# Stephen R. Donaldson - The creator of Thomas Covenant



## srhalfwaythere (Oct 19, 2004)

Call me weird but his books have changed my view on life. Yes, they truly have. If you haven't hear dof him or his famous character Thomas COvenant, then get researching. This author is amazing. His books express such determination and adventure put into 1 person... wow those words seem so trivial to how I really wish to describe these books. Please, just read some of his books. The forst one is called Lord Foul's Bane. Read away and let me know what you think... you WILL be hooked - I was. Bye the way is it just me or should these books in the series and the new ones comig out... be put into a movie? I think so.

Sean


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## Talia_Brie (Oct 19, 2004)

I read the first 5 books, but when Vain didn't turn into the new Staff of Law, I just got sick of it and I haven't read the last one.

I think Thomas Convenant is the most annoying, ineffectual hero in modern fantasy. I didn't like him as a character because all he seemed to do was plod through the adventure letting other people fight and be killed for him, complaining the whole time. Almost the first thing he does in Lord Foul's Bane is rape some poor girl!

That being said, I still read five of them. It says something about Donaldson as a writer.


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## srhalfwaythere (Oct 19, 2004)

*Read the last one!*

Hey the first 5 for me were pretty slow and the way he acted I wanted to punch him at times.. but read the last one. I thought it was a really good ending, he finally takes a stand. I feel so strongly that you should read the last one I'm even going to send you a pm. 

Sean


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## daeley (Dec 2, 2004)

All due respect, but I find the views expressed in The Well-Tempered Plot Device well describe my feelings on Donaldson.


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## The Holy Moly (Feb 5, 2005)

I found The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever to be a good story.  Thomas was an ordinary person put in extrordinairy situations.  It was the world that sucked me in far more than the protagonist.


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## Pawn (Feb 6, 2005)

> I think Thomas Convenant is the most annoying, ineffectual hero in modern fantasy. I didn't like him as a character because all he seemed to do was plod through the adventure letting other people fight and be killed for him, complaining the whole time. Almost the first thing he does in Lord Foul's Bane is rape some poor girl!


Don't be absurd. I suppose you'd rather have Rand Al Thor? Covenant is the most intelligently written fantasy character that has ever existed. The fact that the second trilogy was just a rehash of the first detracts only slightly from Donaldson's fantastic abilities.


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## Talia_Brie (Feb 6, 2005)

You may have a point about Rand Al'Thor, but I honestly think it would be a close contest. 

The other heroic characters in the Thomas Covenant books were excellent, and The Land was an ingenious creation. The Giants, and the bodyguards (can't think of the names) were all great. But Thomas was a whinger who enver did anything for himself. The Land was relying on his ability as the White Gold Wielder, and he never came through. He may as well not have been there. They would have had a better chance without him.

Just my opinion.

BTW, has anyone read the new TC novel, just for curiosity?


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## The Holy Moly (Feb 7, 2005)

A new TC novel?  Thomas Covenant?  There's another book?!  Jeeze, you are full of nifty info!  Where have I been?

Freakin' WoW!  The Last Chronicles of Thomas Covenant!  Too damn cool!  (I hope so anyway).  I just looked it up at Amazon.

Talia, I also found Thomas to be very ineffective at doing anything.  It was frustrating!  But I think this was the intent of the author.  It's been a while since I have read these books and just recently I've been looking into adding them to my collection.


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## Pawn (Feb 7, 2005)

Covenant is trapped in psychosis most fantasy authors wouldn't go anywhere near. He's frustrating, yes, but for real reasons. This is why I think he's intelligently written. I can't say I liked the Second Chronicles: like I say, they didn't differ a great deal from the first. Don't hold out much hope for the new book: Donaldson fans should go to the Gap series for their next fix.


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## Mike C (Feb 7, 2005)

Donaldson's a fraud. Covenant isn't a hero, nor even an anti-hero, he's just a bore.


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## Pawn (Feb 7, 2005)

Er, yeh, nice random unjustified statement.


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## The Holy Moly (Feb 8, 2005)

Mike C said:
			
		

> Donaldson's a fraud. Covenant isn't a hero, nor even an anti-hero, he's just a bore.



Very true.  He's like a normal, real life person afflicted with a debilitating disease instead of an exaggeration of unrealistic qualities heroes(ines) typically inherit.

If he had not been this way the series would have lasted one whole book while Super Thomas blasted everything with his white gold ring thereby eliminating all of the exploration that the author worked to produce.  No giants, no blood guard, no sand gorgon, no vilely oppressed people tricked into sacrificing themselves to be liberated, no aliantha berries…no story!  

I think that realizing this requires a little bit of thought.


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## semtecks (Mar 18, 2005)

I was 15 when my mother bought me lord fouls bane. i had just finished Lord of the rings and needed something to fill the hole. What i found when i read the book, made sure that Lord of the rings gathered dust on my shelf and was never read again.
I was blown away by this complex charactor, i was kept at arms length from him at first and then made to hate him as he raped Lena. I later learned to sympathise, and yes, even care about what happened to him.
He was not the usuall 'kill everything in site and smoke a cigar hero' he was a complex charactor that could actually exist.
You either hate this book or love it, but you can't read it and not have an opinion.


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