"Thomas Covenant found himself once again summoned to the Land. The Council of Lords needed him to move against Foul the Despiser who held the Illearth Stone, ancient source of evil power. But although Thomas Covenant held the legendary ring, he didn't know how to use its strength, and risked losing everything...."I’ll admit that book 2 is an improvement over book 1, but it’s a grudging admission. Having said that, Thomas Covenant is STILL an ass, but the improvement is that this installment isn’t all in Covenant’s POV. Mind you, Hile Troy as narrator is only a small step upwards. What is it with the Lords’ magic that they can only seem to snag “damaged” men from “our” world? At least Troy had some theoretical battle knowledge to contribute [but he would probably be much better at mission planning if he was less emotionally involved, à la Ender’s Game]. I hate that there are lots of female characters and all of them are cardboard cutouts (mind you, even the vast majority of the male characters are extremely under-developed, so I guess I shouldn’t bitch too much). High Lord Elena wastes time “massaging the brows” of upset men, instead of giving them a swift kick and telling them to get over themselves. Especially since Covenant and Troy both really need to get over themselves. Plus if a male High Lord spent time cooking and cleaning up along the journey, we’d wonder what the heck was wrong with him—where is his support staff? Elena’s willingness to just go haring off after the Seventh Ward right before battle just baffled me—once again, behaviour which wouldn’t be acceptable in a male character in her position and I didn’t find acceptable for her either.Pacing was a big issue for me in this book. This tale just whips you onward, giving no respite, no hint that there is hope with which to buoy your spirit as the battle unfolds. I kept waiting for a switch, for a chapter to describe what Elena and Covenant were doing, for example. Instead, I was getting beaten down, as the army keeps on making heroic sacrifices and nothing is gained, they just face another retreat when they are already completely worn down and worn out. Even a glimpse behind enemy lines would have be an improvement, just to tear the gaze away from the grind of marching and making a series of “last stands.” Eventually, we get Covenant’s perspective, but I would have preferred some kind of alternation between the two, rather than just doggedly following one plot line to the end before starting in on the second plot line. And we never get a glimpse into the enemy camp, to know what the good guys are up against.My biggest beef, I think, is that the people don’t act like any real people that I know. The people of The Land are sheep-like in accepting that Covenant’s ring accords him special treatment and in placing their faith in him and in Troy without any suspicion or any real discussion. There seems to be blind faith in their leadership by the council of Lords. The only emotions expressed by any characters are those of anger and unhappiness—if you don’t count unbelievable insta-love (which I don’t because it doesn’t exist). [And women falling in love with their fathers—like that’s going to happen except in Sigmund Freud’s wild imagination.]2.5 stars, and that’s being generous.
Wow, I think this is the first novel ever that I decided to leave unfinished. I had to create a new GR shelf for it anyway. Here's the (annotated) passage that broke the camel's back, on page 105. As you might have guessed, it's more whiny dithering over the "reality" of the Land:He could not go on in this fashion. If he did, he would soon come to resemble Hile Troy -- a man so overwhelmed by the power of sight that he could not perceive the blindness of his desire to assume responsibility for the Land. That would be suicide for a leper.Ugh. Not this again, this crap that you're the only one who can't believe in the Land because it will doom you as a leper. I really hoped we had gotten that out of our system in the 1st book. It was by far the most tedious part.If he failed, he would die. And if he succeeded, he would never again be able to bear the numbness of his real life, his leprosy.Okay, so couldn't you just kill yourself at that point, if it was truly so difficult to bear?He knew lepers who had died that way, but for them the death was never quick, never clean. Their ends lay beyond a fetid ugliness so abominable that he felt nauseated whenever he remembered that such putrefaction existed.Okay, still not seeing why suicide wouldn't be an option here. . . maybe because of that promise you made to yourself to survive? Umm, I guess, but is there nothing to be said at all for being sole witness to one of the most amazing glimpses of alternative dimensions that any human has ever seen? That's surely gotta be worth something. Imagine yourself as someone who has lost literally everything, guaranteed one of the most horrible, torturous deaths imaginable. Now someone comes along and offers you unimaginable marvels of magic in an alternate dimension, and to play a heroic part in a quest greater than any ever conceived in your world. Real excitement and a chance to mean something to untold millions. The only catch is that after you do all that you have to kill yourself in your own drab world. You'd probably still even have time to document your exploits and become a (even more, in this case) famous author. You'd do it, wouldn't you? I sure as hell would, in a heartbeat.Seriously, I understand Donaldson's closeness with the disease of leprosy, given his upbringing, but he's really just shoving it on us relentlessly at this point. I just can't anymore. The only reason I'm posting this instead of just removing it from my books is that I read the synopses on wikipedia and the third book in the trilogy actually sounds appealing -- Foamfollower! Lena! -- so I'll go onto that one and just know to skip all this self-pitying BS. But man, what a disappointment this series has been so far. I was intrigued too! Good reveal on High Lord Elena! But yeah. . . no.Cross-posted at Not Bad Movie and Book Reviews.
What do You think about The Illearth War (1989)?
*For anyone reading my reviews, this is a cut-paste of my review of Lord Foul's Bane. I will write a separate review for the Second Chronicles, but for each of the first series, I will use the same review. Thanks*Tolkien was not my introduction to fantasy fiction (neither was Donaldson); my first experience with SFF was RA Salvatore's The Crystal Shard. However, I immediately jumped into Tolkien, and afterward, Donaldson.The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant are as different from Tolkien's world as almost any SFF (think Jordan, Martin, etc). The story is as epic (moreso, even), and much more emotionally involving. Not so much because Thomas Covenant is a "real" person from the "real" world, but because his reactions to his experiences, the way he responds with doubt and fury, and the way he manages to grow despite his dichotomous belief/unbelief, all ring true to me. Maybe not to everyone, but to me, yes.Some of my best memories of middle/high school are of reading these books, ravenously. The sub- and side-stories, of the Bloodguard, the Giants, Hile Troy, even the background on the ur-Viles and other fantastical creatures, intrigued me as much as the main plot. I have always thought this story had more depth than Tolkien (not to knock Tolkien - he's the Godfather of SFF, and I love his books), seemed more...adult? Maybe this was because of the vitriol of Covenant; Hobbits don't stomp around muttering "Hellfire and bloody damnation," no matter how fiery and dangerous Mordor became.To sum up, The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant were not my first foray into fantasy fiction, nor were they my last; but they are one of the most influential series of novels to my evolution as a reader, and something I can always reread with as much wonder as the first time.
—Dave
Chronicles of Thomas Covenent Book 2I strongly recomend reading the first book in the series (and spoilers of first book contained below).The Illearth war has many of the weaknesses of a middle volume of a trilogy. In some ways it is clearly bridging between the introduction to the world and the climactic confrontation with Foul. It feels like it splits the narrative over too many protagonists. Covenants interactions with Elena make a point, but possibly go a bit too far.Yet it has many strengths. First is that it takes the most difficult subplot of the first novel, Covenant's attack on Lena, and shows the consequences on those left behind. It also takes a tired trope, the stand at Helm's Deep, and subverts it both in approach and consequence. Best of all it expands the magic of the land and shows that the desecration caused by the earth power was not an anomaly but a feature: the power has consequences and can be used for good or ill. A good entry into a great series.Note first read in the mid 1990's.
—James Reid
More like 3.5*s, but I didn't like it enough to round up.This book is a lot easier to read than Lord Foul's Bane, and there's a lot more going on. Without all the introductory stuff you're more straight into the story. And in terms of the former, there wasn't quite as much spent in the head of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever/Idiot with some changes of POV in there too.Though, to be fair to T.C., he didn't come across as as quite as much of an idiot in this book. Maybe also because we're not in his head quite so much and don't have to listen to him complaining so much of the time. Of course this means the times when he's the focus of Hile Troy - the central alternate POV in this book - his actions are unexplained and often made no sense to me.In terms of the story itself, it's a lot more engaging and exciting in places, with stuff happening throughout rather than a slow build to the finale with odd other events scattered throughout. Plus there were some quite major developments at the end of the book and I'm really rather intrigued to see what happens next. I often find that the second book in a trilogy is the weakest as it serves as setting up for the big finale rather than being a story in its own right, but not so this time. Yes, there was plenty of set-up, but it didn't feel like the book had been sacrificed for the benefit of the third.
—Melanie
