September 13, 2004

The Final Chronicles of Thomas Covenant After more than 20 years, Stephen R. Donaldson returns to The Land. Be sure to check out the "preview" pop-up on the left-side of the page.

Just a guess, but I'd wager that Monkeys are much more likely than "the general population" to have read & enjoyed the Chronicles of Thomas Covenant. Right?

posted by davidmsc 20 years ago
  • I loved those books. I can't wait for the next ones--should be soon, no? However, that "trailer" was not the best I've ever seen.
  • Yeah I read 'em. He's awfully harsh with his characters, though.
  • Read his fist one many years ago. He's been near the head of my personal list of SF Authors Not To Bother With Again ever since.
  • I read the first of the Covenant series not too long ago. The story idea fascinated me, still does, in fact, but I just can't get past some of those absolutely dumbfuck character names, like Lord Drool. I mean, come on, work at it a little bit.
  • Heh! Lord Drool. Beautiful. Thomas Promise vs. the Spittle-King.
  • I loved the first trilogy, was less impressed with the second. (I find voyages, like road movies, to be a little underwhelming, usually).
  • I believe the SF/fantasy author who dies with the longest multi-ology wins. Who's in the lead, I wonder? Pratchett?
  • Hey now, WTF is wrong with "Lord Drool"???
  • He should have called him Lord Black
  • if this is the guy i'm thinking of, yeah, i started reading the first book but never finished (don't think i finished anyway). so to make sure i'm on the right book here - main character is a dude with leprosy, gets transported to somewhere else, half a hand missing, won't admit to himself that anything he sees is real? or is this a different book i'm thinking of? anyway it either didn't grab me or i never realized there was more than one book. but perhaps i ought to give it a try again...
  • That's the one CLF - he gets awfully wordy, but a lot of his ideas are neat.
  • Discworld isn't really a multi-ology because each book stands alone - even the running series don't necessarily have to be done in order, though it does help (esp for the later Watch books, which I have just re-devoured in a weekend orgy of Ankh-Morpockism). How many series in total? I think at least 5 now (Wizards, Witches, Watch, Personifications, and now Wee Free Men and it's sequel) not to mention all the stand alones. Multi-ology ought to be saved for those crazy, epic, 800 pages a volume and still 6 bloody books and every single one a cliff-hanger to drive you batty. That said, I've really enjoyed Kate Elliot's door-stopping Crown of Stars series - really just one massive novel in six volumes, the last of which is coming out sometime in the next year.
  • My wife loves Chronicles. I think Donaldson is one of the crappiest fantasy writers to ever come down the pike, much less be taken seriously. Still, a healthy marriage can support these little differences of opinion.
  • One of the crappiest rodgerd? I dunno, I figure it's Robert Jordan first, daylight second but that's me.
  • The crappiest IMHO is Moorcock. The fucker just phones his prose in.
  • But when Moorcock is good, he's exceptional. Its just a pity he wrote about 7 million volumes of shit to drown it all out.
  • Has anybody had a chance to read Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell yet? I'm back and forth on whether to spend the money for hardcover, but it looks damned interesting.