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The Second Chronicles of Thomas Covenant #2
The One Tree: The Second Chronicles of Thomas Covenant Book Two
Thomas Covenant and Linden Avery flee from the Land, and embark with the Giants on a desperate search for the One Tree, the powerful life-force whose branches alone can re-make the Staff of Law.
They leave the Sunbane-ravaged shores they know for a new world where awesome creatures attack them at sea and strangely powerful new races both welcome and threaten them on Land - while Lord Foul sends his Ravers to harry Covenant and all who help him.
Before them lies the prize that can vanquish the Sunbane - or wreak the devastation that Lord Foul seeks...
They leave the Sunbane-ravaged shores they know for a new world where awesome creatures attack them at sea and strangely powerful new races both welcome and threaten them on Land - while Lord Foul sends his Ravers to harry Covenant and all who help him.
Before them lies the prize that can vanquish the Sunbane - or wreak the devastation that Lord Foul seeks...
433 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1982
275 people are currently reading
3246 people want to read
About the author
Stephen R. Donaldson
134 books2,710 followersStephen Reeder Donaldson is an American fantasy, science fiction, and mystery novelist; in the United Kingdom he is usually called "Stephen Donaldson" (without the "R"). He has also written non-fiction under the pen name Reed Stephens.
EARLY LIFE AND EDUCATION:
Stephen R. Donaldson was born May 13, 1947 in Cleveland, Ohio. His father, James, was a medical missionary and his mother, Ruth, a prosthetist (a person skilled in making or fitting prosthetic devices). Donaldson spent the years between the ages of 3 and 16 living in India, where his father was working as an orthopaedic surgeon. Donaldson earned his bachelor's degree from The College of Wooster and master's degree from Kent State University.
INSPIRATIONS:
Donaldson's work is heavily influenced by other fantasy authors such as J.R.R. Tolkien, Roger Zelazny, Joseph Conrad, Henry James, and William Faulkner. The writers he most admires are Patricia A. McKillip, Steven Erikson, and Tim Powers.
It is believed that a speech his father made on leprosy (whilst working with lepers in India) led to Donaldson's creation of Thomas Covenant, the anti-hero of his most famous work (Thomas Covenant). The first book in that series, Lord Foul's Bane, received 47 rejections before a publisher agreed to publish it.
PROMINENT WORK:
Stephen Donaldson came to prominence in 1977 with the The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, which is centred around a leper shunned by society and his trials and tribulations as his destiny unfolds. These books established Donaldson as one of the most important figures in modern fantasy fiction.
PERSONAL LIFE:
He currently resides in New Mexico.
THE GRADUAL INTERVIEW
EARLY LIFE AND EDUCATION:
Stephen R. Donaldson was born May 13, 1947 in Cleveland, Ohio. His father, James, was a medical missionary and his mother, Ruth, a prosthetist (a person skilled in making or fitting prosthetic devices). Donaldson spent the years between the ages of 3 and 16 living in India, where his father was working as an orthopaedic surgeon. Donaldson earned his bachelor's degree from The College of Wooster and master's degree from Kent State University.
INSPIRATIONS:
Donaldson's work is heavily influenced by other fantasy authors such as J.R.R. Tolkien, Roger Zelazny, Joseph Conrad, Henry James, and William Faulkner. The writers he most admires are Patricia A. McKillip, Steven Erikson, and Tim Powers.
It is believed that a speech his father made on leprosy (whilst working with lepers in India) led to Donaldson's creation of Thomas Covenant, the anti-hero of his most famous work (Thomas Covenant). The first book in that series, Lord Foul's Bane, received 47 rejections before a publisher agreed to publish it.
PROMINENT WORK:
Stephen Donaldson came to prominence in 1977 with the The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, which is centred around a leper shunned by society and his trials and tribulations as his destiny unfolds. These books established Donaldson as one of the most important figures in modern fantasy fiction.
PERSONAL LIFE:
He currently resides in New Mexico.
THE GRADUAL INTERVIEW
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 241 reviews
September 23, 2023
A satisfying and powerful conclusion to a magnificent fantasy epic 🔥🔮⚔️
December 9, 2022
*** 2022 reread -
When we left Covenant and Linden at the end of The Wounded Land, the first book in the second chronicles of Thomas Covenant, the two humans from our world did not return to our Earth. Returning to our world at the conclusion of the adventure was something that we could look forward to during the first trilogy, as Covenant’s coerced summoning to The Land ended and he returned to his lonely life as a leper on the outskirts of his town. Not returning and being accompanied by Linden Avery added depth and narrative complications to the story and gave us more questions and mysteries to try and untangle.
First of all, this is much darker than any of the previous books, and that is saying something. I first read these when I was in high school, seems like a hundred years ago, and I did not pick up on all of the emotional baggage Donaldson was heaving around. A more mature reader will see what Donaldson is doing and if that reader is like me, will think how really and truly messed up this is.
I opined in my review of the first book, Lord Foul’s Bane, that Donaldson intentionally made Covenant as unlikeable as possible for effect. Now we can add Linden Avery’s emotional anchors to further weigh down the text.
There was a South Park episode where a little French kid had survived an abortion and one of the South Park characters said something like, “Dude, that kid is f***ed up!” To this I adopt that statement to Donaldson, “Dude, this is really f***ed up”. To say that Avery’s hidden rooms in her psyche match and even outdistance Covenant’s on the “f***ed up” scale is fair, Donaldson has not just ramped up the darkness but added some jaw dropping details to make this truly F’d up.
Covenant, Avery and the quest of giants weigh anchor, take up sails and head out to find the One Tree so the Staff of Law can be reformed and Lord Foul can get his payback for centuries of pain and bloodshed. Along the way we encounter the Elohim, a community of godlike creatures and we also visit the Bhrathair, a martial society living on the edge of a vast desert.
The Elohim.
Donaldson’s inclusion of this race of unapproachably powerful beings made this an even better book. Reminiscent of angels, or gods, or demons, the ethereal race is one of unimaginable power but also unattainable in that they see themselves as so far above and removed from the narrative that all that power is really not very useful at all. In this way Donaldson comments upon power and corruption and the need for wisdom and human empathy.
The Bhrathair.
These chapters are some of the best in the series and some of Donaldson’s best writing, IMHO. This society is ruled from the shadows by a sorcerer, behind the throne, in Jafar from Aladdin fashion. We again explore themes of power and corruption and sources of good and evil. The sand gorgons, beings of immense and brutish strength and destructive capacity, further add value to the quality of this section. One scene in particular I recall from thirty plus years ago was as vivid and fresh and vibrant the second time I read it.
Finally, we have the quest for the One Tree and the biblical and mythological references here make this an extremely thought provoking and exciting novel.
Dark and frequently depressing, Donaldson’s language and prose could be a textbook for wannabe Goth writers; this has a brooding, Poe like quality, with some Lovecraft thrown in for good measure.
Not for everyone, but fans of dark fantasy and Gene Wolfe readers may try this on for size.
When we left Covenant and Linden at the end of The Wounded Land, the first book in the second chronicles of Thomas Covenant, the two humans from our world did not return to our Earth. Returning to our world at the conclusion of the adventure was something that we could look forward to during the first trilogy, as Covenant’s coerced summoning to The Land ended and he returned to his lonely life as a leper on the outskirts of his town. Not returning and being accompanied by Linden Avery added depth and narrative complications to the story and gave us more questions and mysteries to try and untangle.
First of all, this is much darker than any of the previous books, and that is saying something. I first read these when I was in high school, seems like a hundred years ago, and I did not pick up on all of the emotional baggage Donaldson was heaving around. A more mature reader will see what Donaldson is doing and if that reader is like me, will think how really and truly messed up this is.
I opined in my review of the first book, Lord Foul’s Bane, that Donaldson intentionally made Covenant as unlikeable as possible for effect. Now we can add Linden Avery’s emotional anchors to further weigh down the text.
There was a South Park episode where a little French kid had survived an abortion and one of the South Park characters said something like, “Dude, that kid is f***ed up!” To this I adopt that statement to Donaldson, “Dude, this is really f***ed up”. To say that Avery’s hidden rooms in her psyche match and even outdistance Covenant’s on the “f***ed up” scale is fair, Donaldson has not just ramped up the darkness but added some jaw dropping details to make this truly F’d up.
Covenant, Avery and the quest of giants weigh anchor, take up sails and head out to find the One Tree so the Staff of Law can be reformed and Lord Foul can get his payback for centuries of pain and bloodshed. Along the way we encounter the Elohim, a community of godlike creatures and we also visit the Bhrathair, a martial society living on the edge of a vast desert.
The Elohim.
Donaldson’s inclusion of this race of unapproachably powerful beings made this an even better book. Reminiscent of angels, or gods, or demons, the ethereal race is one of unimaginable power but also unattainable in that they see themselves as so far above and removed from the narrative that all that power is really not very useful at all. In this way Donaldson comments upon power and corruption and the need for wisdom and human empathy.
The Bhrathair.
These chapters are some of the best in the series and some of Donaldson’s best writing, IMHO. This society is ruled from the shadows by a sorcerer, behind the throne, in Jafar from Aladdin fashion. We again explore themes of power and corruption and sources of good and evil. The sand gorgons, beings of immense and brutish strength and destructive capacity, further add value to the quality of this section. One scene in particular I recall from thirty plus years ago was as vivid and fresh and vibrant the second time I read it.
Finally, we have the quest for the One Tree and the biblical and mythological references here make this an extremely thought provoking and exciting novel.
Dark and frequently depressing, Donaldson’s language and prose could be a textbook for wannabe Goth writers; this has a brooding, Poe like quality, with some Lovecraft thrown in for good measure.
Not for everyone, but fans of dark fantasy and Gene Wolfe readers may try this on for size.
December 7, 2023
Since, I've DNF'ed The Wounded Land: The Second Chronicles of Thomas Covenant Book One, I'm abandoning my plans to re-read (yes, I've read this volume in full decades ago) this book and this series. For my reviews of what has gone before and led up to my abandonment of this series, see below.
Review of Lord Foul's Bane.
Review of the Kindle version at https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
All my notes and highlights for Lord Foul's Bane are at https://www.goodreads.com/notes/32179...
Review of The Illearth War.
Review of the Kindle version at https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
All my notes and highlights for The Illearth War are at https://www.goodreads.com/notes/19186...
Review of The Power That Preserves.
Review of the Kindle version at https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
All my notes and highlights for The Power That Preserves are at https://www.goodreads.com/notes/19049...
Review of The Wounded Land.
Review of the Kindle version at https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
All my notes and highlights for The Wounded Land are at https://www.goodreads.com/notes/18902...
Review of Lord Foul's Bane.
Review of the Kindle version at https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
All my notes and highlights for Lord Foul's Bane are at https://www.goodreads.com/notes/32179...
Review of The Illearth War.
Review of the Kindle version at https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
All my notes and highlights for The Illearth War are at https://www.goodreads.com/notes/19186...
Review of The Power That Preserves.
Review of the Kindle version at https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
All my notes and highlights for The Power That Preserves are at https://www.goodreads.com/notes/19049...
Review of The Wounded Land.
Review of the Kindle version at https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
All my notes and highlights for The Wounded Land are at https://www.goodreads.com/notes/18902...
July 4, 2023
Great 2nd book in this follow up trilogy the original series. Nice new plot and new characters. Very Recommended
February 11, 2014
"Freedom doesn't mean you get to choose what happens to you. But you do get to choose how you react to it."
Thomas Covenant, Unbeliever and white gold wielder, leper and lover, who had taught her to treasure the danger of being human.
In this second book in the second Thomas Covenant trilogy, Covenant and Linden Avery travel with their Giant and Haruchai companions on a quest to find the One Tree. Covenant believes that if he makes a new Staff of Law from this tree it will be the start of bringing back the Earthpower to the Land. but many dangers assault their quest. And the quest itself may have been doomed from the very start...
I'm telling you, this series just keeps getting better and better with each new book. This one has a little bit of a different twist to it as well. In the previous books, Covenant is brought to the Land and generally stays within it's confines. But in this book his quest takes him beyond the Land, propelling him into places and situations that are completely different from what we as readers are used to. There are tons of new experiences and groups of people that the fellowship comes across. And the general feel of the story really reminded me of The Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader, since both had that sense of nautical adventure and the reader's sense of omg what are they going to find next? Also there was a bit of a mystery and quite a bit of intrigue surrounding the One Tree itself and throughout the book I had the distinct impression of some type od trap being laid for the questers but couldn't quite figure out what it was, which made the story even more intriguing.
All in all, this was another great installment of this fantasy series, and I look forward to diving into the next one!
"All who live contain some darkness, and much lies hidden there."
Thomas Covenant, Unbeliever and white gold wielder, leper and lover, who had taught her to treasure the danger of being human.
In this second book in the second Thomas Covenant trilogy, Covenant and Linden Avery travel with their Giant and Haruchai companions on a quest to find the One Tree. Covenant believes that if he makes a new Staff of Law from this tree it will be the start of bringing back the Earthpower to the Land. but many dangers assault their quest. And the quest itself may have been doomed from the very start...
I'm telling you, this series just keeps getting better and better with each new book. This one has a little bit of a different twist to it as well. In the previous books, Covenant is brought to the Land and generally stays within it's confines. But in this book his quest takes him beyond the Land, propelling him into places and situations that are completely different from what we as readers are used to. There are tons of new experiences and groups of people that the fellowship comes across. And the general feel of the story really reminded me of The Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader, since both had that sense of nautical adventure and the reader's sense of omg what are they going to find next? Also there was a bit of a mystery and quite a bit of intrigue surrounding the One Tree itself and throughout the book I had the distinct impression of some type od trap being laid for the questers but couldn't quite figure out what it was, which made the story even more intriguing.
All in all, this was another great installment of this fantasy series, and I look forward to diving into the next one!
"All who live contain some darkness, and much lies hidden there."
January 30, 2022
The characters and themes that this series explores continue to be incredible. Despite how bleak and gloomy these books are, they have a tender emotion between the characters which creates a striking contrast. The characters do not simply grieve for themselves, and there’s a very strong focus on empathy that could likely be described as the heart of the series. More than ever, I really see how Steven Erikson drew inspiration from these books for his own writing. This book has some of the best character moments, such as events of the past being connected to the present which influences Linden’s behavior. Even so, this is my least favorite book in the series so far. The main reason is that I’ve begun to sour a bit on Donaldson’s worldbuilding and approach to magic. This series was initially a single trilogy and was not planned for more books. I thought book 1 in this new trilogy did a good job at keeping things fresh, and Donaldson definitely tried to continue that trend by expanding the world. I cannot put my finger on it exactly, but I always felt like the best part about The Land was that it felt like a character in itself despite most of the minor characters that populate it not standing out. With this expanded worldbuilding, I didn't even get that, so there’s less for me to love. It feels like a DLC for a video game to me, like this was just added on and not necessarily part of the original plan. As for the magic, the character work has always driven this series, but I still found the conflict resolutions (or lack of) to be interesting in previous books, not so much in this one.
October 29, 2020
Malo na silu ali nesumnjivo ka jos jednom teskom i dobro osmisljenom kraju.
Sledeca knjiga ce mi razresiti sve nedoumice, volim li ili ne ovaj serijal.
Sledeca knjiga ce mi razresiti sve nedoumice, volim li ili ne ovaj serijal.
May 18, 2013
*For those who read my reviews, I am re-using the same review for each of the Second Chronicles of Thomas Covenant. I will include thoughts on all three novels in the one review. Cheers*
People say, all the time, how the second installment in a trilogy is usually the best or the darkest of the three. Donaldson did the "darker" bit in The Illearth War (Book 2 of the first Chronicles). But his second trilogy managed the same thing. Everything that was awesome about The Land in the first trilogy is corrupted and lost in the second. Even Thomas Covenant seems darker (if that's even possible; I mean, hell, his first reaction to The Land was to rape a 16-year-old).
Anyway, The Second Chronicles are darker. Things have gone bad. Thousands of years have passed.
My first reaction was a narrow-eyed skepticism. I picked up The Wounded Land expecting more of what I'd gotten from the first series, but I immediately saw I would not be getting that. Not exactly, anyway. But as I read on, I found the good things were still there, just as in the story. There were still good people. The things that made The Land magical and fantastical were still there; they were just hidden, buried. I kept reading.
I also didn't like Linden Avery very much. Again, this was because I wanted more of the first series, and she felt like an intruder, a tourist claiming a more personal connection to something I saw as mine. I know, I'm a weirdo. But she grew on me.
It really didn't take long until I was hooked into the new series as deeply as the first. I probably make it sound like I hated the first book, but I totally didn't.
The One Tree might just be my favorite of all 6 (9, I guess, now). I absolutely loved the ship, the traveling, the visiting different places and meeting new and strange friends and enemies (probably why I liked Star Trek, too). I loved Nom. You probably weren't really meant to, but I found the Sandgorgon to be totally badass, with the no-hands and the backwards knees and the unstoppable-ness. His fight with the Haruchai was probably one of the most gripping fight scenes I've read.
And Pitchwife was like Foamfollower only even more endearing for his disability and un-Giantness, which made him all the more Giant-like in the end.
The final novel of the trilogy made me anxious. Not knowing there would be a third trilogy, I saw this as THE FINAL NOVEL, and I knew the story would have to be given a conclusion. Even at that age, I had learned enough to know most great series do not end well. That is to say, the ending given them does not satisfy.
I was wrong, in this case (I've been wrong specifically in this sense several times, but this may have been the first). The story ended in exactly the way it needed to, and I was left feeling vindicated, satisfied, lost, sad, and even a little bit healed.
People say, all the time, how the second installment in a trilogy is usually the best or the darkest of the three. Donaldson did the "darker" bit in The Illearth War (Book 2 of the first Chronicles). But his second trilogy managed the same thing. Everything that was awesome about The Land in the first trilogy is corrupted and lost in the second. Even Thomas Covenant seems darker (if that's even possible; I mean, hell, his first reaction to The Land was to rape a 16-year-old).
Anyway, The Second Chronicles are darker. Things have gone bad. Thousands of years have passed.
My first reaction was a narrow-eyed skepticism. I picked up The Wounded Land expecting more of what I'd gotten from the first series, but I immediately saw I would not be getting that. Not exactly, anyway. But as I read on, I found the good things were still there, just as in the story. There were still good people. The things that made The Land magical and fantastical were still there; they were just hidden, buried. I kept reading.
I also didn't like Linden Avery very much. Again, this was because I wanted more of the first series, and she felt like an intruder, a tourist claiming a more personal connection to something I saw as mine. I know, I'm a weirdo. But she grew on me.
It really didn't take long until I was hooked into the new series as deeply as the first. I probably make it sound like I hated the first book, but I totally didn't.
The One Tree might just be my favorite of all 6 (9, I guess, now). I absolutely loved the ship, the traveling, the visiting different places and meeting new and strange friends and enemies (probably why I liked Star Trek, too). I loved Nom. You probably weren't really meant to, but I found the Sandgorgon to be totally badass, with the no-hands and the backwards knees and the unstoppable-ness. His fight with the Haruchai was probably one of the most gripping fight scenes I've read.
And Pitchwife was like Foamfollower only even more endearing for his disability and un-Giantness, which made him all the more Giant-like in the end.
The final novel of the trilogy made me anxious. Not knowing there would be a third trilogy, I saw this as THE FINAL NOVEL, and I knew the story would have to be given a conclusion. Even at that age, I had learned enough to know most great series do not end well. That is to say, the ending given them does not satisfy.
I was wrong, in this case (I've been wrong specifically in this sense several times, but this may have been the first). The story ended in exactly the way it needed to, and I was left feeling vindicated, satisfied, lost, sad, and even a little bit healed.
March 16, 2011
Thomas Covenant is seeking for the One Tree to forge a new Staff of Law in order to free the Land from the clutches of the Sunbane and defeat Lord Foul.
I love this book to tatters. Like all the other volumes in the series, it required a re-reading round before all the layers of psychological tension could unravel from beneath the complicated language (English is not my native tongue, but I like the challenge books akin to this pose, nonetheless) and actually sink in. I'm not one hundred percent sure about what strikes me so much in this particular novel, but it just might be the fact that it's marginally lighter in tone after the ponderous, despair-ridden The Wounded Land, and contains a genuinely interesting supporting cast. As usual, SRD's storytelling remains unpredictable, building up tension until the last moment, which is why the adventure and suspense from the realm of the Elohim to Kasreyn's oppressive tower to the bleak, sepulchral Isle of the One Tree keeps the reader on the edge of the seat. Nothing is ever certain, the often desperate choices of the characters can lead to a variety of consequences, and nobody becomes a stereotypical hero. The main character, Thomas Covenant, who in the First Chronicles effed everything up with his selfish and craven attitude, however, redeems himself considerably during the 2nd Chronicles' storyline.
This brings us back to the characters. More than anything, the whole series is a psychological struggle happening beneath the skin rather than one's trope-driven fantasy swarming with dragons and magical swords. This, and the very humane flaws plaguing just about everyone, makes the cast feel so real one can almost touch them. This book also features probably one of the sweetest romantic couples I've come across in fantasy for a while, namely the Giantess First of the Search and her crippled, yet brave soulmate. I'm not interested in traditional romance stories and *never* immerse in something in the lines of Nora Roberts unless it's for snark, but this just turns me into a puddle of pink goo. Probably it's due to the uncommon, slightly beauty & the beast -type flavor, the defying of certain gender roles (the guy serves as the wise, cheerful source of warmth able to soften the First's stern nature), and the fact that he's treated as a role model despite his handicaps and deformity.
Also, poor, poor Honninscrave. Needless to say I cried all through the last two chapters.
I love this book to tatters. Like all the other volumes in the series, it required a re-reading round before all the layers of psychological tension could unravel from beneath the complicated language (English is not my native tongue, but I like the challenge books akin to this pose, nonetheless) and actually sink in. I'm not one hundred percent sure about what strikes me so much in this particular novel, but it just might be the fact that it's marginally lighter in tone after the ponderous, despair-ridden The Wounded Land, and contains a genuinely interesting supporting cast. As usual, SRD's storytelling remains unpredictable, building up tension until the last moment, which is why the adventure and suspense from the realm of the Elohim to Kasreyn's oppressive tower to the bleak, sepulchral Isle of the One Tree keeps the reader on the edge of the seat. Nothing is ever certain, the often desperate choices of the characters can lead to a variety of consequences, and nobody becomes a stereotypical hero. The main character, Thomas Covenant, who in the First Chronicles effed everything up with his selfish and craven attitude, however, redeems himself considerably during the 2nd Chronicles' storyline.
This brings us back to the characters. More than anything, the whole series is a psychological struggle happening beneath the skin rather than one's trope-driven fantasy swarming with dragons and magical swords. This, and the very humane flaws plaguing just about everyone, makes the cast feel so real one can almost touch them. This book also features probably one of the sweetest romantic couples I've come across in fantasy for a while, namely the Giantess First of the Search and her crippled, yet brave soulmate. I'm not interested in traditional romance stories and *never* immerse in something in the lines of Nora Roberts unless it's for snark, but this just turns me into a puddle of pink goo. Probably it's due to the uncommon, slightly beauty & the beast -type flavor, the defying of certain gender roles (the guy serves as the wise, cheerful source of warmth able to soften the First's stern nature), and the fact that he's treated as a role model despite his handicaps and deformity.
Also, poor, poor Honninscrave. Needless to say I cried all through the last two chapters.
September 1, 2012
Read when we were still wrestling for grubs...
Like the 2nd book of the 1st trilogy, this book is a travelogue: there's a quest to re-create the Staff of Law and they take another boat ride. But, unlike that book, there is action (and sorrow) a-plenty in this volume.
At the end, rather than feeling like it was all just "setup", we have had a serious undertaking that ends in (I won't tell you, not even with a spoiler tag.)
Like book #1, this has a tighter structure to it that keeps your interest and moves the characters along.
One small reminder: These books must be read in sequence. They just do not make much sense otherwise. (You could get away with skipping around in Roger Zelazny's "Amber" series and not feel completely lost or cheated. But I would never, ever recommend that for that series!)
Like the 2nd book of the 1st trilogy, this book is a travelogue: there's a quest to re-create the Staff of Law and they take another boat ride. But, unlike that book, there is action (and sorrow) a-plenty in this volume.
At the end, rather than feeling like it was all just "setup", we have had a serious undertaking that ends in (I won't tell you, not even with a spoiler tag.)
Like book #1, this has a tighter structure to it that keeps your interest and moves the characters along.
One small reminder: These books must be read in sequence. They just do not make much sense otherwise. (You could get away with skipping around in Roger Zelazny's "Amber" series and not feel completely lost or cheated. But I would never, ever recommend that for that series!)
March 12, 2009
There is a scene where Avery outsmarts a sorcerer that sticks in my mind years later for the way different pieces came together in a dramatic showdown.
This book shows more of Donaldson's world - evidencing an alternative creation story - and is more traditional fantasy adventure.
This book shows more of Donaldson's world - evidencing an alternative creation story - and is more traditional fantasy adventure.
September 21, 2008
The original anti-hero, paving the way for all those who were not good by the conventional sense.
March 27, 2019
3/10. Leído en 2004.
Por desgracia en la oferta no solo estaba el primero de la saga, sino tb este segundo y acabé leyéndolo. Haberlo leído es un ejemplo de que el masoquismo existe.
Por desgracia en la oferta no solo estaba el primero de la saga, sino tb este segundo y acabé leyéndolo. Haberlo leído es un ejemplo de que el masoquismo existe.
March 7, 2016
It's a common movie series cliche in the fantasy/sci fi world that each successive installment gets "darker". Donaldson's first four books do follow that trend, but it was almost pitch black to begin with. The fifth, this traumatising experience, plunges into a veritable black hole. More accurately put, The One Tree doesn't just get "darker", it continues the tendency of the the series to distance itself more and more from worldy affairs and delve deeper and deeper into the hearts and minds of its two heroes/victims, Convenant and Linden, and the inner workings of those two painstakingly sculpted characters is not a pleasant place to be.
It makes for very uncomfortable reading. Essentially, with Convenant out cold, out of his mind, in various ways during the novel, the One Tree is a switch in focus to Linden and her struggles with, among other things, her desire for power (to heal/to survive/to lash out) articulating her past and her guilt, the balance between peacefully passivity and violent action, and her painful love/need for Convenant. Those things are all linked - he has power and she can claim power over him, to love him she must open up her past to him, to save him she must risk exposing herself to power, to not take action risks hurting others. Donaldson doesn't let up. The tension in this book, the nervewracking deliberations and constant need for sacrifice and admittance of guilt exhaust you even before the explosive hopelessness of the heavily prophesised climax on the isle of the One Tree.
The plot takes a Odessey-like form, a voyage into unknown lands, battling storms, sea creatures and sirens, finding mysterious islands with mysterious inhabitants whose intentions are so indecipherable that at times it feels like Convenant himself doesn't know who's on whose side. The previous books venom again provides a lot of the dramatic moments, Foul's insidious way of tapping into Convenant's innate power and tempting it into use. The first major event is on the fairy island of the Elohim, the second of the balantly Eastern tinged sultanate of Bhrathairealm - both are lengthy, taking up most of the book, are full of character development and plenty of action told in Donaldson's usual flamboyant, slightly surreal way, but in the grand scheme of things seem a little forced and irrelevant. Like its predecessor, The One Tree occasionally suffers from being a little too placed on a knife edge, too permanantly near to disaster.
It all serves as a huge, action-packed lead up to the two major climaxes of the novel - Linden and Convenant's love and the discovery of the One Tree. The main protagonists love is fiercely linked to Linden's telling of her past traumas and Donaldon's really turns off the lights for those revelations, scenes of grusome depression and gore that Lovecraft or King would be proud of. Through all this patient build up of dark emotion, the eventual love scene is incredibly powerful, not romantic at all, more a collapsing into each other, an intense expression of need and dependence. Combined with Linden's final, conflagratrive decision at the book's climax, Donaldson succeeds in creating one of the most believable, plot-necessary, tragic loves in the fantasy genre.
The final arrival at the One Tree has its moments but it is clear Donaldson has gone beyond the physical and concrete and into something cosmic and meta - the whole of creation is called into question, hope is shattered and pieced back together, Convenant's identity and existance are taken to the brink and barely pulled away in time, all the patiently built up plot tension, all his noble ideas, come crashing down leaving a huge void in the space entitled "what happens next?". Donaldson, it feels, has abandoned the beauty and the reality of his Land in order to tear apart the psych of his beaten anti-hero and leave him bare. The question now seems to be, how much more can he take? One of the most emotionally draining and disturbing fantasy novels out there, one that leaves you less than content but still totally engaged. 6
It makes for very uncomfortable reading. Essentially, with Convenant out cold, out of his mind, in various ways during the novel, the One Tree is a switch in focus to Linden and her struggles with, among other things, her desire for power (to heal/to survive/to lash out) articulating her past and her guilt, the balance between peacefully passivity and violent action, and her painful love/need for Convenant. Those things are all linked - he has power and she can claim power over him, to love him she must open up her past to him, to save him she must risk exposing herself to power, to not take action risks hurting others. Donaldson doesn't let up. The tension in this book, the nervewracking deliberations and constant need for sacrifice and admittance of guilt exhaust you even before the explosive hopelessness of the heavily prophesised climax on the isle of the One Tree.
The plot takes a Odessey-like form, a voyage into unknown lands, battling storms, sea creatures and sirens, finding mysterious islands with mysterious inhabitants whose intentions are so indecipherable that at times it feels like Convenant himself doesn't know who's on whose side. The previous books venom again provides a lot of the dramatic moments, Foul's insidious way of tapping into Convenant's innate power and tempting it into use. The first major event is on the fairy island of the Elohim, the second of the balantly Eastern tinged sultanate of Bhrathairealm - both are lengthy, taking up most of the book, are full of character development and plenty of action told in Donaldson's usual flamboyant, slightly surreal way, but in the grand scheme of things seem a little forced and irrelevant. Like its predecessor, The One Tree occasionally suffers from being a little too placed on a knife edge, too permanantly near to disaster.
It all serves as a huge, action-packed lead up to the two major climaxes of the novel - Linden and Convenant's love and the discovery of the One Tree. The main protagonists love is fiercely linked to Linden's telling of her past traumas and Donaldon's really turns off the lights for those revelations, scenes of grusome depression and gore that Lovecraft or King would be proud of. Through all this patient build up of dark emotion, the eventual love scene is incredibly powerful, not romantic at all, more a collapsing into each other, an intense expression of need and dependence. Combined with Linden's final, conflagratrive decision at the book's climax, Donaldson succeeds in creating one of the most believable, plot-necessary, tragic loves in the fantasy genre.
The final arrival at the One Tree has its moments but it is clear Donaldson has gone beyond the physical and concrete and into something cosmic and meta - the whole of creation is called into question, hope is shattered and pieced back together, Convenant's identity and existance are taken to the brink and barely pulled away in time, all the patiently built up plot tension, all his noble ideas, come crashing down leaving a huge void in the space entitled "what happens next?". Donaldson, it feels, has abandoned the beauty and the reality of his Land in order to tear apart the psych of his beaten anti-hero and leave him bare. The question now seems to be, how much more can he take? One of the most emotionally draining and disturbing fantasy novels out there, one that leaves you less than content but still totally engaged. 6
September 9, 2024
**** 3.8 STARS ****
Just about 'very good' continuation of The Second Chronicles of Thomas Covenant.
I think, overall, The One Tree is better than the majority of the previous book, The Wounded Land, except for the brilliant first third of that book.
The One Tree starts out a little different than the first four books in the series. This time, there is The story simply continues where we left off. I definitely missed this aspect of the book. We also This was very welcome, and reminded me of The Odyssey. However, there just wasn't enough adventures for my liking. It tended to get a little bogged down in one place for too much of the book. It was still intriguing, though.
The One Tree really shone in the last few chapters. I really liked the ending, and I'm looking forward to where I'll be taken next. It just about elevated the book to a four star read.
Looking forward to the final book in The Second Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, White Gold Weilder.
Just about 'very good' continuation of The Second Chronicles of Thomas Covenant.
I think, overall, The One Tree is better than the majority of the previous book, The Wounded Land, except for the brilliant first third of that book.
The One Tree starts out a little different than the first four books in the series. This time, there is The story simply continues where we left off. I definitely missed this aspect of the book. We also This was very welcome, and reminded me of The Odyssey. However, there just wasn't enough adventures for my liking. It tended to get a little bogged down in one place for too much of the book. It was still intriguing, though.
The One Tree really shone in the last few chapters. I really liked the ending, and I'm looking forward to where I'll be taken next. It just about elevated the book to a four star read.
Looking forward to the final book in The Second Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, White Gold Weilder.
February 16, 2019
This story seems to be getting better with time. Characters are developed nicely, and there are lots of them. Covenant remains a constant but his actions and character become a force of nature all to itself.
February 26, 2023
This was remarkably written and there are some amazing passages throughout the book but unfortunately, the boo and story seem to suffer horribly from middle-book syndrome.
3.5/5
3.5/5
Read
February 26, 2016The Thomas Covenant books are great yet distressing.
Why are they great? Because I love a never ending story. I love to know the history of each character and how they were introduced and what they contributed to the story. I love the generational progression. That is fascinating. The writer has quite the imagination and style. I have to refer to the glossary often to remind me of the references throughout the series (I ordered the ebooks).
This is why this series distressing? The author pulls you in and the characters are full of exciting adventure yet despairingly negative, borderline depressing. The seemingly good guys never get a break or if they do it's fleeting and the odds are mounting against them again. The writer laboriously takes you through the blow by blow account of every hill and every dell and the dispositions, emotional and physical health of each character which is also a bit laborious. So... on I read to see the resolve, book after book after book. And yes there are a few triumphs but short lived and then it is realized that the victory was not exactly a victory but maybe something else... the suspense is killing me and that is why I am just about to finish book 8 and begin book 9 of this epic adventure.
Why are they great? Because I love a never ending story. I love to know the history of each character and how they were introduced and what they contributed to the story. I love the generational progression. That is fascinating. The writer has quite the imagination and style. I have to refer to the glossary often to remind me of the references throughout the series (I ordered the ebooks).
This is why this series distressing? The author pulls you in and the characters are full of exciting adventure yet despairingly negative, borderline depressing. The seemingly good guys never get a break or if they do it's fleeting and the odds are mounting against them again. The writer laboriously takes you through the blow by blow account of every hill and every dell and the dispositions, emotional and physical health of each character which is also a bit laborious. So... on I read to see the resolve, book after book after book. And yes there are a few triumphs but short lived and then it is realized that the victory was not exactly a victory but maybe something else... the suspense is killing me and that is why I am just about to finish book 8 and begin book 9 of this epic adventure.
June 15, 2009
When I was about 16 I saw this book in the local library and thought it sounded wonderful, but then realised it was part 2 of a trilogy, and THEN realised this was the SECOND trilogy of a pair.
I like a challenge, and I like big books and series, so a little later I bought and read all 6 books in about a month or so. That 2400+ pages surpassed even my enjoyment of Lord of the Rings.
Ah! Now I realise the book I'd MOST like to see as a film would be one of these (or all of them). That would be a mighty work indeed. I might choose Lord Foul's Bane for that one, as it is the first, or White Gold Wielder (which follows the One Tree), as that might refer to more characters.
Back to the story - it's a bit like Voyage of the Dawn Treader for adults; as the whole series is a bit like Lord of the Rings for realists.
I thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to read this again...
Task 30.10 completed :)
I like a challenge, and I like big books and series, so a little later I bought and read all 6 books in about a month or so. That 2400+ pages surpassed even my enjoyment of Lord of the Rings.
Ah! Now I realise the book I'd MOST like to see as a film would be one of these (or all of them). That would be a mighty work indeed. I might choose Lord Foul's Bane for that one, as it is the first, or White Gold Wielder (which follows the One Tree), as that might refer to more characters.
Back to the story - it's a bit like Voyage of the Dawn Treader for adults; as the whole series is a bit like Lord of the Rings for realists.
I thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to read this again...
Task 30.10 completed :)
June 28, 2018
Really like this series. Great book. Exciting, keeps your interest.
Thomas Covenant and Linden Avery begin their search for the One Tree that is to be the salvation of the Land. Only he could find the answer and forge a new Staff of Law�but fate decreed that the journey was to be long, the quest arduous, and quite possibly a failure....
Thomas Covenant and Linden Avery begin their search for the One Tree that is to be the salvation of the Land. Only he could find the answer and forge a new Staff of Law�but fate decreed that the journey was to be long, the quest arduous, and quite possibly a failure....
December 20, 2019
It’s important to read the first book ‘The Wounded Land’ before beginning ‘The One Tree,’ so you can truly understand what is motivating the protagonists in their perilous journey. Linden Avery takes center stage in the second installment due to Thomas Covenant being incapacitated by malicious means. Thrust into the lead role sets up some interesting dynamics for Avery. It helps that Mr. Donaldson takes time to explain some of her traumatic childhood that both help and hurt Avery’s efforts. The two protagonists, Avery and Covenant, are seduced as well as repulsed because they inherited powers they did not ask to have. Their reactions appear realistic, considering it is a world where magic and fairy-tale-like entities are common.
The author digs deeper into the nature of power in various forms. Tyranny, deception, the nature of evil, and arrogance are addressed. Despite a person’s best intentions, too much power can corrupt someone. The second novel revolves around Covenant’s, Avery’s, and their companions’ quest to make a new Staff of Law to combat Lord Foul. For the first time in the series, it involves adventures beyond the Land. Aided by a seafaring good-natured crew of giants and a handful of bodyguards known as the Haruchai, the group travels the seas in search of “The One Tree” so as to make a new Staff of Law in an effort to restore balance in the Land. Beyond many otherworldly threats they also have to worry about Ravers who are soul-inhabiting demons working for uber-reprobate Lord Foul. I lost count how many times the giants and the Haruchai pulled Covenant’s and Avery’s chestnuts out of the fire. They can’t seem to meet anyone during their quest for the One Tree who does not have sinister ulterior motives, yet the group continues to recklessly forge ahead after each encounter. The story also includes a teensy bit of profanity, a helpful glossary of Land words, and two maps. ‘The One Tree’ ends with many issues unresolved and if you are looking for closure, you’ll need to read the final installment ‘White Gold Wielder.’
Mark Twain once said, “Courage is not the lack of fear. It is acting in spite of it.” ‘The One Tree’ is about Thomas Covenant and Linden Avery confronting their fears and trying to do what’s right. There is difficulty in them making decisions because, like life, much is clouded in grey areas, and/or not having enough information. Their moral quandaries will be appreciated by thoughtful readers of the Thomas Covenant trilogy and probably not so much by people just wanting a superficial adventure story. Keep a dictionary handy. Mr. Donaldson is big on using obscure words. It is an entertaining fantasy novel but as scientifically plausible as Oreo cookies naturally evolving into a flying pig.
The author digs deeper into the nature of power in various forms. Tyranny, deception, the nature of evil, and arrogance are addressed. Despite a person’s best intentions, too much power can corrupt someone. The second novel revolves around Covenant’s, Avery’s, and their companions’ quest to make a new Staff of Law to combat Lord Foul. For the first time in the series, it involves adventures beyond the Land. Aided by a seafaring good-natured crew of giants and a handful of bodyguards known as the Haruchai, the group travels the seas in search of “The One Tree” so as to make a new Staff of Law in an effort to restore balance in the Land. Beyond many otherworldly threats they also have to worry about Ravers who are soul-inhabiting demons working for uber-reprobate Lord Foul. I lost count how many times the giants and the Haruchai pulled Covenant’s and Avery’s chestnuts out of the fire. They can’t seem to meet anyone during their quest for the One Tree who does not have sinister ulterior motives, yet the group continues to recklessly forge ahead after each encounter. The story also includes a teensy bit of profanity, a helpful glossary of Land words, and two maps. ‘The One Tree’ ends with many issues unresolved and if you are looking for closure, you’ll need to read the final installment ‘White Gold Wielder.’
Mark Twain once said, “Courage is not the lack of fear. It is acting in spite of it.” ‘The One Tree’ is about Thomas Covenant and Linden Avery confronting their fears and trying to do what’s right. There is difficulty in them making decisions because, like life, much is clouded in grey areas, and/or not having enough information. Their moral quandaries will be appreciated by thoughtful readers of the Thomas Covenant trilogy and probably not so much by people just wanting a superficial adventure story. Keep a dictionary handy. Mr. Donaldson is big on using obscure words. It is an entertaining fantasy novel but as scientifically plausible as Oreo cookies naturally evolving into a flying pig.
October 25, 2019
Bleak.
I almost feel as though I could stop my review there, but I do have more to say. Donaldson's world-building remains excellent and his characters are well-developed and strongly fleshed-out. But it is those same characters who are the main reason for the 2 stars I am giving this book.
The first trilogy is renowned for having a main character who is extremely difficult to like. The first book of this second trilogy carries on in the same vane, although Covenant has found some level of redemption, and the newly-introduced Linden Avery is still becoming known to the reader. In this middle volume of the second trilogy, she takes over as the primary protagonist, and all of the things that people complained about with respect to Covenant in the first trilogy are amplified here. Linden exhibits a level of self-loathing which outstrips Covenant's by an order of magnitude (if not more). Yes, she has had some traumatic things happen to her, but she seems to have made no attempt in her life to overcome them. Having the main character be so thoroughly unlikable makes this a very difficult book to read.
Added to that - the book is too long for the story it tells. Nearly 500 pages for just adds a further hurdle for the reader to overcome. It is almost as though Donaldson is putting these obstacles in the way of the reader's enjoyment - as though one has to suffer for the privilege of reading these books. That is not why I choose to read.
I have been rereading the first two trilogies in preparation for reading the final four books (which I have had for quite a while, but not begun) and I will continue with that plan, but I feel it is time for a palate-cleansing break of a lighter book (or two) before I continue along this journey.
I almost feel as though I could stop my review there, but I do have more to say. Donaldson's world-building remains excellent and his characters are well-developed and strongly fleshed-out. But it is those same characters who are the main reason for the 2 stars I am giving this book.
The first trilogy is renowned for having a main character who is extremely difficult to like. The first book of this second trilogy carries on in the same vane, although Covenant has found some level of redemption, and the newly-introduced Linden Avery is still becoming known to the reader. In this middle volume of the second trilogy, she takes over as the primary protagonist, and all of the things that people complained about with respect to Covenant in the first trilogy are amplified here. Linden exhibits a level of self-loathing which outstrips Covenant's by an order of magnitude (if not more). Yes, she has had some traumatic things happen to her, but she seems to have made no attempt in her life to overcome them. Having the main character be so thoroughly unlikable makes this a very difficult book to read.
Added to that - the book is too long for the story it tells. Nearly 500 pages for just adds a further hurdle for the reader to overcome. It is almost as though Donaldson is putting these obstacles in the way of the reader's enjoyment - as though one has to suffer for the privilege of reading these books. That is not why I choose to read.
I have been rereading the first two trilogies in preparation for reading the final four books (which I have had for quite a while, but not begun) and I will continue with that plan, but I feel it is time for a palate-cleansing break of a lighter book (or two) before I continue along this journey.
November 17, 2019
The One Tree is unlike anything else in the Covenant series to date. It continues directly on from the first book of the Second Chronicles, and acts as a classic middle volume in a trilogy, with all of the tragedy and despair that implies. (Think: The Empire Strikes Back). It also moves further away from Covenant than we ever have before, with the vast majority of the chapters being from Linden's point-of-view. Finally, it leaves "The Land" for the first time ever, visiting more distant locales.
That makes this The Land's Voyage of the Dawn Treader, a picaresque novel of nautical travels. But, unlike most in the genre, Donaldson concentrates on just a few locales: the Land of the Elohim (sort of angels), Bhrathairain (An Arabic-themed city), and the Isle of the One Tree. This helps to give the novel strong focus (well, three strong foci), while still maintaining the huge variety allowed by picaresque naval travels.
Each of the three mini-stories in The One Tree is intriguing and interesting, tense and exciting. And, when you put them together, you get a strong middle of the story, about how things go badly wrong and perhaps reach their lowest point before ... White Gold Wielder.
That makes this The Land's Voyage of the Dawn Treader, a picaresque novel of nautical travels. But, unlike most in the genre, Donaldson concentrates on just a few locales: the Land of the Elohim (sort of angels), Bhrathairain (An Arabic-themed city), and the Isle of the One Tree. This helps to give the novel strong focus (well, three strong foci), while still maintaining the huge variety allowed by picaresque naval travels.
Each of the three mini-stories in The One Tree is intriguing and interesting, tense and exciting. And, when you put them together, you get a strong middle of the story, about how things go badly wrong and perhaps reach their lowest point before ... White Gold Wielder.
June 18, 2023
This book does not have Covenant going back to the land as the others have. Here Covenant and Linden continue their journey with the giants in search of the One Tree so they can remake the Staff of Law.
There is tremendous conflict, pain and suffering as both Thomas and Linden battle their most deepest fears. They are constantly trying to second guess Lord Fouls traps, and make decisions that always seem to lead to destruction of some type. Who can they trust?
They meet the Elohim who they distrust, and Thomas is made inert, making Linden the driving force for most of the book. There is also a romance between Thomas and Linden which adds to the emotional drama. There are so many encounters and new characters which keeps the reader on the edge of their seat constantly. It is both painful and depressing yet there is also hope enough to keep the reader going.
The book ends with their escape from the island of the One Tree. They have lost companions and Thomas and Linden have a large gap in their relationship. And they were So now the Quest sails back toward "the Land."
To say that I am addicted to this serious would be an understatement. This is clearly one of the best fantasy series I have read next to LOTR.
Content concerns: Blood, violence, alcohol, talks of suicide. No cheating between Thomas and Linden. Sex not detailed.
There is tremendous conflict, pain and suffering as both Thomas and Linden battle their most deepest fears. They are constantly trying to second guess Lord Fouls traps, and make decisions that always seem to lead to destruction of some type. Who can they trust?
They meet the Elohim who they distrust, and Thomas is made inert, making Linden the driving force for most of the book. There is also a romance between Thomas and Linden which adds to the emotional drama. There are so many encounters and new characters which keeps the reader on the edge of their seat constantly. It is both painful and depressing yet there is also hope enough to keep the reader going.
The book ends with their escape from the island of the One Tree. They have lost companions and Thomas and Linden have a large gap in their relationship. And they were So now the Quest sails back toward "the Land."
To say that I am addicted to this serious would be an understatement. This is clearly one of the best fantasy series I have read next to LOTR.
Content concerns: Blood, violence, alcohol, talks of suicide. No cheating between Thomas and Linden. Sex not detailed.
June 3, 2023
Boy am I glad to have that dud over with. Had it not been for my determination to finish re-reading the whole series I've had bailed on this turkey.
It's embarrassing to be admitting to reading Donaldson in the first place. He's one of the worst wildly successful authors ever. But I had such guilty pleasure, to my shock, when I re-read the First Chronicles, that I have to give him his due as an epic world-builder.
The only thing I liked in One Tree was the Sandgorgon. And I really love him. Nom. He's got more character and interest that TC will ever have.
But what really sunk this second trilogy, and this poor book in particular, was the stunningly bad decision to replace ghastly unlikable Covenant with the even more unlikable Linden Avery. The SEVERE Linden Avery, as we're reminded over and over. She somehow, impossibly, manages to be every bit as contemptible as TC but adds utterly boring into the mix. Even giants and Haruchai can't save this awful book.
I'll have to give myself a break before I take on the last one. At least when I do, I can donate the Second Chronicles and never let them darken my doorstep again.
Keeping the First, despite my shame. I really did enjoy revisiting the Land as first conceived.
It's embarrassing to be admitting to reading Donaldson in the first place. He's one of the worst wildly successful authors ever. But I had such guilty pleasure, to my shock, when I re-read the First Chronicles, that I have to give him his due as an epic world-builder.
The only thing I liked in One Tree was the Sandgorgon. And I really love him. Nom. He's got more character and interest that TC will ever have.
But what really sunk this second trilogy, and this poor book in particular, was the stunningly bad decision to replace ghastly unlikable Covenant with the even more unlikable Linden Avery. The SEVERE Linden Avery, as we're reminded over and over. She somehow, impossibly, manages to be every bit as contemptible as TC but adds utterly boring into the mix. Even giants and Haruchai can't save this awful book.
I'll have to give myself a break before I take on the last one. At least when I do, I can donate the Second Chronicles and never let them darken my doorstep again.
Keeping the First, despite my shame. I really did enjoy revisiting the Land as first conceived.
November 9, 2024
Donaldson continues to write amazing stories about the inner journey of flawed and captivating characters.
October 27, 2025
// TW: sexual assault mention //
A bafflingly confusing mess. One wonders if Stephen Donaldson entirely gave up the effort of actually planning plot points in advance, and just started recording his weekly D&D sessions. 😒
Because we are in a ship traveling outside of the established Land, anything can happen any time without explanation or forewarning. Arabian Nights inspired desert palace plot? Sure. Biblically inspired elemental angel-spirits? Why not. Ancient wise man on the mountain that has literally never been mentioned before and has no real purpose to the plot? It's a party, everyone's invited.
Look, the Land wasn't the most original or complex fantasy world, but at least it was grounded in something. We had a map, at least. We had a sense of different cultures and landscapes. The wide sea has nothing, none of that. We are looking for the One Tree. Where is that? Idk. What's the plan for getting there? Idk. What are we going to do about this demon child and ancient angel creature that have forced themselves on board? Idk, don't worry about them, they're just chilling.
The most bizarre thing about this second series is that it opens with the somewhat interesting premise that Lord Foul has tainted the sun, which horrifically transforms the Land's entire ecosystem, and so Covenant sets out to save the world from this evil sun situation. But in this book, the sun is no longer an issue on the open sea. Is there a different sun for other places outside of the Land? Does Lord Foul's tainting of the sun only affect the Land? If so, how is he able to predict and control circumstances way out in the middle of the ocean? It's so weird. I cannot emphasize enough how much the sun is entirely dropped. It's almost like Donaldson forgot what the previous book was about.
Since this will be (knock on wood) the last Thomas Covenant book I will ever read, let me move on from the problems of this specific instalment to remark on things I found irritating about the series as a whole. Warning: essay incoming.
Thomas Covenant is not a compelling protagonist. He has no complexity or depth to carry the reader's interest for 4 books, let alone the unholy number of 10. We know two things about him: that he's a writer, and he has leprosy. What kind of books does he write? Couldn't tell you. How did he contract leprosy? Unclear. Where did he grow up? Where's his family? Did he have friends? I have no freaking clue, dude.
I just find it so incredibly odd that Donaldson is clearly obsessed with this character he's made and at the same time seems to express no curiosity about him; his personality, his motivations, who he was, how having leprosy changed him. He just is a walking case of leprosy. We don't have any sense of Covenant as a human being; take away the leprosy, and I have no idea who he is. This is a purposeful choice that worked somewhat for the first 3 books -- drawing a contrast between the "corrupted" Covenant and the "pure" Land -- but in this second series, which lacks any real world building or plot, the narrative finds itself absolutely dependent on the nonexistent complexity of this wisp-of-smoke character.
So of course, Linden is introduced to bear most of the narrative weight. And she is better, don't get me wrong; I vastly prefer her to Covenant. We actually do get to know things about her: her childhood, her career, her motivations, her struggles. But she is -- like literally every other major female character in this series -- boiled down to exist solely, and frankly inexplicably, to be Covenant's love interest. There is really no other reason she's here except to enunciate to us, over and over and over again, how amazing Covenant is, how tragic and heroic and self-sacrificing he is.
And so, because we must sit and experience Covenant through her lovestruck eyes, his rape of the 16-year-old Lena from 5 books ago must also be excused. Donaldson makes the baffling choice to give more guilt, and more moral weight, to Linden being horrifically abused by her parents as a child, than to Covenant raping a child (his words).
I'm going to be honest. Personally, I don't think these two things are morally equitable. I would not say Linden's actions as a child were good, but she is also pretty obviously the victim in 95% of these circumstances, and her responses come from that place of being a child who was repeatedly and horrifically abused. (This is one of the most horrifying tales of child abuse I've ever read, and that's really saying something, because I had to read A Child Called "It".)
Covenant victimized a child. He is, unquestionably, the perpetrator of the abuse. So how do we spend more time reconciling with the consequences of Linden's choices over his? How is he somehow portrayed as more of a victim? Victim of what? His leprosy, still? His wife, still? This is exhausting.
But even if you wholeheartedly believed that Linden and Covenant are both equally culpable for their past decisions, and were capable of seeing how they could be narrative foils to each other, it is still objectively weird how Linden's POV characterizes Covenant's rape (Linden herself never calls it rape, btw, just gestures to it vaguely). Donaldson literally pauses in the middle of an action scene so Linden can give this out-of-place internal tangent:
I closed the book and sat there for 15 minutes racking my brain trying to think what restitution Covenant had made for raping Lena, and came up with nothing. Lena died saving him. Her ex-fiancé Triock, who took care of her in the aftermath, also died saving him. Covenant almost sexually assaulted his and Lena's daughter, who shortly after also died.
I cannot emphasize this enough: Lena's whole family was torn apart and every member died prematurely because Covenant raped her.
What restitution did he make? His guilt upon seeing the consequences of his actions is not restitution. Listing all the other things he did is also not restitution. None of the things Linden lists here affected Lena one bit; she didn't live to experience them. She died unhealed. Her whole family died unhealed.
To turn around after what we saw Covenant do in the first 3 books and act like he is some kind of holy martyr who has been purged of his sins is, quite frankly, ludicrous. A brick that Donaldson kissed before launching it directly into my face. What punishment did Covenant face for raping Lena? His friends, the literal Lords of the Land, continued supporting him and defended him from Lena's father. Lena's own mother protected him from punishment because he was "too important." His daughter did not blame him; Lena herself did not blame him. He was heralded as a hero by the entire population of the Land.
"No man could have striven harder to make restitution." Give me a f*cking break.
Linden is not singular in this, though. Throughout the entire series, no woman reacts with horror or anger at Covenant's actions. It is only a small number of male characters who do that. And this feels like a purposeful decision. You would think, if you were Linden, stuck in a jail cell with some stranger you only met a couple days ago, and he suddenly confessed to you he "raped a child," you would at the very least react with fear for your own safety.
But she doesn't, because if she sees Covenant as a threat to her safety -- if any woman does -- then that would be an actual consequence he suffers for the crime he committed. Donaldson does not want to actually deal with the consequences of rape, he just wants to constantly acquit Covenant of them. He doesn't want it to matter to the plot, or to Covenant's character, or to any of the series' themes.
Which really makes you wonder why he included the rape at all.
...On a less serious note, my patience with Covenant fainting all over the place has truly been run down to the absolute dregs. By Covenant's 246th time fainting, I was so driven over-the-moon nuts by the tedious repetition that I let out a witch's cackle and almost pulled out my own hair. God have mercy on the next book I read that has its character lose consciousness to end a chapter.
A final note to send off the characters I did like. If Donaldson was not so consumed by his need to have Covenant be the most important bestest guy of all time, I think Linden could have had a far more interesting romance arc with her Haruchai guard, Cail. The fact that they had serious tension and starkly different worldviews that sometimes peaked into actual conflict, but were still uncomfortably stuck with each other because of his pledged service to her, was genuinely interesting. The subtle ways their dynamic kept shifting was actually compelling and well done. I'm just saying...it had potential. Maybe I only clung to it because I feel like we were not given any genuine reasons for Covenant and Linden to fall in love beyond "he man", "she woman."
Speaking of wasted potential, Bannor and Mhoram haunted this second series. The reader genuinely cannot get away from them. Foamfollower gets brought up in a respectful, understandable way, but he has been succeeded by other Giants that have their own distinct personalities. (I do like all the Giants, I must concede.) But Brinn never escapes the shadow of Bannor. He is literally Bannor 2.0 with nothing else to distinguish him. And Mhoram is just brought up directly; his ghost quoted constantly; an entire society have named themselves after him. Covenant always clenches up in emotion when he thinks of him, his body screaming Mhoram's name (I wish I was exaggerating -- I exchanged looks with God over that particular passage). Mhoram's ghost literally has the last word in this 5th book. I'm not joking.
So, hey, here's an idea. Don't kill them off. Clearly, Donaldson wants them here! He wants Bannor, he wants Mhoram. He's ditched the entire 4,000 year conceit of the previous book. So why are they dead? Like, my brother in Christ, you're the writer. You could've let them live. And anyways, you've already given up on plot and character progression. Resurrect them if you want them so bad!
I feel like Donaldson heard the phrase "Kill your darlings," and completely misunderstood the assignment. You're supposed to kill the things you like but don't fit into the overall work. Not kill the things that clearly provide structural integrity to your entire series. If you can't write around them, then clearly they need to be there.
Let this absolute drudge of a series serve as a lesson to all of us to always do at least a little long-term planning before starting our own projects. If you don't, all you'll be left with is an incoherent mess.
A bafflingly confusing mess. One wonders if Stephen Donaldson entirely gave up the effort of actually planning plot points in advance, and just started recording his weekly D&D sessions. 😒
Because we are in a ship traveling outside of the established Land, anything can happen any time without explanation or forewarning. Arabian Nights inspired desert palace plot? Sure. Biblically inspired elemental angel-spirits? Why not. Ancient wise man on the mountain that has literally never been mentioned before and has no real purpose to the plot? It's a party, everyone's invited.
Look, the Land wasn't the most original or complex fantasy world, but at least it was grounded in something. We had a map, at least. We had a sense of different cultures and landscapes. The wide sea has nothing, none of that. We are looking for the One Tree. Where is that? Idk. What's the plan for getting there? Idk. What are we going to do about this demon child and ancient angel creature that have forced themselves on board? Idk, don't worry about them, they're just chilling.
The most bizarre thing about this second series is that it opens with the somewhat interesting premise that Lord Foul has tainted the sun, which horrifically transforms the Land's entire ecosystem, and so Covenant sets out to save the world from this evil sun situation. But in this book, the sun is no longer an issue on the open sea. Is there a different sun for other places outside of the Land? Does Lord Foul's tainting of the sun only affect the Land? If so, how is he able to predict and control circumstances way out in the middle of the ocean? It's so weird. I cannot emphasize enough how much the sun is entirely dropped. It's almost like Donaldson forgot what the previous book was about.
Since this will be (knock on wood) the last Thomas Covenant book I will ever read, let me move on from the problems of this specific instalment to remark on things I found irritating about the series as a whole. Warning: essay incoming.
Thomas Covenant is not a compelling protagonist. He has no complexity or depth to carry the reader's interest for 4 books, let alone the unholy number of 10. We know two things about him: that he's a writer, and he has leprosy. What kind of books does he write? Couldn't tell you. How did he contract leprosy? Unclear. Where did he grow up? Where's his family? Did he have friends? I have no freaking clue, dude.
I just find it so incredibly odd that Donaldson is clearly obsessed with this character he's made and at the same time seems to express no curiosity about him; his personality, his motivations, who he was, how having leprosy changed him. He just is a walking case of leprosy. We don't have any sense of Covenant as a human being; take away the leprosy, and I have no idea who he is. This is a purposeful choice that worked somewhat for the first 3 books -- drawing a contrast between the "corrupted" Covenant and the "pure" Land -- but in this second series, which lacks any real world building or plot, the narrative finds itself absolutely dependent on the nonexistent complexity of this wisp-of-smoke character.
So of course, Linden is introduced to bear most of the narrative weight. And she is better, don't get me wrong; I vastly prefer her to Covenant. We actually do get to know things about her: her childhood, her career, her motivations, her struggles. But she is -- like literally every other major female character in this series -- boiled down to exist solely, and frankly inexplicably, to be Covenant's love interest. There is really no other reason she's here except to enunciate to us, over and over and over again, how amazing Covenant is, how tragic and heroic and self-sacrificing he is.
And so, because we must sit and experience Covenant through her lovestruck eyes, his rape of the 16-year-old Lena from 5 books ago must also be excused. Donaldson makes the baffling choice to give more guilt, and more moral weight, to Linden being horrifically abused by her parents as a child, than to Covenant raping a child (his words).
I'm going to be honest. Personally, I don't think these two things are morally equitable. I would not say Linden's actions as a child were good, but she is also pretty obviously the victim in 95% of these circumstances, and her responses come from that place of being a child who was repeatedly and horrifically abused. (This is one of the most horrifying tales of child abuse I've ever read, and that's really saying something, because I had to read A Child Called "It".)
Covenant victimized a child. He is, unquestionably, the perpetrator of the abuse. So how do we spend more time reconciling with the consequences of Linden's choices over his? How is he somehow portrayed as more of a victim? Victim of what? His leprosy, still? His wife, still? This is exhausting.
But even if you wholeheartedly believed that Linden and Covenant are both equally culpable for their past decisions, and were capable of seeing how they could be narrative foils to each other, it is still objectively weird how Linden's POV characterizes Covenant's rape (Linden herself never calls it rape, btw, just gestures to it vaguely). Donaldson literally pauses in the middle of an action scene so Linden can give this out-of-place internal tangent:
Whatever harms he had committed, he did not deserve this indignity. And he had made restitution! No man could have striven harder to make restitution. In Coercri he had redeemed the Unhomed Dead. He had once defeated Lord Foul. And he had done everything conceivable for Linden herself. There was no justice in his plight. It was evil. (330-331)
I closed the book and sat there for 15 minutes racking my brain trying to think what restitution Covenant had made for raping Lena, and came up with nothing. Lena died saving him. Her ex-fiancé Triock, who took care of her in the aftermath, also died saving him. Covenant almost sexually assaulted his and Lena's daughter, who shortly after also died.
I cannot emphasize this enough: Lena's whole family was torn apart and every member died prematurely because Covenant raped her.
What restitution did he make? His guilt upon seeing the consequences of his actions is not restitution. Listing all the other things he did is also not restitution. None of the things Linden lists here affected Lena one bit; she didn't live to experience them. She died unhealed. Her whole family died unhealed.
To turn around after what we saw Covenant do in the first 3 books and act like he is some kind of holy martyr who has been purged of his sins is, quite frankly, ludicrous. A brick that Donaldson kissed before launching it directly into my face. What punishment did Covenant face for raping Lena? His friends, the literal Lords of the Land, continued supporting him and defended him from Lena's father. Lena's own mother protected him from punishment because he was "too important." His daughter did not blame him; Lena herself did not blame him. He was heralded as a hero by the entire population of the Land.
"No man could have striven harder to make restitution." Give me a f*cking break.
Linden is not singular in this, though. Throughout the entire series, no woman reacts with horror or anger at Covenant's actions. It is only a small number of male characters who do that. And this feels like a purposeful decision. You would think, if you were Linden, stuck in a jail cell with some stranger you only met a couple days ago, and he suddenly confessed to you he "raped a child," you would at the very least react with fear for your own safety.
But she doesn't, because if she sees Covenant as a threat to her safety -- if any woman does -- then that would be an actual consequence he suffers for the crime he committed. Donaldson does not want to actually deal with the consequences of rape, he just wants to constantly acquit Covenant of them. He doesn't want it to matter to the plot, or to Covenant's character, or to any of the series' themes.
Which really makes you wonder why he included the rape at all.
...On a less serious note, my patience with Covenant fainting all over the place has truly been run down to the absolute dregs. By Covenant's 246th time fainting, I was so driven over-the-moon nuts by the tedious repetition that I let out a witch's cackle and almost pulled out my own hair. God have mercy on the next book I read that has its character lose consciousness to end a chapter.
A final note to send off the characters I did like. If Donaldson was not so consumed by his need to have Covenant be the most important bestest guy of all time, I think Linden could have had a far more interesting romance arc with her Haruchai guard, Cail. The fact that they had serious tension and starkly different worldviews that sometimes peaked into actual conflict, but were still uncomfortably stuck with each other because of his pledged service to her, was genuinely interesting. The subtle ways their dynamic kept shifting was actually compelling and well done. I'm just saying...it had potential. Maybe I only clung to it because I feel like we were not given any genuine reasons for Covenant and Linden to fall in love beyond "he man", "she woman."
Speaking of wasted potential, Bannor and Mhoram haunted this second series. The reader genuinely cannot get away from them. Foamfollower gets brought up in a respectful, understandable way, but he has been succeeded by other Giants that have their own distinct personalities. (I do like all the Giants, I must concede.) But Brinn never escapes the shadow of Bannor. He is literally Bannor 2.0 with nothing else to distinguish him. And Mhoram is just brought up directly; his ghost quoted constantly; an entire society have named themselves after him. Covenant always clenches up in emotion when he thinks of him, his body screaming Mhoram's name (I wish I was exaggerating -- I exchanged looks with God over that particular passage). Mhoram's ghost literally has the last word in this 5th book. I'm not joking.
So, hey, here's an idea. Don't kill them off. Clearly, Donaldson wants them here! He wants Bannor, he wants Mhoram. He's ditched the entire 4,000 year conceit of the previous book. So why are they dead? Like, my brother in Christ, you're the writer. You could've let them live. And anyways, you've already given up on plot and character progression. Resurrect them if you want them so bad!
I feel like Donaldson heard the phrase "Kill your darlings," and completely misunderstood the assignment. You're supposed to kill the things you like but don't fit into the overall work. Not kill the things that clearly provide structural integrity to your entire series. If you can't write around them, then clearly they need to be there.
Let this absolute drudge of a series serve as a lesson to all of us to always do at least a little long-term planning before starting our own projects. If you don't, all you'll be left with is an incoherent mess.
May 11, 2021
A thoroughly excellent nautical fantasy, fleshing out the wider landscape of this setting, adding fascinating new wrinkles to the series lore, and finally introducing readers to beings like the sandgorgons and Elohim who had been briefly mentioned in earlier volumes. Like in similarly seabound titles -- both The Odyssey and The Voyage of the Dawn Treader come to mind -- the action can be somewhat episodic as the ship travels from crisis to crisis and port to port, but the mission of the quest forms a strong enough throughline to link everything together.
As usual for author Stephen R. Donaldson, the work is a success on -- at least -- two different levels. First, it's simply a great plain adventure, a swashbuckling and magical tale in a vividly wondrous world. One of this writer's gifts is in finding strategies for his creations to reason their way out of predicaments, turning apparent liabilities into assets and playing opposing forces off one another when all else fails. It's a thrilling device to pit the protagonists against awesomely daunting foes without them ever growing too overpowered (although they continue to get more capable in general, to delightful effect). In the context of this novel, that allows for some truly momentous climaxes which register among the best in the overall Thomas Covenant saga.
Simultaneously, however, Donaldson is exploring the rich interior psychology of his (anti-)heroes, resulting in a much better showcase for Linden Avery and justification for her presence in the Land than her premiere in the previous book. Haunted by guilt over the traumatic deaths of her parents, the doctor is obsessed with the question of how to wield power responsibly without giving in to her inner darkness or violating anyone else's personal autonomy. That tension is more straightforward than her companion's old unbelief, but it's just as compelling and just as distinctive within this sort of story. Hardly any voices in genre fiction are delving into these philosophical issues of free will, nonviolence, and consent yet today, let alone among this author's original contemporaries.
Also striking is -- 40-year-old spoiler alert -- the downbeat ending to this piece, a somber affair that threatens to render the whole venture pointless were it not for the character growth and lessons learned along the way. The journey culminates in failure and significant loss, undercutting our expectations and casting genuine uncertainty across the larger plot of the Sunbane era. It's a bold gambit that succeeds for me, and sets up the highest stakes for the conclusion of the trilogy to come.
[Content warning for ableism, depression, euthanasia, suicide, and gore.]
Find me on Patreon | Goodreads | Blog | Twitter
As usual for author Stephen R. Donaldson, the work is a success on -- at least -- two different levels. First, it's simply a great plain adventure, a swashbuckling and magical tale in a vividly wondrous world. One of this writer's gifts is in finding strategies for his creations to reason their way out of predicaments, turning apparent liabilities into assets and playing opposing forces off one another when all else fails. It's a thrilling device to pit the protagonists against awesomely daunting foes without them ever growing too overpowered (although they continue to get more capable in general, to delightful effect). In the context of this novel, that allows for some truly momentous climaxes which register among the best in the overall Thomas Covenant saga.
Simultaneously, however, Donaldson is exploring the rich interior psychology of his (anti-)heroes, resulting in a much better showcase for Linden Avery and justification for her presence in the Land than her premiere in the previous book. Haunted by guilt over the traumatic deaths of her parents, the doctor is obsessed with the question of how to wield power responsibly without giving in to her inner darkness or violating anyone else's personal autonomy. That tension is more straightforward than her companion's old unbelief, but it's just as compelling and just as distinctive within this sort of story. Hardly any voices in genre fiction are delving into these philosophical issues of free will, nonviolence, and consent yet today, let alone among this author's original contemporaries.
Also striking is -- 40-year-old spoiler alert -- the downbeat ending to this piece, a somber affair that threatens to render the whole venture pointless were it not for the character growth and lessons learned along the way. The journey culminates in failure and significant loss, undercutting our expectations and casting genuine uncertainty across the larger plot of the Sunbane era. It's a bold gambit that succeeds for me, and sets up the highest stakes for the conclusion of the trilogy to come.
[Content warning for ableism, depression, euthanasia, suicide, and gore.]
Find me on Patreon | Goodreads | Blog | Twitter
June 19, 2018
Having completed the second book in the second trilogy, I can definitely say I liked the first one better. In the first trilogy, Thomas Covenant traveled back and forth between our world and The Land between each volume, allowing the reader to see how the war with the Despiser has progressed. The second chronicles is all one sojourn in The Land that lacks for direction.
I understand they had to sail to the isle of the Elohim in order to figure out the location of the One Tree. But why was this information placed in Covenant's subconscious? I still don't entirely understand why Covenant has lost his added senses, while Linden perceives more than she wants to. Aside from the two humans, none of the other characters really stand out to me (except maybe Pitchwife).
Because of all the seafaring, this book reminded me of C.S. Lewis's "Voyage of the Dawn Treador". It expands our conception of The Land and posits that it contains unrevealed realms. The party's stay in Bhrathairealm is the most interesting part of the book because it presents an objective foe, but the rest of the book sees them struggling against nameless conflicts for a goal they don't quite understand and don't really succeed in anyway. It was kind of a disappointment.
I understand they had to sail to the isle of the Elohim in order to figure out the location of the One Tree. But why was this information placed in Covenant's subconscious? I still don't entirely understand why Covenant has lost his added senses, while Linden perceives more than she wants to. Aside from the two humans, none of the other characters really stand out to me (except maybe Pitchwife).
Because of all the seafaring, this book reminded me of C.S. Lewis's "Voyage of the Dawn Treador". It expands our conception of The Land and posits that it contains unrevealed realms. The party's stay in Bhrathairealm is the most interesting part of the book because it presents an objective foe, but the rest of the book sees them struggling against nameless conflicts for a goal they don't quite understand and don't really succeed in anyway. It was kind of a disappointment.
August 11, 2024
I remember not enjoying this book so much when I read it in my late teens (long time ago). This time, I read it days after finishing the First Chronicles and The Wounded Land. I absolutely loved it. It had a good pace, was gripping and moving and had exceptional highlights including the scene with the sandgorgons. It struck me that it is a kind of mature and developed "The Voyage of the Dawn Treader", which must have influence Donaldson. I'd felt frustrated by the plot when I last read it, but perhaps with the modicum of wisdom that comes with age, it felt more real and credible than before. A wonderful book.
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