 "End of the second Chronicles" | 2008-09-20 |
| - Reviewed By noxush |
'White Gold Wielder' brings 'The Second Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever' to a close. Covenant, Avery and the Giants return to the Land in order to quench the Banefire and defeat the Clave.
Donaldson manages to wrap things up well, answering most questions adequately, although I would have liked a more thorough explanation for Vain. Looking forward to the 'Last Chronicles'. |
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 "A Slight Disappointment" | 2008-09-03 |
| - Reviewed By tristanicus |
Have just finished Book 3 of the 2nd Chronicle, I'm going to touch upon the first two books here instead of reviewing them individually. Spoilers of varying degree are peppered throughout the review, be forewarned!
I read the 1st Chronicle about 2 years ago and loved it. Yes, Covenant's constant whining is annoying as is generally agreed but the plots, battle scenes, and assortment of well-charactered humans, non-humans, and creatures are enough to nullify the negatives. In series 2, Book 1 is a setup for the journey and it is fine. There is still a lot of goodwill left from Chronicle 1 that I was very happy to revisit the Land and its denizens. Book 2 is the problem. The entire book centers on an ocean journey that takes way too long. Nothing happens that impacts the central story line, not until the end Book 3 that some connections are established. But by and large, Book 2 can be drastically shortened and incorporated into Book 1 and 3. It seems Donaldson wanted another 3-book tome to mirror the 1st Chronicle and so he stretched the subplots out to fill out 3 books of nearly 500 pages each. The first two books also have many words that have archaic or poetically usage as well as jargons only specialists such as metalsmiths, geologists, or dyers would know. He also likes to coin words as there are some words that are not in any dictionary. I've seen the word "analystic" in all 3 books as an adjective, "... anylystic sleep.". Now, analyst is a word, and analytic is also a word, but what in damnation is analystic? Why not just use analytic but I'm not 100% sure that's what he meant. But we all know there is no $20 word that Donaldson doesn't like. Strangely, there are only a smattering of big money words in Book 3. Maybe he ran out of obscure words to use by then.
The trouble with this series is that, like the 1st series, we've to deal with a most uncharismatic, annoying, and whinny hero; a totally original creation from the usual heroic archetype. He has mellowed out a bit here but then the author added a female version of him. The way the two of them whine and moan and complain and fall into depression and catatonia is just too much to bear over almost 1500 pages. It's nonstop, "I am undeserving, I am bad, I am evil, I am broken, I am unclean," etc ad nauseam. They really grate on my nerves. Moreover, the constant psycho-babble sprouted by the author stops whatever action there is on its track. I'm not educated in psychology but I would think that the accomplishments and struggles from the 1st series have changed and enriched Covenant for the better. But nope, he is fundamentally unchanged by his experience. That rings false to me.
There are also two characters, Vain and the Elohim that serve as deus ex machina in the story. As characters, they're inert and opaque except when needed as a plot device. In the end, their hidden agendas are as unexplained as the rationale for their existence. I consider them the weakest yet original creations by the author.
The ending is another problem. I applaud the author for doing something different than the standard climax and kudos to him for that. In exchange for originality, however, the much anticipated cathartic experience never materializes which is disappointing given the buildup over 1500 pages.
On the whole, there are sections of the 2nd Chronicle that are great, many are on the verge of very good, but because of the let down in Book 3, I can only say this series as a whole is just good. I'm disappointed but at least you can't say the author repeat himself. I'm giving this 3 stars and the series as a whole 3.5 stars. Maybe after another couple of years, when nostalgia sets in, I might give the Last Chronicle the chance to amaze me like the 1st series did. At a projected 4 books, that's a big commitment though. |
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 "Just bad writing" | 2008-07-23 |
| - Reviewed By User: A2M1POMGT1ZJEV |
I picked up a copy of this to re-read, remembering having enjoyed it some years past. While the trilogy (the second about Thomas Covenant) does have some good points, there are certain things about the books that make them almost unreadable.
First, the writing is atrocious. Donaldson has a large vocabulary of which he is obviously proud. But I don't like to feel that I've been beaten about the head with a thesaurus when reading a fantasy novel. Nineteenth century pre-Raphaelite poets use language that is less ornate and opaque. Worse yet, when Donaldson discovers one of these words, he can't resist the temptation to haul it out and abuse it over and over again. If you can bear it, read the books and count up the times he uses words like "threnody", "preterite" and other $20-words where a shorter word would not only do, but would be better.
Second, characterization. What Thomas Covenant and Linden Avery need is a truckful of Prozac. I have never read novels starring characters more miserable, depressed and self-doubting than these two. It would be fine if they were ever able to conquer their self-loathing, but this occurs only in the very last pages of the third book. They start depressed and stay that way for hundreds upon hundreds of pages. They lack even flashes of joy or happiness. The lack of character development, along with the depressing and, frankly, boring characters they do have makes reading the books a slog, and further makes it impossible to have any sympathy for these characters. They don't even seem real; no real person could actually survive full of so much self-doubt and -hatred. The other characters, on the other hand, namely the Giants and the Bloodguard, are utterly one-dimensional in their sturdiness, and show no development either. I agree with other reviewers that the mute Sandgorgon, Nom, and the mute Vain, are the most interesting characters of all. That says a lot.
In the end, reading through this trilogy felt like work, not pleasure. If you like reading extravagant, over-wordy descriptions of depressed people arguing with each other while failing actually to work through their self-hatred, then this trilogy is for you. If you'd like to read a fantasy and come to the end feeling less miserable than you did before, then skip it. |
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| "Not Free SF Reader" | 2008-04-21 |
| - Reviewed By bluetyson |
We have that sinking feeling.
Having made it out alive of the complete balls up that was the sinking of the One Tree, the main problem still remains, and it is worsening.
The Clave have gone overboard with the whole human sacrifice to the Sunbane thing, chucking whole towns into the pot.
So, what do your fantasy heroes do with what seems to be an overwhelming force opposing them?
Yep, attack, and hope whacky magic and a few monsters etc. can squeak them through.
3.5 out of 5 |
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| "Well executed, but missing something..." | 2007-09-05 |
| - Reviewed By User: A248BUPZLC1ODV |
Having read all of the first six Convenant books in a relatively short ammount of time, I will say that I came away enjoying the saga. White Gold Wielder, for it's part, provides a very good cross-section of the series as a whole. Donaldson's strengths are present in full force. Unfortunately, so are the weaknesses.
I'll mention the strengths first. Foremost is the character development. Thomas Covenant is a character unlike any other in modern fantasy, and Linden Avery is extremely well developed as his foil and complement. Alternating between their respective points-of-view, Donaldson effectively creates reader sympathy and empathy for their sometimes conflicting motives while at the same time advancing their shared cause.
Donaldson's other strength is world building. After the first five novels, "The Land" and it's encompassing world at large are fairly completely developed, so in WGW, Donaldson is able to use his setting as another character to drive the plot and draw the reader in, much as he did in the early part of the first trilogy when Covenant was many times too unlikeable to be engaging. Covenant does not revert to his dispicable past, far from it, but as his future becomes more and more bleak, the future of the land provides the story with hope of a happy ending.
Now, for the negatives. The biggest problem is that the whole thing is just so dark. Like the Despiser, Donaldson assails his characters with blow after blow, failure after failure. That's not a bad thing in and of itself, but in this instance, the darkness is not often enough tempered with moments of light. In spite of everything, we've grown to like Covenant and Linden, and their uninterupted plight is draining. Without giving anything away, while the climax ties up nearly all of the loose ends (not all though), it occurs too close to the end of the book to allow the characters and the reader to soak in the consequences of the saga.
The other problem I'd list as a negative is the overall pacing of the Second Chronicles. The events at the end of The One Tree and the beginning of White Gold wielder render much of the middle book meaningless. The story as a whole could have been more effectively told as two longer books while not leaving out anything significant to the main plot. I spent much of the sixth book waiting for the fifth book to be endowed with some significance, and it just never came.
Despite it's flaws though, White Gold Wielder is a good read and an acceptable conclusion to the Second Chronicles, even though it falls short of matching the level of the previous trilogy. Viewed for what it is, it's a very good book, but as a fan of the series and the genre, it's hard to overlook what the book is not. |
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 "Very Poor Ending to a Very Depressing Series" | 2007-07-22 |
| - Reviewed By martinja |
I was really disappointed with this final book of the series for two reasons. First of all this book was really slow. This book was nearly as slow as the first book in the series. I hadn't expected this since the previous book(The One Tree) was pretty fast paced and packed with action. Secondly the ending was really disappointing. Possibly one of the worst endings to a series, I have ever read.
In this book we see the same recurring theme whenever Covenant and Linden have been together. They constantly question their own motives, they question their pasts, they question each other, and they question everyone around them. The difference in this book is that we see it over and over again. Just when it seems that they have finally resolved their issues and we are finally going to be able to move on, the whole cycle starts all over again.........self doubt, doubt of each other, doubt of those around them. This whole tiresome debate really slows this book down. It is like Donaldson needed something to fill the pages before the ending and this was all he could come up with. It is really tiresome to see the same issues debated over and over without ever seeing a solution or resolution.
The ending was a real let down for me. We have had to suffer through 6 books of drudgery, death, and sacrifice where time and again the forces of evil have prevailed and countless noble characters were killed. Now things can finally be made right at the ending of the book, but that is not the ending we get.
WARNING SPOILERS FOLLOW: Instead in the end, Foul lives to rise another day, and two of the three Ravers who have been personally responsible for so much of the death and destruction in the series, walk away with not as much as a hand slap. Linden may have restored the Land, but we never really know if her efforts were effective. Covenant never really learns how to control his power (he just becomes a lightening rod for Foul), Covenant and Linden are separated, and Covenant dies a brutal death. Overall this was a really depressing ending for a very depressing series.
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