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todenmann's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
claytell's review
5.0
I know that this is not a book or series for everyone. But it is one of my favourites. Read it in the 80s. Reading it again decades later, still a really good story.
angemelb's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
By the 3rd book, pace has picked up, intensity of plot has expanded and is more engaging. Great culmination and ending. Glad i persisted.
isaac_petherbridge's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
ogreart's review against another edition
4.0
This was worth the read. I am glad I finally finished this trilogy. Donaldson delivered a payoff that felt right.
laurenthelas's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
scheu's review against another edition
5.0
Satisfying. Again, with this most recent reading, I find myself especially drawn to the characters' reverence for Earthpower, and the manifestations of it in the Land. Donaldson does not spend a lot of time in interviews talking about the environmental message of the trilogy, but there is a distinct message there that I myself spent no time thinking about until now.
Also, this Grim Oak Press edition is lovely.
Also, this Grim Oak Press edition is lovely.
steven_v's review against another edition
5.0
This is the third and final book of the first Thomas Covenant trilogy, and a fitting conclusion to the story. For one last time (in this series) Covenant is summoned to the Land, and he decides that this time, he is going to bring Lord Foul's home down around the Despiser's ears. With a ragtag little group of companions, Covenant sets off to end things, one way or the other.
Meantime, the Lords and Revelstone are under siege, by hundreds of thousands of foul creatures and a Raver-Giant. The Raver makes one type of assault after another, gradually wearing down the power and will of those who would defend the Land from Despite.
To say this novel is bleak would be a wild understatement. Both parts of the story - Revelstone and Covenant -- are rife with loss, failure, and death. Steel yourself if you are going to read this novel, for precious few characters survive it, and almost none do so wholly intact.
That said, it is a satisfying ending to the first trilogy. Covenant finally manages to deal with the question of whether the Land is real or a dream in a highly satisfying way. And although some parts of the story drag, the last few chapters are compelling. In the end some questions are finally answered, some things finally explained, which have been nagging at the reader all along since the very first chapter of book 1.
Although I like this book, I put it below the Illearth War on the list of Covenant stories. The unrelieved desolation of this novel, from page 1 until nearly the end, makes for rather grim reading -- interesting and compelling, to be sure, but grim. The Land is covered in an impossible winter that never ends. All the descriptions of the terrain are about snow and ice and cold and monotony. And even when this is not true, then we have descriptions of magma, ash, and soot. It is a very gray, dreary dream-land to enter, this time -- unlike the beautiful Land of the first two novels.
The ending redeems all this, and is well worth enduring the grimmer parts of the book, but there is no question that one is, indeed, "enduring" them. It's worth getting through, but don't expect a cheery romp through the Land here, or you will be disappointed.
Meantime, the Lords and Revelstone are under siege, by hundreds of thousands of foul creatures and a Raver-Giant. The Raver makes one type of assault after another, gradually wearing down the power and will of those who would defend the Land from Despite.
To say this novel is bleak would be a wild understatement. Both parts of the story - Revelstone and Covenant -- are rife with loss, failure, and death. Steel yourself if you are going to read this novel, for precious few characters survive it, and almost none do so wholly intact.
That said, it is a satisfying ending to the first trilogy. Covenant finally manages to deal with the question of whether the Land is real or a dream in a highly satisfying way. And although some parts of the story drag, the last few chapters are compelling. In the end some questions are finally answered, some things finally explained, which have been nagging at the reader all along since the very first chapter of book 1.
Although I like this book, I put it below the Illearth War on the list of Covenant stories. The unrelieved desolation of this novel, from page 1 until nearly the end, makes for rather grim reading -- interesting and compelling, to be sure, but grim. The Land is covered in an impossible winter that never ends. All the descriptions of the terrain are about snow and ice and cold and monotony. And even when this is not true, then we have descriptions of magma, ash, and soot. It is a very gray, dreary dream-land to enter, this time -- unlike the beautiful Land of the first two novels.
The ending redeems all this, and is well worth enduring the grimmer parts of the book, but there is no question that one is, indeed, "enduring" them. It's worth getting through, but don't expect a cheery romp through the Land here, or you will be disappointed.
mikehex's review against another edition
4.0
Re Read. Amazing how so many seemingly little moments from the first two books pay off here.
While I really like Donaldson’s writing style, I don’t think it quite works in action sequences. That’s why only 4 stars
While I really like Donaldson’s writing style, I don’t think it quite works in action sequences. That’s why only 4 stars