Khelbiros
05-24-2007, 04:27 AM
Wooot, just discovered that Stephen R Donaldson has put up the first chapter of Fatal Revenant (http://www.stephenrdonaldson.com/FatalRevenantChapter1b7x90873.pdf) on his site. It's not due out until October. I'm seriously considering getting it in hardback, and I never do that. (Unless I find a cheap hardback at a remaindered bookstore).
This is the second book of the Last Chronicles of Thomas Covenant. Let's see, I loved the First Chronicles, the Second was good overall, but really slipped with the agonizingly slow middle book, "The One Tree".
This is my favourite fantasy series. The characters were so passionate about what they were doing; the fate of the Land really mattered, especially when you contrast this stuff with the state of 1980s fantasy at the time. The Covenant series stood out by a mile. Covenant was a fucked up guy who damaged everyone around him, but he came through at the end of a long, bitter slog and it felt like an incredible accomplishment.
Now, the first of the Last Chronicles, Runes of the Earth, felt slow. The first part, with Linden in the real world was tightly written, but it tapered off when she came to the Land.
The entire work felt like a big prologue, or maybe SRD was getting warmed up after not writing Covenant stuff for fifteen years. It was still more interesting than "The One Tree". Covenant has always been the strongest character in this series, and I guess not having him in the first book (apart from the odd cryptic message) diluted it. But as I consider this, I think it's more due to the fact that Runes was a set-up book. Linden arrives, looking for her son. She meets her adventuring party crew. There's a strong sense of Stuff Going On in the Background, but because everything is so tightly linked to Linden's POV, you never get a sense of the big picture and the supporting characters are in the dark as much as Linden is.
Having said that, the first chapter of Fatal Revenant really delivered on the entire promise and set-up of Runes of the Earth. The writing really zinged, Linden's conflicted state was nicely captured and the sad thing is I need wait until the book is published in Australia to see what happens....
Anyone else excited by this?
This is the second book of the Last Chronicles of Thomas Covenant. Let's see, I loved the First Chronicles, the Second was good overall, but really slipped with the agonizingly slow middle book, "The One Tree".
This is my favourite fantasy series. The characters were so passionate about what they were doing; the fate of the Land really mattered, especially when you contrast this stuff with the state of 1980s fantasy at the time. The Covenant series stood out by a mile. Covenant was a fucked up guy who damaged everyone around him, but he came through at the end of a long, bitter slog and it felt like an incredible accomplishment.
Now, the first of the Last Chronicles, Runes of the Earth, felt slow. The first part, with Linden in the real world was tightly written, but it tapered off when she came to the Land.
The entire work felt like a big prologue, or maybe SRD was getting warmed up after not writing Covenant stuff for fifteen years. It was still more interesting than "The One Tree". Covenant has always been the strongest character in this series, and I guess not having him in the first book (apart from the odd cryptic message) diluted it. But as I consider this, I think it's more due to the fact that Runes was a set-up book. Linden arrives, looking for her son. She meets her adventuring party crew. There's a strong sense of Stuff Going On in the Background, but because everything is so tightly linked to Linden's POV, you never get a sense of the big picture and the supporting characters are in the dark as much as Linden is.
Having said that, the first chapter of Fatal Revenant really delivered on the entire promise and set-up of Runes of the Earth. The writing really zinged, Linden's conflicted state was nicely captured and the sad thing is I need wait until the book is published in Australia to see what happens....
Anyone else excited by this?