculously named Drool Rockworm. Lord Foul gives Covenant a threatening message to give to the leaders of The Land. The first part of the novel focuses on Covenant’s efforts to reach the leaders and the second part of the book focuses on a select group of adventurers setting off to defeat the great evil that has befallen their world.
If the structure of the novel sounds familiar, then many other aspects of the book will too as it is definitely derivative of The Lord of the Rings. For the most part, Lord Foul is an unseen evil who returns to The Land after many years. Rockworm is very Gollum like. There’s a council that decides what action to take and a magic ring that Covenant cannot wear without great anguish. That said, the world Donaldson creates is neither as sophisticated nor as rich as Tolkien’s masterpiece; however, that is probably an unfairly high standard to compare any fantasy novel to.
As I’ve found with many fantasy novels, the writing is often overwrought, as if saying in twenty words what one could say with two somehow makes a work epic. Fantasy readers expect fat novels, but it seems sometimes that comes at the expense of tight prose.
One of the most distinct and intriguing features of the novel is how unlikable Covenant is. He is not the typical hero. Having grown bitter over the years because of his illness and the way people have treated him, he lashes out at others and commits some unexpectedly vile acts.
I enjoyed the book more than not. I appreciated that Covenant was such an unusual main character and I was interested in finding out more about the relationship between the two worlds, although the latter is not much expounded on. Because of his accident, Covenant believes the world to be in his dreams and not real, earning him the name Unbeliever. His slow acceptance of his new situation was another unique aspect of the novel.
I was on the fence as to whether or not I wanted to continue with the series. However, looking at other reviews, it seems like the consensus is that this is the weakest book and Donaldson doesn’t really hit his stride until later. Considering that, I will probably pick up Book Two, The Illearth War, at some point and see how it goes.
Thomas Covenant lives in the modern world (well, the modern world of the late 1970s) and suffers from leprosy. One day he travels into the main town to pay a bill, where people actively try to avoid him and discourage him from coming to town. At one point, he steps off a curb and is seemingly hit by a police car. When he wakes, he is in an alternate world, known as The Land, where he is is mistaken for the mythic Berek Halfhand, an ancient lord who had defeated the eponymous villain in the long ago past. He had been summoned from his home world by the ridiculously named Drool Rockworm. Lord Foul gives Covenant a threatening message to give to the leaders of The Land. The first part of the novel focuses on Covenant’s efforts to reach the leaders and the second part of the book focuses on a select group of adventurers setting off to defeat the great evil that has befallen their world.
If the structure of the novel sounds familiar, then many other aspects of the book will too as it is definitely derivative of The Lord of the Rings. For the most part, Lord Foul is an unseen evil who returns to The Land after many years. Rockworm is very Gollum like. There’s a council that decides what action to take and a magic ring that Covenant cannot wear without great anguish. That said, the world Donaldson creates is neither as sophisticated nor as rich as Tolkien’s masterpiece; however, that is probably an unfairly high standard to compare any fantasy novel to.
As I’ve found with many fantasy novels, the writing is often overwrought, as if saying in twenty words what one could say with two somehow makes a work epic. Fantasy readers expect fat novels, but it seems sometimes that comes at the expense of tight prose.
One of the most distinct and intriguing features of the novel is how unlikable Covenant is. He is not the typical hero. Having grown bitter over the years because of his illness and the way people have treated him, he lashes out at others and commits some unexpectedly vile acts.
I enjoyed the book more than not. I appreciated that Covenant was such an unusual main character and I was interested in finding out more about the relationship between the two worlds, although the latter is not much expounded on. Because of his accident, Covenant believes the world to be in his dreams and not real, earning him the name Unbeliever. His slow acceptance of his new situation was another unique aspect of the novel.
I was on the fence as to whether or not I wanted to continue with the series. However, looking at other reviews, it seems like the consensus is that this is the weakest book and Donaldson doesn’t really hit his stride until later. Considering that, I will probably pick up Book Two, The Illearth War, at some point and see how it goes.
This is a classic fantasy novel that I first read in high school. The main character is a contemporary novelist who has been diagnosed with leprosy and is treated as an outcast from his small New England town. The events of the novel comprise his adventures in a fantasy world, where he is forced to choose between the physical and mental vigilance he has been taught as a leprosy survival skill and the necessary action to aid in saving the fantasy world from the evil that confronts it. Throughout, a big part of the theme is deciding what's real and what's not real. It's a good read, although Donaldson has a vast vocabulary that often exceeds the grasp of most readers and there are a few parts where the action feels quite slow. Still, a decent read for fantasy fans.
A hard - but must - read for any fantasy reader.
This book is not perfect. It is difficult, somewhat overwritten, and presents an incredibly unlikeable protagonist who does altogether too much navel-gazing.
Lord Foul's Bane attempts to distance itself from LotR while simultaneously drawing heavily from it (shepherds of the forests, a magic ring, a mighty stone fortress, Ravers who serve Lord Foul, and the ineluctable march toward ruin).
However, it and the rest of the books in the Chronicles of Thomas Covenant are rewarding, rich, and compelling, and I find myself drawn to them. What is belief? "Any belief that puts itself beyond doubt nurtures its own collapse." What does disease do to the soul? Where do we put our faith? Without beauty, how do we combat despair? This is a morally complex book that is more than its superficial genre earmarks. For that I come back to it over the years.
Lord Foul's Bane attempts to distance itself from LotR while simultaneously drawing heavily from it (shepherds of the forests, a magic ring, a mighty stone fortress, Ravers who serve Lord Foul, and the ineluctable march toward ruin).
However, it and the rest of the books in the Chronicles of Thomas Covenant are rewarding, rich, and compelling, and I find myself drawn to them. What is belief? "Any belief that puts itself beyond doubt nurtures its own collapse." What does disease do to the soul? Where do we put our faith? Without beauty, how do we combat despair? This is a morally complex book that is more than its superficial genre earmarks. For that I come back to it over the years.