- ISBN13: 9780399152320
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Product Description
The triumphant return of the New York Times-bestselling, critically acclaimed fantasy series that has become a modern classic.
Since their publication more than two decades ago, the initial six books in The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant series have sold more than 6 million copies and have been published in ten countries around the world. Now, starting with The Runes of the Earth, Stephen R. Donaldson returns with a quartet of new Covenant novels that are certain to satisfy his millions of fans, and attract countless new followers.
In the original series, a man-living in our world and in our time-is mysteriously struck down with a disease long since believed to have been eradicated. He becomes a pariah in his small town and is abandoned by his wife who departs with their infant son. Alone and despairing, Thomas Covenant falls and, while unconscious, is transported to a fantastic world in which a battle for the soul of the land is being waged. Christened “The Unbeliever”-for he is convinced the world is only an illusion, a dream-he finds himself slowly forced to accept the role that seems to be his destiny: savior of the Land.
At the end of the sixth book, Covenant is killed, both in the real world and in the Land, as his companion, Linden Avery, looks on in horror. His death is both the ultimate sacrifice-and his redemption.
At the opening of The Runes of Earth, ten years have passed. Linden Avery comes home one day to find her child building images of the Land with blocks, and senses a terrible foreboding. She had thought that she would never again be summoned to the Land-nor ever again see her beloved Thomas Covenant. But in the Land, evil is unmaking the very laws of nature. . . .
Amazon.com Review
Amazon.com Exclusive Content
Worth the Wait
More than two decades after he completed the Second Chronicles, Stephen R. Donaldson has begun a third series about the leprous Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever. In this Amazon.com exclusive essay, Donaldson explains why The Runes of the Earth has been so long in the making.
Jonathan Appleseed @ 6:52 pm
First, let me say: Bravo! Well done, Mr. Donaldson!
Next, I want to direct my comments to those readers who have never read any of the Covenant books, but are contemplating reading this book. Your main concern, undoubtedly, is, “How can I possibly enter a complex series at book seven? Won’t I be so incredibly lost that it won’t make any sense for me to buy this book and see what all the fuss is about Covenant?” Both questions are easily answered. Donaldson has taken extraordinary care to construct the beginning of this book in such a way that if you are entering the Covenant series at this late point, by the time you get to page 200, all that went before will be explained, and you’ll (almost) feel as if you have read the first six books. He does this primarily in two ways. First, he has written a “What Has Gone Before” prelude, which succinctly wraps up the essential plots and dilemmas of the first six books into about eight pages. It is *superbly* done. Second, from almost the very beginning of the book itself, he meticulously and purposefully takes the reader back to prior events in the last two trilogies, while at the same time moving the story forward with the tremendous urgency of his past works. While someone like myself (who is probably more familiar with these books than I should be), can see what’s happening as plainly as I can see that Shaquille O’Neal is a very large man, people less familiar with the work will not feel burdened or bludgeoned by what is, essentially, catching readers up. For reader like me, this will likely feel somewhat tedious as we know all of the legends of the Land. But for readers who are unfamiliar with the legends, you will find them to be like a drink from the source of a mountain spring. The stories and legends of the Land are as tantalizing, exciting, and wondrous as the story itself.
So – new readers to Covenant, feel safe. Whereas you couldn’t jump into Book 7 of Jordan’s Wheel of Time series, you can jump into the seventh book of this series. You will not be disappointed.
And now to the book. There is a wonderfully written 77-page “Prologue”, which details the events that take place in the “real world”, the events which lead to Linden and, perhaps others, to be conveyed to The Land. I read this in astonishment. I’ve read everything that Donaldson has ever written, and this was his best piece of writing. It was like reading Henry James. His descriptions were immaculately clear, the kind of descriptions that distinguish good writing from bad; the kind of descriptive writing that allows the reader to touch, feel, hear, see, and smell; the kind of writing that separates truly great writing from mediocre writing (which, sadly, accounts for about 90% of what’s being published today, regardless of genre).
When we arrive in The Land, the threat is less clear than it was in the previous Chronicles. In the first, Lord Foul laid it out to Covenant in no uncertain terms – he was going to destroy The Land, destroy The Lords, and he stopped just short at telling him how he was going to do it, so great was his confidence. Foul’s approach was distinctly Hitlerian, his tactics a blitzkrieg in every way. In the second, his attack was more insidious and subtle, but still devastating. Here he attacked nature, Earthpower; the Sunbane was a blight that all could see and feel, and the millions of readers who had fallen in love with the stunning beauty and tangible health of The Land in the First Chronicles couldn’t help but to weep at the devastation. In the Last Chronicles, the threat is palpable, it is significant, and it is devastating (not to mention terribly creative). The difference is, the threat isn’t only Foul. As we delve deeper into the book, and learn some of the secrets therein, we come to realize that The Land has more than one enemy, with perhaps a different agenda than Foul, and only one true defender with any estimable might: Linden Avery, The Chosen.
It is a testament to Donaldson’s mastery of The Land that an entire book can be written in a series titled, “The Last Chronicles of Thomas Covenant”, and not have Thomas Covenant in the book for more than ten seconds, and still have that book turn out to be a revelation. In other reviews of sequels, I have been critical, stating that they don’t make sense – they don’t follow logically from the prior book, or series. (For example, anything by Goodkind; The Mallorean by Eddings; Shannara.) I can’t be similarly critical of Donaldson. His sequels follow a perfect logic flow. The Sunbane was *absolutely* what Foul would have done after spending three and half millennia licking his wounds, and while we don’t know Foul’s full intentions yet, the events that occur within The Runes of the Earth are exactly what they should be, considering the events of the First and Second Chronicles. Donaldson is not writing this to make money, although he is certain to make truckloads of it. He’s writing this because he had a vision of how to complete the “Covenant cycle”, and waited twenty-one (agonizing!) years to publish Runes because he needed to grow as a writer. Reading Runes, I understand him completely. This book placed demands on him as a writer that he has never encountered before, and the growth during the intervening years served him well.
The result is a book to be savored, reread, and added to the canon of great fantasy. If the First Chronicles were the War and Peace of fantasy literature, I wonder how this will be judged. It is superior – superior to something that is already recognized as one of the most important works of fantasy of all time.
Mark Zieg @ 7:25 pm
I approach this book a lot like Lucas’s “The Phantom Menace.” First, like the film, Donaldson is going back to a universe which has received no new material in decades — in fact, Lord Foul’s Bane was published within months of Star Wars. One might imagine SRD and Lucas set out with many of the same goals: remind old fans of basic fundamentals, win new fans too young for the originals, and attempt the skillful augmentation of a classic without destroying its original raw brilliance.
Secondly, TPM was an open exercise in misdirection; even the title was an obvious dig. Every fan knew from the start that “The Trade Federation” was not the real “Menace”; the whole Naboo affair was simply a lighthearted romp, a 1-off adventure to get things rolling again, establish characters, and prep the audience for surprises to come. Methinks Donaldson is playing a similar game with this initial foray. He covers a lot of ground, in both space and time, while arranging his pieces on an elaborate multi-dimensional chessboard. Obligingly we watch the thrilling escapades of his returning White Queen, setting ourselves up for the eventual unmasking of the artfully-cued Black King.
Too, like that flashy first flick, Runes has more action than the typical Covenant episode, with less anguish and fury than we have come to expect. (Don’t worry, the darkness will come — there is a whole trilogy of pain no doubt waiting in the wings!) On the other hand, the onslaught of powerful players, whose unscoped abilities are matched only by the riddles of their allegiance, reminded me pleasantly of Zelazny’s second Amber series; Esmer is a potent echo of the Chaos Lord Luke.
Indeed, my only real complaint is with the language, which if anything comes across as a bit too polished. Some of SRD’s old power and poignance seems to have diffused with age. Part of the problem, as another reviewer mentioned, is quite simply that Linden is no Covenant. She is too precise, two professional, too rational to match the wild fervor of Covenant’s abrupt passions. Clean thinking makes for clean prose, and I mourn the education of Donaldson’s wonderfuly over-the-top eruptions of tormented apoplexy.
One note, worth stating in an increasing world of e-texts and Acrobats: the book is beautifully presented. The type, iconography, and format cues are unusually apropos. If Donaldson is to be credited for the power of his vision and boldness of his pen, the folks at Putnam have shown him due honor in their presentation. Joy is in the eyes that see
All said, I was thrilled to return to the Land, astonished by Donaldson’s daring, and could not be more excited by the trilogy that awaits. “I am content…”
Bookreporter.com @ 10:00 pm
Many years ago, when I read the last book in the Thomas Covenant series, THE WHITE-GOLD WIELDER, my scream of distress over its ending could probably be heard in Russia. In fact, I never re-read the series, despite its potent magic, because as long as I never read that book, then Thomas would still be “alive.” Silly logic over a character, I know, but that shows how well this series is written. Imagine my surprise — and delight — when I saw that the series was to be continued.
Thomas Covenant was brought to the Land from our own world in order to save it — and save it he did, sacrificing his own life in the process. Lord Foul wanted — and still wants — to destroy the Time Arch and free himself from his prison. But this freedom comes with a heavy price, as Earth and the Land would both be destroyed. Doctor Linden Avery also helped to save the Land, and back on Earth she lives the best life she can. She cares for those who were once used by Lord Foul in an asylum, including Thomas’s ex-wife Joan. She goes home to her beloved adopted son, a closed and damaged child who also lost something in the battle with Foul. She lives with her memories of the Land and of her love for Thomas.
Roger, Thomas’s son, has come to visit Avery, demanding she release his mother into his custody now that he has turned 21 and can claim his inheritance. She refuses, seeing that there is definite evil in his plans. Little does she realize the extent of his evil, until he kidnaps his mother and takes Jeremy from Avery’s home. She chases after them and is shot in the fight. When she wakes up, she is back in the Land and knows that she has an important mission: to find her son.
The Land has changed greatly. Once a place of incredible beauty, it is now becoming barren. The Haruchai, who Avery once counted as friends and allies against Lord Foul, now consider themselves masters of the Land and are dedicated to destroying all those who have Earth Power, for they blame all the ills in the Land on that magic, while Avery knows that this is what is needed to preserve it. Her only guardian is an old madman, Anele, who often speaks with Lord Foul’s voice, and very occasionally Thomas Covenant will speak to her mind. He tells her that she needs the staff of law and must trust herself.
Even in its damaged state, the Land still is a truly beautiful place to be; beauty is both inherent and tangible. There are a number of fabulous creatures and cultures to sink into, and traveling through the Land with Avery is both a fantastic adventure as well as a tour through a place of great wonder. There is also a mythic quality to it, a real feeling that what one does affects everyone. Avery’s decisions, just as Thomas’s earlier ones, affect the Land because she is connected to it, the Chosen protector to Lord Foul’s Despiser.
Avery is a character to whom you can also connect. Her wistful memories of the Land touch us, her determination to find her son and the man she loves — who we hope might be alive somehow — are so palatable that we, too, feel the drive to see that she fulfills her goals.
THE RUNES OF THE EARTH has all the wonders that made the previous two chronicles so readable, with plenty of surprises that will please old readers. The novel itself is prefaced with a wonderfully written summary of the previous books, and the context of the actual tale does a fantastic job of explaining everything. Therefore, you don’t need to have read the previous books to enjoy this, though it might add to your pleasure.
The flyleaf has promised us four books altogether, and I look forward to seeing how Stephen R. Donaldson further develops these adventures.
— Reviewed by Cindy Lynn Speer
Doctor Rent @ 11:31 pm
For fans of Donaldson, the writing in this book should hold no surprises. The main character is full of turmoil, her power doesn’t come without great risks, the world is at stake, and the chances are slim. Fans of Donaldson wouldn’t have it any other way.
One complaint is that the book starts off quite slowly. I assume that most of the fans who say this do so because they’re used to reading Donaldson’s books one after another without long waits in between, and so the books don’t really have to stand alone (after all, the last time anyone had to wait for a Covenant book was more than 20 years ago). Donaldson writes huge epics; that’s his stated goal, and so the books aren’t really MEANT to stand alone. People who have read the Chronicles, the Gap Cycle, the Man Who Mysteries, and Mordant’s Need should not be surprised when Donaldson takes his time in the first book setting everything up for the events in the rest of the series. As it is, I thoroughly enjoyed the book, and I can see that everything he has set up is certainly going to have exciting results during the rest of the series!
The books will only get better from here on out, so be patient and I can guarantee the Last Chronicles will be a worthy finale for the Chronicles of Thomas Covenant.
D. Navarre @ 1:47 am
20 years after the ‘conclusion’ of the original series this book is published. Having no idea a sequel was on the way I almost had a heart attack upon seeing this book in the store. This series ranks up there with Dune and Lord of the Rings. If you haven’t read the first 6, do yourself a favor and check them out–don’t be put off by some of clunky naming (Lord Foul the Despiser etc)and don’t be too quick to condemn the lead character before he comes into his own (he’ll suffer for his mistakes and then some). This is an intelligent, searingly intense series, vastly superior to much of the popular cr*p of today (ie wheel of time). The character and world development is intricate, superb and always logically consistent. The series is a rare mix (particularly for this genre) of thoughtfulness/intelligence/moral complexities and intense action/supsense. It has “sense of wonder” world development. You’ll come to love some characters,hate others and also come to care deeply about “The Land” itself. How many books can do that? As for the new book, without given anything away, it is seamless in its consistency with what has gone before and picks up a few years later with Linden Avery. You’ll spend much of the book, like Linden, trying to figure out what is going on, who the players are and what the hell is Foul really up to. I read it in two sittings and can now look forward to years of agony waiting for the sequels. Yes this is a big epic series, but unlike many of the current multibook series, I never had the sense the author is just putting out filler, milking the cash cow etc. Tastes differ of course, but IMHO in the last 30 years of fantasy literature there are at most a handful of books that deserve to be mentioned alongside this series. If you are just starting to read this series, I envy you.