Lord Foul's Bane (The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever, Book 1)

I began to read these books starting in the mid to late 1980's and they immediately began to scratch an itch I didn't know I had. To say that I thought this story amazing is an understatement of profound measure. They made an impression on me and my imagination when I thought I was past the time when that could be done. That is what authors hope for so mission accomplished Mr. Donaldson! There have been a few others who've done the same through the years with their storytelling but there's always something special about your first time. Donaldson deftly turns a self pitying, self deprecating, self destructive man who by all rights should be reviled into the hero of another world. The common term is anti-hero but that's still a hero. The hero and his troupe face insurmountable odds at every turn and many are lost along the way. But somehow, believably so, Thomas Covenant and those helping him will not be defeated even though things are often as bleak as one can imagine. I think this series of books belongs right on the shelf with any of the other classic tales that are so often gushed about and have often wondered why no one has tried to bring this tale to the big screen. If it ever happens I certainly hope it is given the deference it deserves and not treated like what Hollywood has done to so many other stories.

This is a good break from the typical dragon-world fantasy genre. Donaldson uses a complex anti-hero as the eyeglass to an enthralling fantasy world that's quite different from the typical fantasy worlds. Good series, but the main character does whine quite a bit.

It has always distressed me that the Thomas Covenant Series has landed in the "Fantasy Genre." I am of the opinion that Donaldson's masterwork would stand on its own in any arena. In "The Land" and Thomas Covenant, Donaldson has created a poetic, philosophical, and literary statement that transcends the particularity of its settings. If the Thomas Covenant Trilogy is fantasy, then so are Voltaire's Candide and Swift's Gulliver's Travels.A great deal of attention is paid to three aspects of this trilogy. First: its comparisons with Tolkein's Lord of the Rings. Second, Thomas Covenant as anti-hero, and third, the darkness or mood of the work.With regard to comparison with Tolkein, it is certainly understandable, since both works deal with fantastic subjects and both are thoroughly original. Tolkein repackages mythology into his own definition of elves, dwarves, goblins and the like - creating a "standard interpretation" of these mythologies that stands apart from the cultural context of the modern interpretations (witness the nobility of his Elves as opposed to the lighthearted Smurf-creatures of the American interpretation). Donaldson, on the other hand, peoples his work with uniquely defined creatures, from the Giants to the Ur-Viles, that have no contemporary counterparts in popular mythology, at least in nomenclature. Tolkein, of course, has been imitated, having used common mythology as a basis. Donaldson's world is too unique to be thus reduced, and so he gets no genre of his own. In a similar sense, both authors constructed complex and detailed worlds whose full history extends beyond the bounds of their primary works. For Tolkein, it took the prequel (poshumous) Silmarillion to flesh out his world. For Donaldson, it takes the slightly diminishing Second Trilogy.There are significant differences, of course. Tolkein despised metaphor. You could argue that Donaldson is all metaphor. But I digress.The second set of commentary on Donaldson is related to Thomas Covenant as anti-hero. It is a nice "gimmick" if you choose to look at it that way, and certainly results in some repulsion. However, it is fundamentally intrinsic to the themes of the trilogy. Covenant cannot be the messianic figure that is required of him in the "fantasy" sequences, without complete invalidation of the tensions between despair and hope which drive the novels. With Covenant in any other mold, the works become nothing more than a very detailed and original fantasy work - just what they are often perceived to be.Finally, the darkness or mood of the work is inevitable as well. It is tempting to see the "Beggar's note" as a definition of the themes of the trilogy, and this may be what Donaldson intended. I believe that the most striking theme contained in the trilogy is that aforementioned tension between despair and hope. It is not a question of ethics, right and wrong, but a very question of existence that Covenant grapples with. The leprosy issue (w

I say unequivicably the Donaldson's series is far and away the most unique fantasy story telling I have read. I refuse to compare anything to Tolkien (which is in a class by itself) so I won't go there. Thomas Covenant is the ultimate anti-hero, the man who does not want to care, the man who cannot break out of being a leper becuase that is who he is. And yet, The Land draws him deeper into its spell while at the same time his self-hatred grows. The sadness of the giants and their love is overwhelming. The integrity of Mhoram. There is so much here to captivate the mind. This is one of the only books I can think of where I truly wept with joy and sadness at the end of the last book of the first trilogy. The beauty of Covenant's final ability to love the land and to truly want to save it is heartbreaking. Donaldson has a unique and highly imaginative way of writing that both captivates and disturbs at the same time. The characters he creates are beautiful and complex, the world he describes is one full of beauty and life. I cannot commend this series to you more. As a final comment, the Second Chronicles series is also excellent, but not quite as captivating and seems to try to hard to play off the greatnes of the first series.

That The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever (comprised of Lord Foul's Bane, The Illearth War and The Power That Preserves) has been both highly praised as well as heavily disparaged is not surprising and is a credit to its author, Stephen R. Donaldson. When this series was first released back in the early 1980's, it pushed the limits of contemporary fantasy, yet even today it doesn't come across as dated. In Thomas Covenant, Donaldson has created a protagonist who has, through leprosy, lost everything he ever held dear - including his wife and child. His disease forces him to live the life of a pariah, an outcast. Physically and emotionally he becomes numb and eventually comes to loathe himself. Then one night he is run down by a car, and when he regains consciousness he finds himself transported into a fantasy world whose inhabitants view him as their savior, come to depose the tyrannical Lord Foul, whose own ambition is to destroy the Land. The locals view the white gold wedding ring Covenant wears to be a talisman of great power against Foul's might. Covenant believes that none of this is real and eschews the burden the local inhabitants heap upon him, and so he comes to be known as The Unbeliever. Slowly the Land cures Covenant of his affliction, and those parts of him that had been numb in his own reality come to life - including his sexuality. Again, believing this to be only a dream and that in reality he lays dying on the shoulder of some road, Covenant rapes a young girl, which may dismay many readers. Still, to Covenant, unable to control his newly awakened virility, this is merely a dream, akin perhaps to a wet dream. But it is an act that will torment Covenant throughout the series.Readers may question how a rapist can be made into a hero. The answer is simple: Thomas Covenant is in no way a hero. He is an unwilling participant in this fantasy. A sometimes vile and mostly unsympathetic character, Donaldson deftly contrasts Covenant with the people of the Land. Covenant is the underdog, yet each time he does something despicable he manages, through some small act, to redeem himself, and the reader can't help but root for him. Ultimately it is Covenant's guilt - guilt over the rape he committed as well as the guilt he feels over the countless acts of sacrifice the people of the Land make and their willingness to forgive him for all of his transgressions - that drives him to take action against Lord Foul.Covenant is the lone point of view character throughout the series. Donaldson intended this to lend an air of fantasy to the series - that Covenant is the only real being in an unreal setting - and so the supporting characters come off as one-dimensional. Still, it is an effective technique: it is, after all, Covenant's story.The narrative is complex and some readers may be put off by some of the grammar. Still, it is an adult fantasy and comparisons to Lord of the Rin

This series of books is remarkable. The characterisation of Thomas Covenant is detailed, tortured, and realistic. For anyone who has struggled in life with situations that are arduous , demeaning, and seemingly hopeless, Covenant's cynical thoughts ring true. The world he finds himself in is a literary wonder. The prose with which Donaldson describes The Land is evocative. I first read this series when I was 13, and I still feel a sense of awe and longing every time I re-read them. The Giants of Seareach, the unending deathless service of the Haruchai, the vast impenetrable majesty of Revelstone, and the symbiotic relationship of the people to The Land inspire joy, melancholia, awe, wonder and longing. The emotions wrought by Donaldson's words are each vivid and distinct, yet varied and surprising. What set this series apart from others was more than an unusual anti-hero protagonist or a richly described, memorable setting, or even the the well written characters like Saltheart Foamfollower. What makes them unforgettable is that if you read these books, you will be forced to think, or put the book down. The lines of thought are deep, and seemingly limitless. What is morality? What makes a hero? What would I do in a world that despises me? Would I accept things that could kill me? What is reality? Is reality dictated by what we perceive, or what we believe? Can your loyalty be to something that may have no meaning more than a fevered dream? What is courage? What is cowardly? Is pacifism the only way to respect life, or does the good of the many out weigh the needs of the few, to the extent of violence? Other books have asked similar questions, but only Donaldson allows the reader to draw his or her own conclusions. In the end, this series is a classic on the order of Tolkien, Dostoyevsky, or JD Salinger. If you pay attention and savor the characters, images, emotions, and questions these books provide, they will remain with you for years to come. For the critics of this book, read through the other reviews. Notice how many readers have been profoundly affected by this series, and have read it over and over again, as I have? Perhaps you missed something important.