Lord Foul's Bane

The premise -- that the protagonist can't quite tell if his adventure is real or not -- is well treated. Covenant (the only character we really get to know with any depth) is deeply fleshed out, and both very flawed and strangely sympathetic. And, most important, we get to see the character grow over the course of the story.

But sometimes the author's choice of words gives the impression that he just got his first thesaurus for Christmas. The word choices don't communicate any better, so much as interrupt the reading process. A couple of examples: "He gypped to his knees"; or how about "Beyond him, at the bottom of the hollow, stood a single copse like an eyot in a broad glade."

In addition, sometimes the names are silly -- one of the more powerful villains in the story is named Drool.

Tough book to like. I finally quit reading half-way through and skimmed to the end (a cliche). A seriously unlikable protagonist, and a lack of credible actions / reactions made it difficult for me to get into it. Your milage may vary.

The Chronicles Of Thomas Covenant The Unbeliever Is A Great Read, And Well Worth The Price. The Adventures That You Will Have With This Character Are Numerous And FUN, Get The Books And Hang On For The Ride!!

The first trilogy of “Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever” was Donaldson’s initial opus and launched him to immediate consideration of public & critics.

Donaldson’s proposal is quite risky.
The main character is a sick man unable to compromise with the fantastic universe that deploys before him. The reader will certainly not identify with Covenant’s sour & bitter personality.
Nevertheless a powerful story is constructed over this implausible pillar!

“The Illearth War” is the second volume of the trilogy and I strongly recommend reading the first volume before start reading this one. It is true that the author provides a two page summary of what happened before, nevertheless The Land scenery & characters is too complex to be understood with that intro only, and the reader risk to get confused and even bored.

The tale is as follows: after a very short return to our own world, Thomas is recalled to the Land. There forty years has elapsed since Covenant’s departure.
The summoner this time is Lord Elena, new elected High Lord, young & energetic and determined to save the Land from Lord Foul’s designs.

From this starting point three main & parallel stories evolve.
One line follows the adventures of a group of Lords and Bloodguard in an urgent quest to find what happened to the Giants that are silent and out of touch with the Lords.
The second follow Lord Mhoram, Warmark (Supreme Commander) Hile Troy and the Warward (Lord’s Army) in a forced march to confront Lord Foul’s ghastly army.
The third line follows Lord Elena and Thomas in search of the seventh Ward of Kevin’s Lore.

These three lines will merge at book’s end in a high voltage finale!

This second volume of the saga introduces new interesting characters.
One is Hille Troy who has many points in common with Covenant: he has been summoned from our world, he is a blind-born person and in the Land he gains vision (as Thomas recovers from leprosy). Other traits are just the opposite, Hille believes the Land is real and he is ready to face whatever risk to save it.
Elena is the other remarkable new personae, fervent defender of the Land and essentially feminine, confers a different touch to the whole story.

It is great book that may be enjoyed by fantasy fans and general public as well! But remember read Book one first!
Reviewed by Max Yofre.

I was forcing myself to read this book - Momma didn't raise no quitter. I can normally breeze through a book of this size in a couple days. It literally took me months to read this. I just had to force it on myself. I just didn't believe the main character at all.

Rereading after 30 years. This book is a great example of a hero that is really not a good person but does what is right in the end for his own reasons, which are at the heart of it good. Offers hope for flawed people that don't live up to the worlds standards of a hero. Not really appropriate for children unfortunately.

Where the hero is basically impotent and recalcitrant, the story and characters are rich, but the story is incessantly dark. To the point of being marginally depressing. This is not an uplifting story of redemption,

The book starts off a little slow but quickly snowballs into an immersive, intelligent read. Stephen's approach to fantasy and a fantasy world is a bid nontraditional and I think, refreshing because of that. Can't wait to get to the next one!

I've read these Chronicles many times since they came out in the later 70's. Still a great series even after all these years. Not a fan of the Kindle version. There are many typographical errors and misused words. It would be much improved with a careful editing. This goes for all three books in this set.

Still, I highly recommend all the books in this series!

It has been decades since I first discovered this saga. The tale of Thomas Covenant moved me as deeply as the tale of Frodo and the fellowship of the ring. Unlike the LOTR, Mr Donaldson takes us through the darkest places in the human psyche, tearing away all vestiges of self deceit and lays bare our dismay. His use of the language is unmatched. From the incredible vocabulary he wields, at times like a fencers epee, threading through my mind with surgical precision,at other places it is a battle axe wielded by an intelligence that humbled and exalts.

Do yourself a favor, read this book. Unlike me, you won't have to wait decades to arrive at the glorious conclusion to this incredible series.