Book One in 'The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, The Unbeliever' trilogy.
He called himself Thomas Covenant, the Unbeliever, because he dared not believe in the strange alternative world on which he suddenly found himself - the Land. But the Land tempted him.
As a leper, in his own world he had been an outcast, unclean, a pariah. Now he was regarded as a saviour, the reincarnation of the Land's greatest hero - Berek Halfhand. Only the mystic powers of the white gold he carried could protect the lords of the Land from the ancient evil of the Despiser, Lord Foul. Yet Thomas Covenant had no idea how those powers could be trapped . . .
Book Two in 'The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, The Unbeliever' trilogy.
After scant days in his "real" world, Thomas Covenant found himself summoned once more to the Land. There, forty bitter years had passed while Lord Foul, immortal enemy of the Land, moved to fulfill his prophecy of doom. The Council of Lords found their spells useless, now that Foul the Despiser held the Illearth Stone, ancient source of evil power.
High Lord Elena turned in desperation to Covenant and the legendary white gold magic of his ring, but nobody knew how to use the white gold - least of all Thomas Covenant.
Book Three in 'The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, The Unbeliever' trilogy.
Twice before, Covenant had been summoned to the strange other-world where magic worked. Twice he had joined with the Lords of Revelstone in their war against Lord Foul, the ancient enemy of the Land. Now he had returned - to a Land ravaged by Foul's armies. The Lords were besieged and helpless, and Foul's victory seemed certain. Only Covenant could avert it.
Without hope, he set out to confront the might of the Enemy. With him went a Giant, a Bloodguard and the madwoman he had wronged. And in Foul's Creche, Lord Foul grew in power with each new defeat for the Land.
Since its first publication in 1977, Stephen Donaldson's bestselling Thomas Covenant trilogy has become an indisputable classic.
The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant
Stephen Donaldson is an absolute master of description. This book can be a little slow at times because of the attention paid to describing events and feelings etc. But the overall story is extremely engaging As for the central character, Thomas Covenant, at times you will want to scream at him for being pathetic, other times you will want to hit him for being self absorbed but in the end you will want to buy the man a drink and say 'Well done mate!' If I had to compare Stephen Donaldson's writing to anyone elses I would say he is most like J.R.R. Tolkien... which of course is high praise!
Julia, 15/12/2008
