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doruga's review against another edition
2.5
The main character in this is such an insufferable asshole and I dont believe it for a second. Like I know what the author is trying to do with it but it never works as far as I'm concerned. Stuck with it because the fantasy was cool and it was well-written (prose-wise)
todenmann's review against another edition
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
runner5's review against another edition
1.0
I gave up on this book, and that rarely happens. The protagonist hates himself, and it never gets better.
showell's review against another edition
3.0
This year for Christmas, my brother, my friend Liza and I skipped the traditional bestowing of gifts in favor of a book swap. We sent each other books we'd read and thought the other would enjoy. My brother, who is the person who I look to for advice finding new fantasy and sci-fi writers, sent me the Thomas Covenant Series. I had actually started reading it at one point, and stopped shortly after the infamous dream rape. Although the image of Lena in the road stuck with me for years, and I had intent to pick it up again at some point.
This time around, I was determined to finish it. And finish I did.
I really really enjoyed the real-time, non-dream stuff about what it was like to be a leper in Thomas' small town. The paranoia, the VSEs, the way in which the denizens of that town systematically cut Thomas off from their world. Some of the most powerful writing I've ever read.
I also really enjoyed the way Donaldson filtered descriptions of the townspeople through Covenant's very bitter lens.
From p. 19: "The girl blinked at him as if she were amazed by the vagueness of her thoughts."
Brilliant stuff. So why didn't I give the book five stars?
It's the fantasy. That part of the book fell a bit short. It wasn't the names or (sadly) the rape. Everyone complains about the names, so I picked the book up expecting the worst. And I remembered the rape from my previous reading, so I wasn't too fazed by that either this time around.
Ironically, I think it was that the unreality of Thomas's dream kind of affected me too. It's hard to suspend my disbelief when the main character won't do it himself.
The Quest itself was a bit formulaic and forgettable for me.
Also, the characters, aside from Thomas, don't appear to have much more to them than a single note. Even if that single note in many cases serves a textual purpose by highlighting the lack of something essential in Thomas' character, the effect still made the story feel a bit flat.
Atiaran, who I read as the Symbolic Character for Decisive and Determined Action, points out the fact that Thomas is incapable of deciding about much of anything in this dream world at all. It's not clear what Thomas learns from Atiaran, or if he simply uses her as a crutch to get through the first bit of his quest until he meets the Giant.
The Giant, the epitome of Gentleness and Good Humor, is the first character in this book that Thomas appears to connect with and care about. Thomas is actually concerned about how the Giant has exhausted himself taking him up the River, and cares for him. When Atiaran had a similar breakdown a chapter or two before, Thomas could do little more than look numbly at her.
Just when I was glad to be finished with the fantasy portion of the program, Donaldson sucker punched me at the end with those lines that I'll take forever to forget:
"There is Christ on the Cross, and his features--his body, even his fact--are portrayed so blandly that the figure is unrecognizable. It could be anyone, man or woman. But the wounds--the nails in the hands and feet, the spear in the side, the crown of thorns--are carved and even painted in incredibly vivid detail. You would think the artist crucified his model to get that kind of realism."
"Being a leper must be like that."
As it turns out, reading this book is also sort of like that. Very vivid treatment of Thomas's painful just-getting-by-through-sheer-will existence in the real world and an indefinite is-it-or-isn't-it muddle in the Land.
If I were to rate this book, I'd give it 4 stars for the treatment of Thomas Covenant's character -- his fears, anxieties, and slow growth -- and two stars for the rest.
This time around, I was determined to finish it. And finish I did.
I really really enjoyed the real-time, non-dream stuff about what it was like to be a leper in Thomas' small town. The paranoia, the VSEs, the way in which the denizens of that town systematically cut Thomas off from their world. Some of the most powerful writing I've ever read.
I also really enjoyed the way Donaldson filtered descriptions of the townspeople through Covenant's very bitter lens.
From p. 19: "The girl blinked at him as if she were amazed by the vagueness of her thoughts."
Brilliant stuff. So why didn't I give the book five stars?
It's the fantasy. That part of the book fell a bit short. It wasn't the names or (sadly) the rape. Everyone complains about the names, so I picked the book up expecting the worst. And I remembered the rape from my previous reading, so I wasn't too fazed by that either this time around.
Ironically, I think it was that the unreality of Thomas's dream kind of affected me too. It's hard to suspend my disbelief when the main character won't do it himself.
The Quest itself was a bit formulaic and forgettable for me.
Also, the characters, aside from Thomas, don't appear to have much more to them than a single note. Even if that single note in many cases serves a textual purpose by highlighting the lack of something essential in Thomas' character, the effect still made the story feel a bit flat.
Atiaran, who I read as the Symbolic Character for Decisive and Determined Action, points out the fact that Thomas is incapable of deciding about much of anything in this dream world at all. It's not clear what Thomas learns from Atiaran, or if he simply uses her as a crutch to get through the first bit of his quest until he meets the Giant.
The Giant, the epitome of Gentleness and Good Humor, is the first character in this book that Thomas appears to connect with and care about. Thomas is actually concerned about how the Giant has exhausted himself taking him up the River, and cares for him. When Atiaran had a similar breakdown a chapter or two before, Thomas could do little more than look numbly at her.
Just when I was glad to be finished with the fantasy portion of the program, Donaldson sucker punched me at the end with those lines that I'll take forever to forget:
"There is Christ on the Cross, and his features--his body, even his fact--are portrayed so blandly that the figure is unrecognizable. It could be anyone, man or woman. But the wounds--the nails in the hands and feet, the spear in the side, the crown of thorns--are carved and even painted in incredibly vivid detail. You would think the artist crucified his model to get that kind of realism."
"Being a leper must be like that."
As it turns out, reading this book is also sort of like that. Very vivid treatment of Thomas's painful just-getting-by-through-sheer-will existence in the real world and an indefinite is-it-or-isn't-it muddle in the Land.
If I were to rate this book, I'd give it 4 stars for the treatment of Thomas Covenant's character -- his fears, anxieties, and slow growth -- and two stars for the rest.
joy_davis's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-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
Flowery language. Going on and on about leprosy.
The world/magic is kind of interesting, but I wonder how it's actually connected to the real world. I'm not invested enough to read more of the series to find out if that is ever explained, though.
As with any story, this volume suffers from using the "all a dream" trope. Eventually I did feel like it was a metaphor for our lives being obsessed with our weaknesses instead of embracing our strength in this magical world, which was kind of interesting, but it came about in a very annoying Ten of Swords overthinking kind of way.
The world/magic is kind of interesting, but I wonder how it's actually connected to the real world. I'm not invested enough to read more of the series to find out if that is ever explained, though.
As with any story, this volume suffers from using the "all a dream" trope. Eventually I did feel like it was a metaphor for our lives being obsessed with our weaknesses instead of embracing our strength in this magical world, which was kind of interesting, but it came about in a very annoying Ten of Swords overthinking kind of way.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Rape
nuttkayc's review against another edition
3.0
This book is poetic and makes me want to read it aloud and yet also it makes me want to throw it away because I feel like I'm getting nowhere storywise. Story too long.
isaac_petherbridge's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape and Chronic illness
ogreart's review against another edition
3.0
I read this book in college and remember being not impressed. I felt no connection to the main character, a thoroughly unlikeable person. It hit me wrong and I avoided rereading it or reading any of the sequels over the past few decades. Well, it was "included" in Audible so I thought I would give it another try. I would go as high as 3.5 stars for this. Even with disliking the main character, the world-building in this work was so well done. I found myself immersed. And I am going on to the sequel.
r4storytime's review against another edition
3.0
To start with, please keep in mind 2 stars in Goodreads means "its ok". I would have rated it 2 1/2, but that wasn't an option.
Well, this was a bit of a struggle for me. Perhaps the page count in the kindle version was off? It says its 266 pages, but in reading it, it felt much much longer (Amazon's site says its 400 some odd pages??). In any case, there were some aspects of the book I liked. Coming off of a Sanderson YA book (Steelheart) I was much happier with the names/title which Donaldson used. I thought Lord Foul, the Despiser, the Unbeliever, etc was cool, as was the main character's name; not a typical fantasy novel name (of course not all the names were that good...seriously, was one character named "gay" and another "Lithe"?). The world building with the Land and magic was also interesting. And I also liked the personal struggle which Convenant deals with in the first couple of chapters.
But that struggle was what also made me not like the book so much. I couldn't wrap my head around his illness and why it made him act the way it did. So I couldn't understand the main character's inner motivation well and that made the book seem slower than it should have been.
Well, this was a bit of a struggle for me. Perhaps the page count in the kindle version was off? It says its 266 pages, but in reading it, it felt much much longer (Amazon's site says its 400 some odd pages??). In any case, there were some aspects of the book I liked. Coming off of a Sanderson YA book (Steelheart) I was much happier with the names/title which Donaldson used. I thought Lord Foul, the Despiser, the Unbeliever, etc was cool, as was the main character's name; not a typical fantasy novel name (of course not all the names were that good...seriously, was one character named "gay" and another "Lithe"?). The world building with the Land and magic was also interesting. And I also liked the personal struggle which Convenant deals with in the first couple of chapters.
But that struggle was what also made me not like the book so much. I couldn't wrap my head around his illness and why it made him act the way it did. So I couldn't understand the main character's inner motivation well and that made the book seem slower than it should have been.