Stephen Donaldson

[AzureWolf]

anyone who hasnt should read the second chornicles of thomas covenant if u thought that he was selfish in the first chronicels with alot of power. in the second he has lots of power he cant control but uses to much but he is trying in vain to hjelp the land regaion its futree glory not selfish at all in the second

[Virgil]

I've loved all of the Donaldson's fantasy work. I read one of the Gap books but it didn't appeal to me. I tried to get my sister to read Lord Foul's Bane, but she got to the rape scene, and just couldn't go any further. I think that may turn off a lot of people.

Those who accuse Covenant of not doing anything, remember that if he did fight back, he would break the Arch of Time. Now maybe he could have nuked a few cave wights or kresh without any problem, but the danger was always there of losing control and destroying the world.

I consider myself to be a selective writer as well. I find much of the fantasy that is being published these days to be unreadable. I've liked both Moorcock and Covenant.

[Tancred]

Originally posted by AzureWolf: I read throught the worst authors thread and to my disbelief found that many people had voted for stephen donaldson. He is one of my fav authors because his work is a bit more original alot of fantasy books i have read and does not take to heavily from tolkien. Yeah true his books do have a lot of wording in them but thats part of what makes him such a good writer in my opinion. He has created a world entirely new without the typical elder races of other books and using a new way of involving magic in the storyline or earthpower as it is used. And i heard somone say that it was annoying that even the lowest peasent could speak seven word syllables, ha! excuse me but we are not all born in arkansaw. So i want peoples opinions on stephen. not insults but proper reasons why u like/dislike him

Ah, don't get me wrong, my only complaint was with Lord Foul's Bane. I feel that relatively weak first book might well put a lot of people off the series. I'm glad I got though it and into the rest of the series. As for the seven-syllable problem, well... how good was the school in Mithil Stonedown? Where did the inhabitants learn all those fancy words? No-one uses words like 'abominate' and 'mendacity' in everyday conversation, at times of severe emotional turmoil or under exceptional stress unless they're very over-educated. The people of the Land certainly manage to sound infinitely more intelligent than Covenant and even Hile Troy, which feels odd. Apart from that, no problems; and reading Donaldson certainly improved my vocabulary, if nothing else.

Tancred

What's wrong with Arkansaw?

[Tancred]

Originally posted by Virgil: [B] Those who accuse Covenant of not doing anything, remember that if he did fight back, he would break the Arch of Time. Now maybe he could have nuked a few cave wights or kresh without any problem, but the danger was always there of losing control and destroying the world. [B]

Ah, but that was only in the Second Chronices, when Covenant has a greater sense of purpose. Even his inaction is, in itself, an act to save the world. In the First Chronicles he simply doesn't have the control to break the keystone, but still stands alone, arms raised, defensive and unwilling to aid the Land for fear of what it will do to him.

Tancred