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A review by isauldur
Lord Foul's Bane by Stephen R. Donaldson
3.0
Alright, first of all, let me ruin this book for everyone by stating the following: every time Covenant started cursing to himself, all I could see (and hear) was this:
Moving on.
So, I just finished the book today. I usually let the novel sink in before reviewing it, but because there is so much back and forth about this book, I decided to come right out and talk about it while the story is still baking in my mind.
First of all: Thomas Covenant. Yes, he's a dick. Yes, I hate him. But this wasn't an issue for me, to be honest. What I didn't like was that he's pretty inconsistent at times, and I'm not just talking about his "To Believe or not to Believe...that is the question" mess. I mean that half the time, I didn't even know why he was doing things. Covenant goes on internal rants about the Land, his leprosy and his madness but I never understand exactly what he means or why he's arguing about this at all! It's almost as if Donaldson took the expression "show, don't tell" and took it further to mean, "let them know there's something there, but don't show it to them nor tell them at all." The motivations (flip-floppy as they were) were always unclear. And I must say that this inconsistencies of character detracted from the story. So the Quest is happening and then....*insert Covenant's internal dialogue about madness and stuff here* And then we cut back to the story, where Covenant's internal conflict means nothing at all.
But enough about the bad stuff. On to what I did like.
So I did like the book as a whole. The world building is actually a lot better than most out there, I feel. Unlike some other high fantasy books out there that just shower you with pages of exposition about the world (looking at you, Robert Jordan), Lord Foul's Bane actually lets you figure out some of the stuff yourself, which I feel makes it better for the world to grow organically in the reader's mind.
I liked the minor characters. I feel that many will agree with me that Foamfollower is pretty cool. I'd like to know more about the Giants and their lore (I haven't read the next two books, hopefully I get more Giant characters). I really also liked that Lord Foul himself (the ULTIMATE villain of the Land) isn't actually present for most of the book; instead, Donaldson uses Drool (a one-off villain that's still pretty okay) as the primary antagonist, while ensuring that the reader knows who's the Villain Boss: Foul himself.
The magic system is fairly good and unique, although not developed enough for my taste. I felt like the rules were a little vague or flimsy, easy to bend and never really settled. His magic ring can do things because White Gold. Evil folk are afraid of him because White Gold. His ring turns red along with the moon because Bad People Magic. This wasn't as big a deal for me, but I wanted to get it out there.
One final thing: the book itself, as a single novel, is self-contained enough so that if you want to stop reading the series, you can do it without the gnawing feeling of guilt at leaving something unfinished. Many times I've committed to a whole series just because each book is heavily reliant on the ones before and after it (looking at you, George R. R. Martin, even though Song of Ice and Fire is pretty good). So if you want to give this book a try, go for it. Its ending is endy enough to keep you from being guilt-tripped into reading the next one.
Which I will. I liked the story and the fact that, despite it being from the 70s, it's still a pretty sound and original work of fantasy. Works well enough, and it's got enough high fantasy elements to satisfy any fan of the genre.
Moving on.
So, I just finished the book today. I usually let the novel sink in before reviewing it, but because there is so much back and forth about this book, I decided to come right out and talk about it while the story is still baking in my mind.
First of all: Thomas Covenant. Yes, he's a dick. Yes, I hate him. But this wasn't an issue for me, to be honest. What I didn't like was that he's pretty inconsistent at times, and I'm not just talking about his "To Believe or not to Believe...that is the question" mess. I mean that half the time, I didn't even know why he was doing things. Covenant goes on internal rants about the Land, his leprosy and his madness but I never understand exactly what he means or why he's arguing about this at all! It's almost as if Donaldson took the expression "show, don't tell" and took it further to mean, "let them know there's something there, but don't show it to them nor tell them at all." The motivations (flip-floppy as they were) were always unclear. And I must say that this inconsistencies of character detracted from the story. So the Quest is happening and then....*insert Covenant's internal dialogue about madness and stuff here* And then we cut back to the story, where Covenant's internal conflict means nothing at all.
But enough about the bad stuff. On to what I did like.
So I did like the book as a whole. The world building is actually a lot better than most out there, I feel. Unlike some other high fantasy books out there that just shower you with pages of exposition about the world (looking at you, Robert Jordan), Lord Foul's Bane actually lets you figure out some of the stuff yourself, which I feel makes it better for the world to grow organically in the reader's mind.
I liked the minor characters. I feel that many will agree with me that Foamfollower is pretty cool. I'd like to know more about the Giants and their lore (I haven't read the next two books, hopefully I get more Giant characters). I really also liked that Lord Foul himself (the ULTIMATE villain of the Land) isn't actually present for most of the book; instead, Donaldson uses Drool (a one-off villain that's still pretty okay) as the primary antagonist, while ensuring that the reader knows who's the Villain Boss: Foul himself.
The magic system is fairly good and unique, although not developed enough for my taste. I felt like the rules were a little vague or flimsy, easy to bend and never really settled. His magic ring can do things because White Gold. Evil folk are afraid of him because White Gold. His ring turns red along with the moon because Bad People Magic. This wasn't as big a deal for me, but I wanted to get it out there.
One final thing: the book itself, as a single novel, is self-contained enough so that if you want to stop reading the series, you can do it without the gnawing feeling of guilt at leaving something unfinished. Many times I've committed to a whole series just because each book is heavily reliant on the ones before and after it (looking at you, George R. R. Martin, even though Song of Ice and Fire is pretty good). So if you want to give this book a try, go for it. Its ending is endy enough to keep you from being guilt-tripped into reading the next one.
Which I will. I liked the story and the fact that, despite it being from the 70s, it's still a pretty sound and original work of fantasy. Works well enough, and it's got enough high fantasy elements to satisfy any fan of the genre.