The Last Dark (Last Chronicles of Thomas Covenant)

Nothing happens in this last book that hasn't already happened in another prior book, and it is lifelessly re-iterated here. I was deeply disappointed to realize that one of the most respected and well loved fantasy series I know of could just end so... limply. The tedious action sequences at the beginning of the book have all been seen before in this series, and they have much more life there. This queues into yet another annoying 'once again we march to Mount Thunder' road trip, but with the now very irritating Jeremiah finding his cringe inducing voice. Jeremiah as a mute was a compelling character; now that he speaks he is unbearably and clumsily childish and irritating. I found myself praying one of the Giants would just slap Jeremiah in his noisy trap, and stop all the kiddie dialog ill suited in all ways to the tone of this series. This was always one of the few really adult fantasy series, with nuanced depth and real darkness. Jeremiah as a whining 'Harry Potter' clone fits not at all with the tone of this series which at its best was Tolkien through a lens of Joseph Conrad, Donaldson having studied Conrad at a post graduate level. This book was very long, had no real surprises, and answered none of the fundamental ontological or moral questions that began and informed this series. Then comes the Leper's romance, the sugary actually Rainbow Hewed ending? These are a confirmation of brainless theological dualism, not a refutation or even the questioning of it that the earlier books in the series provided. This is not a series that should have had a "and they all lived happily ever after" ending. But it ends that way, with some very simplistic and canned New Age sentiment and some crude neo-Jungian "Integration" drama. I expected so much more from the capstone of this series, and I am greatly disappointed in an ending that is right out of a trope laden, generic fantasy novel. For me, this series ends with the 9th book which at least affords an ending with some dignity clinging to its bones. "The Last Dark" is a tedious and unsatisfying book, it has forced me to downgrade my once high opinion of the preceding books. This series of books began with a vile, crusty leper raping a pure, magical being (and a child at that!). This series ends with Unicorn Sparkles, Happiness for All and an actual God Damned Rainbow! (Also, Lord Foul the Ultimate Enemy is beaten down by an actual 'Giant Magical Sky Fist'. Yes, that is in this lousy book!) This ending to the decades long saga of 'Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, Unbeliever' is a fundamentally lazy betrayal of everything that made this series great. SRD really has performed here a Desecration worthy of his creation, "Lord Kevin Landwaster."

That's all I will say. If you came all this way, I think you will be satisfied with the ending. In the end, the Joy is in the Ears that Hear.

If you have not read the other books, search "Lord Foul's Bane" above. The beginning is hard, it will likely be unlike anything you have read before, Thomas Covenant is not very likeable (understatement) at first.

When you get to Revelstone, decide if you like the books. If you do, you have a lot more reading to do to get here.

If nothing else, your vocabulary will increase.

Personally, I have been reading these since 1979. I still have my first paperbacks, and I remember rushing to the bookstore and blowing off classes for a day so I could read each book of the Second Series before someone at college could ruin it for me.

Getting married again in the spring. Guess what kind of wedding rings I am buying, just in case?

IF you have read this story decades ago like many of us did? You have to follow it through to the end. S.D. writes with a master command of vocabulary and describes his world so well you can smell and taste it and your inner self desires to go there some how.

The book is the last in the Thomas Covenant series. Finished off the Third Chronicals series.
It seems like in this last book the author was searching for an appropriate ending and didn't find it.
Should have stopped the series with the Second Chronicles and turned his talents elsewhere.

For me, it's as though I never left the land. The characters, warts and all, are rich and memorable. The despair within each of the main characters, Thomas, Linden and Jeremiah was so real, but so was their will to do what they felt was best for the Land, despite their doubts. Bravo to the author for a fine ending to an unforgettable series.

After ten books it's finally over. After the first series its seemed like I was waiting for years for the next one to come out. Loved it - read the first series back in the 80's. Great conclusion (ending). After reading it I bought on Audible and listened to the whole book again.

It has been a long time coming but worth the wait. I have a hard time recommending this book to others due to the length of the series. I do not recommend reading one of the books in the series without the previous books, because there is so much knowledge that you can not do without. Most people do not like looking words to increase your vocabulary either, I do. I am honest and still after reading all his books I still need my dictionary close and enjoy learning new OLD words.

The insipid whining of the protagonists continues from the first three installments of this series. Judging by some of the fawning reviews on this site, Linden Avery's and Thomas Covenant's guilt-ridden navel gazing is supposedly a strong point of Donaldson's Covenant series, but I don't remember it being this bad in the first two trilogies. (I actually enjoyed those books!) Spoiler alert of a sort: Expect multiple deus ex machina rescues of the heroes and an ending that makes the last episode of Lost look like a dramatic masterwork of fantasy by comparison.

The author seriously runs out of steam for this entire last series. The first trilogy was pretty good, if standard fantasy fare, the second had actually had a different take on the Land, but the third just rehashes the previous two, and badly. Now it seems everybody has a magic ring, magic superpowers, a staff of Law, glowing lava hands, or something. It's like inflation. All the same characters and types of characters are rehashed (Haruchai, Ramen, Ravers, etc.) and are exactly the same kind of people that we saw for the last two thousand pages. And even after thousands of years, Covenant is still going through his Emo posturing. So is Linden. And there's always some kind of melodramatic heroism going on, and the day is always being saved through some kind of sacrifice or deus ex machina. And don't get me started about the fact that nobody can address Lindan, Thomas, etc. using an epithet like "Timewarden" or "Sunsage"
The author could have had some courage and actually let Foul destroy the Land permanently. Or have Covenant get tired of saving the world and turn against the Land.

What a shame such enjoyable time spent reading Donaldson in my youth has turned into such a chore. Still haven't finished this book but will force my way thru it - how can we spend 500 pages always on the edge? Maybe someone is using Donaldson as a pseudonym ???!!!

glad I skipped the third book of this 4 book last triology--glad to miss more moaning and doubt by Linden.

This book had some life impacting religious and philosophical musings for me which made it worthwhile. Covenant is a total badass finnally. Glad this is the "very last" dark as Donaldson should have ended this thing at the second trilogy imho.

From the reviews I see there were a ton of haters of this one. I thought it was fantastic, completely true to form with every other book in the series including the first two trilogies. I know I will reread it over the years. Unlike others I thought the ending was good, but it left so many unanswered questions and possibilities. It just screams for yet another "trilogy", or more. I do hope Mr. Donaldson is not really done with Thomas Covenant, Linden, and the Land!

The author seriously runs out of steam for this entire last series. The first trilogy was pretty good, if standard fantasy fare, the second had actually had a different take on the Land, but the third just rehashes the previous two, and badly. Now it seems everybody has a magic ring, magic superpowers, a staff of Law, glowing lava hands, or something. It's like inflation. All the same characters and types of characters are rehashed (Haruchai, Ramen, Ravers, etc.) and are exactly the same kind of people that we saw for the last two thousand pages. And even after thousands of years, Covenant is still going through his Emo posturing. So is Linden. And there's always some kind of melodramatic heroism going on, and the day is always being saved through some kind of sacrifice or deus ex machina. And don't get me started about the fact that nobody can address Lindan, Thomas, etc. using an epithet like "Timewarden" or "Sunsage"
The author could have had some courage and actually let Foul destroy the Land permanently. Or have Covenant get tired of saving the world and turn against the Land.

What a shame such enjoyable time spent reading Donaldson in my youth has turned into such a chore. Still haven't finished this book but will force my way thru it - how can we spend 500 pages always on the edge? Maybe someone is using Donaldson as a pseudonym ???!!!

glad I skipped the third book of this 4 book last triology--glad to miss more moaning and doubt by Linden.

This book had some life impacting religious and philosophical musings for me which made it worthwhile. Covenant is a total badass finnally. Glad this is the "very last" dark as Donaldson should have ended this thing at the second trilogy imho.

From the reviews I see there were a ton of haters of this one. I thought it was fantastic, completely true to form with every other book in the series including the first two trilogies. I know I will reread it over the years. Unlike others I thought the ending was good, but it left so many unanswered questions and possibilities. It just screams for yet another "trilogy", or more. I do hope Mr. Donaldson is not really done with Thomas Covenant, Linden, and the Land!

As a disclaimer, I haven't yet finished this book but I'm over 3/4 done and am reading it every chance I can. I've been a fan of this series since I read Lord Fouls Bane back in 1979 (along with the other two books in the first chronicles in a single weekend) and have been avidly waiting on the author to finish this up. So far I have not been disappointed with the story since it has many, many unexpected twists. The author does a fantastic job of painting vivid images with his words (may want to have a dictionary or thesaurus handy at times) and drawing the reader into the trials and tribulations being faced by his characters. Highly recommended to everyone that enjoys engrossing stories where the characters must win through wits and determination and not just by using magic!

No spoilers here, but this conclusion was interesting, from front to back. At five different points in this final installment Donaldson gave me the chills with narrative that was engrossing, and entirely fulfilling his goal to make me feel like I were once again reunited with my dear friends in The Land.

Reading "Against All Things Ending" was an ordeal I wouldn't wish on anyone. So far, a mere 100 pages in, Donaldson has abandoned his "I have a thesaurus and I know how to use it" in favor of genuine action and movement. Instead of spending an interminable amount of time and words saying why a character is or isn't doing a particular action...the characters just do or don't do them.

How refreshing.

I've had reservations about the Last Chronicles for a few reasons. First, the books have seemed to be expanding the problem at every step and including new groups of characters (the Insequent) and devices (time travel). So at the end of "Against All Things Ending" my thought was "How can this possibly be wrapped up in one more book?" Second I've always been a fan of "The Land" as much, or more than any character with the possible exception of the primary Giants in the books. The first series really shows the Land as a place of wonder, worth saving. The second two series, not so much.

Having said all that, this is a very nice conclusion to this series. There is a lot more "action" in this book. Conflict, reflection, conflict, reflection, ... unlike some of the other volumes of the larger series. I also appreciate, with every volume of the Last Chronicles, the plot elements introduced in "The One Tree" and allowed to percolate for decades.

Unlike previous finales, this one does not leave me wanting more. Thomas Covenant has been part of my life for 25 years. While I will read the series again, and maybe again, I'm now willing to say goodbye. This book is a worthy end to the series.

Waited 30+ years for this story to conclude, now I am sad that it is over. It has been a part of over half of my life. The characters, the world are a part of mine. I wonder if others feel the same. Thanks SRD.

I have loved the first 2 series and have tried to love this last series. It is a good story in general and I think this is the best book of the last 3. There is just too much introspection for me. It seems to me that scenes take WAY too long to develop because first either Linden or Thomas have to have pages dedicated to how they are feeling at this moment. There is a lot of redundancy in these moments as well as similar feelings are rehashed at points of conflict.

That being said if you are a fan of Covenant you will enjoy it and if you have labored through the first two books to get to this one I think you will be rewarded.

Once again Donaldson manages to write a story as engrossing and wondrous as any he has ever written before.
I look forward to the time that Covenant , Linder and Jeremiah, return to help rebuild the LAND.

I truly loved it. Mr. Donaldson allowed his characters to learn and grow, painfully at times. How they grew, encompassing all their different experiences from the previous books in the series, was marvelous.

Terrible conclusion to an outstanding series. Folks, He phoned this one in. Lackluster, repetitive dialog, meandering plot, witless conclusion. You get the idea.
All I can say is, at least Donaldson tied it up in his lifetime. Read it if you must.

One does not read a Stephen R. Donaldson book quickly. If you do, it is imperative that you read it again to experience the fullness of the experience.

With every new volume in the series, Stephen R. Donaldson reveals more intricacies of Thomas Covenant, his delightful, reluctant anti-hero. Now, with what must be approaching two million words in print describing him in remarkable detail, I feel I know Thomas Covenant quite well, but this work's insights onto Covenant's inner truth surprised me.

Reading through the entire ten-volume series, which grew over 35 years, one can also see Donaldson's development as a storyteller. His work was never thin, but the incredible richness of description in The Last Dark was only hinted at in Lord Foul's Bane. As with Donaldson's earlier works, the story line was so compelling that it was always tempting to hurry past the lyric prose to find the next big event.

Detailists will undoubtedly find a few unanswered questions in this closing work. Some questions raised in other volumes came to mind after I read the epilogue describing The Land after Covenant and his companions had saved it one last time, but none detracted from the satisfaction of the finish. I'll admit that the final solution caught me completely by surprise.

One does not read a Stephen R. Donaldson book quickly. That said, I read The Last Dark slowly as quickly as I could.

The plot as listed above is spot on. I do not do a crib sheet on the book. That is not what a review is, IMHO>

With sadness I finished the last book of the 3rd chronicles. I am going to miss them. Lord, what a wonderful experience it has been. I got the first trilogy from the book of the month club in the late 70's. I was in my late 20's. Now at 61 I have finished the last of all the books. Though, many things have changes in the nearly 35 years from my reading of the first book to this, the last book, what remains the same is a constant adult level fantasy and morality play.

I can not give any higher endorsement to say to you to buy this book, or all the ones that preceded, than the author has remain true to his vision and not succumbed to any short cuts that decreased the intensity of his work. Long sentence that, but it gets the point across. I have spent 35 years reading and re reading the chronicles. They are all old friends.

They are, to me, food for the mind. Every few years I pull them out and re read them. They never get old.
So if in doubt, go for it, and buy the book or start with the first chronicles.

Deep thoughts: I have found that I have derived a simple lesson from the books. It was always there of course, in the words of the story, at least to me, and that lesson was: accountability.
To not make a decision is a decision in itself. You are accountable for the actions of your lack of decision. For the bad or the good. This is the same as making a decision. You are accountable. This was the crux of T.C. Belief or lack of belief, he was accountable. Did he have Freewill, yes. Yet, the exercise of freewill still holds him accountable. Nothing comes without a price.

Accountability is something missing from todays worlds. The mess with the shut down of congress is an example.
Anyway, the book is wonderful, ties up all the open ended themes at last, and is most satisfying.
No stars off on this point, but the kindle edition seemed to have a lot of blank pages with missing words. I say no stars off for this is not the authors fault. It kind of galls me when people down grade stories for errors from the Large Printing companies. This is not an indy publication.

Thanks for a wonderful story, Mr. Donaldson.

Jadawin

This final book ties the Chronicles of Thomas Covenant up very nicely. It was emotionally moving, intellectually challenging and a satisfying conclusion. I say that even though I was distressed, or put-off, by some of the directions the characters took.

I can't imagine anyone finding this review who hasn't already read the previous books in the series, but if you have, start with Lord Foul's Bane.

p.s. I'm amused when the included Kindle dictionary is stumped by words that SRD uses.

This was a terrible book from an otherwise great fantasy author. Remove all thought-provoking plot development and substitute for meaningless battles and never once a chance for the feeling of failure or suspense.

I am only finished with part 1 of this tenth and final novel in the series by Stephen R. Donaldson. It is everything you wanted to happen. Finally - redemption, freedom, salvation, reconciliation, and love. Absolutely amazing. Looking forward to the second half.

I read the first book as a teenager, and loved it. I've loved each one successively less, actually hating this one. I find Donaldson's writing stilted, unnatural, and distracting, in every way. If you got sucked into the series, and just want to see how it ends, by all means buy this. However, don't expect the ride to be interesting, or fun to read. Bleah.

I feel about this book the way I feel about Adam Sandler movies: that I got sucked into buying, and that I'm sorry I did so.

I had an ARC, so read a few months back ... and I just bought a Kindle-copy here so SRD gets his due :) And I'm going to be super vague below details-wise so I don't ruin it for anyone: no spoilers herein. I wrote this review a few months ago on Goodreads, wanted to transplant it here on Release Day so SRD got his props on the store as well.

First off: SRD is one of my favorite two writers in the universe (the other is Anne Rice). The Second Chronicles are, word for word, pound for pound, my absolute favorite books bar none. *Nothing* will surpass the buzz of reading those for the first time -- even the tenth time. The world of the Sunbane, the Clave, the Elohim, the Brathair with Kasreyn of the Gyre ... it was just so awesome and so original ... I knew going into the Last Chronicles, the bar was going to be set to the moon for me, unrealistically so.

So just know that my mental bar for this was set impossibly, unfairly, high. But that's what you get when you're SRD and you write genius for so long. And just to calibrate further: I'd rather read Donaldson than Tolkien, Game of Thrones, Stephen King -- you name it, I'm on Team SRD.

Here's the verdict on How It All Ends: Some of it -- most of it -- utterly brilliant, everything we wanted. And some of it doesn't satisfy, some questions are not answered that I had assumed would be. It's nowhere near that sinking empty feeling we all had when LOST non-ended, he didn't blow it by any stretch. It's just not 'complete'. (Down the road, after the book is released, I will be specific about this with an edited review here.)

I just finished the book yesterday, so I'm still digesting the finale ... and like all Donaldson books, it sort of weirdly grows more awesome in your head AFTER you read it than at the time you actually do so. So I may change my mind on this over time.

*** NOTE: This is indeed what has happened. Now that I have a Kindle copy, going back and re-reading the ending and very much looking forward to it.

The last thing I wanted SRD to do with this book is repeat himself. HE DOESN'T. The ending is extremely original and different from what went before.

That having been said: Second Chronicles trumps Last Chronicles. Still: Really glad we GOT a Last Chronicles. But of course, hellfire! And bloody damnation! Go buy this and read it, you fools! You *know* you have to know how it ends and then argue with me endlessly here on whether I got it right or not! :)

THANK YOU, SRD for the biggest reading buzz of my entire life. You inspired me to write novels as well (now on my fifth, published by Harper Collins) *you* were the dude who made me want to do it!

Donaldson's fantasy works have been a love of mine for the past 33 years or so, when as a teen I read Lord Foul's Bane. Anyone reading this review is well acquainted with the richness of Donaldson's writings, I presume. This last book is extraordinarily satisfying on many levels. Donaldson's more philosophical prose is intriguing (even when I do not agree with it) and the richness of his imagination is extraordinary. The ending is a worthy and satisfying culmination (if not an apotheosis) of what has gone before. I was somewhat skeptical in the earlier texts in this series with the time travel that occurred...but as a whole, this has simply worked. Wow. I found the resolution not merely satisfying, but even nourishing. It's not often that I want to thank an author for his work...but thank you, Mr. Donaldson, for adding beauty and ideas into my life.

This book, and this final set of chronicles, should never have been written. It is easy for me to say that after reading them, but I am sure that Mr Donaldson faced enormous pressure to return to The Land and continue its story. To tell more of the tortured place that showed how love and hate are two sides of the same coin.

As with every author, he could not write a smaller story; it had to be bigger - grander than what had come before. Comic writers found the problem with this approach when they created characters that were invincible, but it was not something Donaldson could resist. When previous books had placed the fate of the world at stake readers would demand no less of this finale.

As is normal with Donaldson, he uses five or ten words where two would suffice, and revels in his dictionarian habits. The reader is expected to either be a similarly devoted logophile, or to keep a (good) dictionary near to hand for the regular uses of unusual and often archaic terms. A character refers to puerile fanes, while another wears and flourishes ribbands - in the archaic sense of the term. These are some of his less obscure terms - he seems to delight in being abstruse, something I confirmed through a quick search online. This reveals that people have prepared lists of words from the Donaldson thesaurus - including allemande, chatoyant, delitescent, sequacious and a profusion of nigh-impenetrable terms. None of these examples are recognised by my internet browser's dictionary. So yes, the author waxes loquacious, vaunting his voluminous verbiage and prolixity. This is nothing new, and the Donaldson reader will by now have resigned themselves to 'too many words'.

WARNING: HERE BE SPOILERS!

Unfortunately, by the end of the end of his final four volume story, Donaldson finds himself trapped. He has committed his characters and his world to destruction; there is no possible means of escape! Unless you remember Superman: The Movie - and like how Lois Lane was saved. "Hey Rocky, watch me pull a rabbit out of a hat!" "That's no rabbit, it's the Worm at World's End you fool!" Yes, the author commits a cardinal sin. Having committed to the total destruction of the world he built over three series of books, he gets to the cliff and with two pages to go... calls upon The Hand of God. He uses a few more words than this, and his words are more weaselly than this, but it is effectively what Donaldson has chosen to call upon at the end.

I had waited for this. I read the first two series when they came out, and when a third came out bought each book as it was released... but waited. They remained unread, until I could be guaranteed an opportunity to read the whole from start to finish - beginning with Lord Foul's Bane and reading through to the end. I re-read Covenant's deal with Nom, and was disappointed to find what had come of the sandgorgons in the final series. In fact, it did not fit with what had gone before (I am being vague here in an attempt to minimise spoilers)! The first three books of the Last Chronicles were - to put it mildly - disappointing. Donaldson did not 'round out' his world; he instead invented new beings and rewrote old ones - in for instance, giving the Haruchai a role that was simply impossible to imagine from the first two series.

In charitable moments, I wonder whether Donaldson's editor(s) and/or publisher(s) forced him to insert a 'happy ending'. The final pages, and the epilogue, are so enormously jarring after reading everything that led to this point that it feels as though the reader has missed the end of the world and somehow stumbled into an imagined 'afterlife'. All in all, though, the responsibility for what is printed on the page belongs with the author. Having spent the last two long books persuading the reader that Covenant's resurrection means the the world must end, Donaldson closes with his own deus ex machina. Was it an easy way out for the author in a bind? An ending forced upon the author by people wanting sales? Who knows - but Donaldson has disappointed immensely in this last, broken Covenant.

There are some spoilers in here, but I can't really imagine that's an issue -- if you read the first NINE books in the series, you're GOING to read the tenth, if you haven't already. And if you haven't read the other nine, you're not going to start here, are you? Nonetheless, here's my review of this book in particular and the series as a whole.

In 1980, my Senior year in High School, my brother returned home from his Freshman year in college and gave me a birthday present of a book that he'd heard would be good for a Science Fiction fan like myself. "Thanks!" I effused, thinking how stupid my brother was for not knowing the difference between Sci-Fi and Fantasy. But a voracious reader leaves no book unread, so soon I found myself slogging through fifty pages or so of a depressing story about a leper in modern society, outcast and unwelcome, hated by everyone around him, and feeling smug about just how much of an idiot my brother was.

Until......suddenly I was introduced to a Land where health and beauty are tangible things, where power and authority are palpable and used to serve noble purposes instead of as tools of mendacity and greed, where corruption and goodness are deified in the personage of good and evil Lords. This was a world that could be loved by a tech geek that was bored to tears by "The Hobbit", these were people and beings that deserved the utmost respect and affection. But in this world of health, beauty and respect, a normal man with normal human foibles and a profound illness has a hard time fitting in, especially when it's vividly pointed out to him just how much he's lost, how mundane and empty his normal human life has become. He finds himself so unable to equal the goodness and heroicism around him that he winds up denying the very 'reality' of this world, lest he be forced to admit that he's closer to the incarnate evil in this world than the incarnate good.

Covenant's journey to discover his power and deny his helplessness is epic, to say the least, and is written with such mastery and skill that it kept me rapt for three more days and two trips to the bookstore until I'd finished the entire series. It was a complete and self-consistent world, magical and mysterious, yet logical and whole. I bought a second complete set so I'd have extras to loan out to friends while I read and re-read them myself.

A few years later, a friend told me that Donaldson had started a second trilogy, and I couldn't get to the bookstore fast enough. The third book ("White Gold Wielder") wasn't out yet, and I had to wait an entire month before even the hardcover edition came out. It was the first hardcover book I'd ever purchased.

While the second trilogy was arguably even better written, and even more epic in scale, and tremendously engaging, for some reason it just didn't move me as much. Covenant had been given a love interest, a woman from his own world. She's beautiful, intelligent, nurturing, a member of Covenant's own species, by all accounts a wonderful person and perfect for Covenant to fall in love with. It just seemed like a bit of a ham-handed literary device to me...kind of "well, we played out that world, how can we make it more interesting now?". It may not have been a "shark jump" move, but it felt to me a bit like when a prime-time TV series introduces a new baby to "freshen things up".

Since the first series had been a complete story, new characters and new elements had to be introduced, and many of them were fantastic. We get to ride on a rock-hewn Giantship with an entire ship's crew worth of Giants, we get to go overseas to meet new people in strange lands, we get to discover beings of great power and mystery. Covenant explores his pacifistic side, and (spoiler alert!) actually manages to defeat Lord Foul without fighting him. But I missed the Land. Okay, I get it, the Land was destroyed on purpose, so we could miss it, and rejoice when it was restored. That, too, seemed a bit ham-handed. And instead of being beautiful and inspirational, the whole series just struck me as defiled and perverse -- intentionally, of course, but just not rewarding enough. For myself, even the payoff (as epic as it was), just didn't make up for a thousand pages of filth and ashes in my mouth.

Nonetheless, it was a great read, and when I discovered Donaldson's third installment (thank you, Wikipedia!), I quickly purchased and read the first one, then waited patiently for each subsequent one to come out.

Given even fewer story remnants to work with this time around, Donaldson has to introduce more new elements. Again, I get that. Some are characters we've run into but not really explored before, such as Roger Covenant and Berek Halfhand. The ur-viles and waynhim have new roles to play. The Worm is dealt with explicitly and in fact plays the major role in this story. But other new characters are introduced by the dozen, without any apparent rhyme or reason other than to heighten tension in the story. We meet an entire race of powerful people, largely unexplained and probably unneeded, called the Insequent. We meet a new being, Esmer, whose powers are immense but unclear, and whose purpose is largely unexplained. Linden has an adopted son now, who journeys to the Land with Linden and Covenant, and who has a tremendously potent and yet unaccounted-for power. We meet Sunder and Hollian's son, Anele, who plays an important yet rather opaque role in the story. We meet new beings of great power: skurj, powerful enough to devour Giants, and She Who Must Not Be Named, who turns out (spoiler alert!) to be powerful enough to defeat Lord Foul with one stroke.

In all, it made for (to me at least) a rather rambling and arbitrary story, again masterfully told and epic in scale, but somewhat purposeless, definitely not as inspired as the first two installments. Donaldson's a victim of what I refer to as "the Superman trap" -- if you create the most powerful being in the universe, how can there be any legitimate threats to him? Donaldson manages to sidestep that quandary several times -- "you can't use that much power without breaking the Arch" -- "The Staff and the Wild Magic are incompatible because the Staff is pure law and the ring is lawless" -- but there are just too many times when Covenant is unable to defeat rather mundane threats even using the ultimate power in the universe, and too many excuses for it. Too many times Donaldson has his characters labor or fight literally to the point of death, a few of them do die, then everybody that survives gets healed by the Staff. Logical impossibilities/improbabilities abound -- the Worm, the being that literally created the Earth, is TINY in comparison to the Earth, and skates around on the surface of the Earth for a day or more before having any real effect. I found a few things to be inadequately explained, and other things over-explained. (Hey, sue me, I LIKE my Lurkers mysterious!)

And to me, the ending (spoiler alert!) was really phoned in. A big fight between epic powers in Kiril Threndor is fought to a draw, again despite Covenant holding the ultimate power in the universe, then a giant fist squashes Lord Foul, Covenant hugs him and absorbs him into himself? That seems more Benny Hill than Stephen Donaldson! But I think, again, Donaldson wrote himself into a corner...in the first trilogy, we had the combative ending, then the pacifistic ending in the second, now what's left? Hmm....let's acknowledge that evil incarnate is just another aspect of ourselves and ABSORB it instead of trying to defeat it. I'm sorry, but well, ho-hum. And the "unexpected" finish of allowing the Arch of Time to collapse, but not allowing Foul to escape, then rebuilding it and the Earth inside it, just plain didn't work for me.

Donaldson is still one of the very best authors, and I've read every word of all ten books, most of them more than once. The writing is superb, if full of pontificating and introspection, and holds the reader as well as any modern author's. But the story doesn't measure up to Donaldson's best.

While you never want the end to come to a series you have loved, this as others have said is a fitting finale. I read Lord Foul Bain when it came out and was immediately enthralled by the very flawed main character that has kept me coming back for the rest of the series. Equally important is the second, equally flawed but in a different way, character. The first three books, while dark, had a strong undercurrent of joy & wonder. It is the work of a younger author expressing the joy of the world around him in novel form. Years went by to the second series. While equally compelling, with the awful things that have happened to the land, the second series is of a darker hue but has also become deeper and more complex. Most of the joy is gone but the books are still page turners. I envied friends who started reading after the second chronicles were published as they didn't have t wait as long as I did to be able to read the whole series. For me these were the only books I ever pre ordered & paid full price for. I found White Gold to be a satisfying conclusion to the story & assumed that was that. I read Donaldson's other books & while very good just didn't have the power. Then several years ago I rereading the series & went to the store to see of the author was still writing. I was stunned to find 3 books of a third and final chronicle had been published. I couldn't wait to read them and drove 75 miles each way to a brick mortar store that had them in stock & bought all three which I binge read from cover to cover over a three day weekend. Then I had to wait for the final chapter. As everybody gets older we go from the optimism of youth to a sort of melancholy world weariness that comes from the loss of friends & loved ones as well as a more realistic view of how the world actually is. The first series reflects the optimism while the last series reflects the melancholy. While the final chronicles are darker overall they are also the work of an older author who has honed his craft to a fine sharp edge. The story has become deeper and more powerful. By the end of The Last Dark you know without a doubt that the story is finished. You are also aware that this is series that has and will stand the test of time and be remembered as a masterful literary achievement. If you haven't read any of the books once again I envy you to be able to to take in the entire story & not have to wait years or even decades to read the next chapter. I've heard talk of a movie version but I'm not sure the nuances of the story could be captured in a movie which would out of necessity be condensed with characters omitted & shortcuts taken. Not sure I'd want that to happen. In the end the entire series is a very satisfying read that I most strongly recommend to any lover of the fantasy genre. Sorry to see it end.

Stephen R Donaldson is the author I credit for getting me into reading in the first place. When Lord Foul's Bane came out in 1977, I wasn't into reading for leisure. I was 10 years old. But another 10 year old friend of mine had an older brother who read it, and he glimpsed through it and then read it and gave it to me to read, insisting that I try it.

I was hooked. It was insanely awesome back in 1977 to find something like this, the breadth and scope of which is rarely equaled. And I kept reading every other book in the series as it was released. The first trilogy really made me love what I consider "epic" sci fi / fantasy writing. And it's one of the trilogies I use as a benchmark.

The second chronicles was, I thought, even better in some ways. It was like Donaldson had matured some, and as well fleshed out as the characters were in the first chronicles, I thought they were even more so in the second. And it was such a credit to how well done the first series was, that the times in the second chronicles when you came across the dead spirits of those in the first, it was immensely poignant. Few writers have been able to engage me in CARING that much about the characters they write. I can probably list them with the fingers of one hand.

As many others, I thought the second series was a good place to end the story. The whole "Evil cannot exist unless the capacity to stand against it also exists" concept worked out well. He defeated The Despiser, but he didn't kill him, as a common thought is that gods don't die, and as far as it went, Lord Foul was for all intents and purposes a god-like being. But Thomas Covenant was part of the Arch of Time, so when the book ended, you knew that he was always going to be there to help defend the arch from Foul's destruction and escape. I felt all the story arcs for the characters were very well done and had a sense of completion. The characters all matured and learned and reached a good point in their development by the end of the book.

When I first heard stirrings about a third, final chronicles, I was a bit worried. This is a long time after he finished the first two chronicles, and it can be difficult to get back "in the swing" of things with something of such an epic scale as this. One example, Melanie Rawn, who probably will never finish the third book in her Mageborn series, "The Captal's Tower." It's a book I've been waiting for since the 90's now, and it's just not going to come. And that one is NEEDED to close the story. So I wasn't sure if I should be happy or sad when he said he was doing a final series.

I read the first one, and it was alright, but I didn't find it as compelling as the first six books were. The first six just FLOWED. This one felt more like I was being bludgeoned into following the storyline. I had no problem with my suspension of disbelief in the first six books, and could sink myself into them and feel almost as if I were there watching, participating. Book 7 didn't do that for me at all. It felt too forced, too "I'm going to have things go this way because that helps me tell the story," even if I really couldn't see how things could've gone that way following the logic of the previous books.

I felt the characters were not as well done. The very well done original "anti-hero" writing set a bar that I just didn't think Donaldson was reaching again. I had very little compassion or empathy for the characters. Everything felt like it was focused on the surface of things. My best way to equate is would be like saying I was trying to read the books without health-sense, that it felt as if a film of Kevin's Dirt was between me and the new series, and I just couldn't "see inside" of it. Parts were good, but it felt more like a chore to read than the previous ones.

The second book in the final chronicles really drove me nuts. I felt that he was being even more forceful and making characters act in a way that they just really wouldn't have been expected to act, simply to drive the story where he wanted it to go. The blindness of how Linden was behaving was something I really didn't buy into, and it very much ruined for me what would have been a more enjoyable book otherwise. It was, in my opinion, just too forced for her to not see that who she was following were not the people she thought they were. Donaldson does a great job of writing characters with flaws, but I think even as flawed and blinded and preoccupied as she could be, by that point in her experience, it was just too far a stretch by the author for me to suspend disbelief and enjoy reading as I usually can with his books.

The third book fell between the first two, and so I hoped the final book here would keep that improvement going. And it did, pretty well. By this point, I again had compassion and empathy for most of the characters. I thought Stave was probably the best written Haruchai he'd ever done. The progression of his character was wonderful to read. And for me, he was one of the few things that really harkened back to the first two chronicles, that style of really bringing a character to life and letting you witness the evolution.

And while the final book here certainly had plenty of action and fights, and a few very well done twists I would NEVER have anticipated (the Lurker of the Sarangrave, for example) that really did work in well with the story, some things just really seemed almost anti-climatic. Ever since we first heard about the Worm, we knew it to be this final world-shattering thing. Something that could never be stopped. And since it was the driving force for the last two books, I really was disappointed in how it was treated in this final story. It went from being this awesomely powerful creature that drove people to despair to something that was pretty much glossed over in the end, a mere annoyance, and ultimately something that seemed to have just been ignored when it came to resolutions. After all the build up, I felt let down that the "fix" was not only so ridiculously simple, but there was almost no pages given to the actual resolution and saving of the world.

Others have complained that the characters suddenly had "massive powers" so there was not much of a struggle. I didn't agree with that. We've heard since the beginning of the first book back in 1977 that Wild Magic was this incredible power, but we only saw glimpses of it through the first series, and then started seeing more of the potential in the second series. I had actually expected that by this one, we would start seeing power being exercised, and I wasn't disappointed. And it wasn't just some "snap their fingers and all the bad guys die" magic either, I thought it was pretty well done. But again, everything just seemed so forced and so sped through at the end of the book...

I'm still up in the air about whether I'm glad to have read the series or not. Having gone through the four books of this final chronicles only to have the culmination be raced through so shallowly was a letdown. I'm still also conflicted about the final solution for Lord Foul - part of me thinks it was just too simple, but another part of me thinks it really WAS an elegant, logical direction for it to go, given things said since the very first book almost 40 years ago. But it still seems too simple. But that could've been part of the point he was trying to make anyway. And the Worm of the World's End - I really expected more, both in scope and in destruction. Especially after we've been told for so long and so many books that the Worm would destroy the world, no question, if it ever woke up.

So I honestly can't say whether I recommend this to people who loved the first six books or not. Because if you really loved the first two chronicles, odds are this one's going to leave you sitting on the fence just like it did me.

I loved the first three books in the Thomas Covenant series and loved them. Starting with the second trilogy the author starts this horrible habit of rambling on an d on and on and on... well you get it. There's only so much character development, tortured, drawn out decisions a reader can take.

The third and final quadrilogy is the worst. I swear two thirds of the books are full of painful, drawn out self-recrimination, full chapters dedicated the train of thought to make one tortured decision. I started skipping whole sections because I became so disgusted with the non-stop whinging and whining every character makes both internally and externally I couldn't listen to it anymore. It makes the key players seem pitiful. I was able to skip hundreds of pages and still take away full understanding of the story.

Should have been kept to a trilogy and even then it would have been too tedious.

I'll start by saying that I am a huge fan of the Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, The Unbeliever. I started reading Lord Foul's Bane in the very early 80's and instantly fell in love with the Land and it's people. I enjoyed the first three books in the trilogy and even enjoyed the differences of the second trilogy. When I discovered that a third set of Thomas Covenant books were being created, I was excited ... until I began to read them. Instead of Thomas Covenant, I was reading about Linden Avery, a character that was successful (and remained successful) at simply irritating me to no end. Adding to this irritation was her 'son' Jeremiah. He was much better when he could not talk. When he finally could, he was even more of an irritation then Linen (if that were possible).

I had two main issues with The Last Dark: the constant barrage of character inner thought and the incredibly crappy and contrived ending.

Character inner thought plagued this book. Over and over again I read about Linden's inner woes and Jeremiah's feeling of inability to do anything. I got the point early on. I was set up for the characters to find a way to overcome these inner mental limitations. But instead, Donaldson simply continued to berate the reader with these same inner thoughts over and over again. Yes, I get that the Staff of Law's power is tainted and black by Linden (and now Jeremiah). Stop shoving it in my face over and over and over again. Yes, I know that Jeremiah was damaged by possession and can easily be made to hide in his 'graveyard'. Please stop telling me again and again and again. Yes, I know that Covenant desperately wants to get to Linden (early on in the book), but please stop shoving it in my face. I GET IT ALREADY!

But worse than all this was the contrived ending. I won't write any spoilers here, but what was Donaldson thinking when he came up with this way of resolving all the conflicts as he did? Honestly, I felt like Donaldson was forced into writing this last set of books and simply decided to give all of his readers the middle finger in this, the last novel.

It's sad. Thomas Covenant is a dear character to me and I do cherish the first six books. I have mixed reactions concerned the first three of the Last Chronicles, but definitely felt cheated by and 'despised' The Last Dark.

Eight years ago, a friend urged me to read The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever. He promised I would find it a very different sort of fantasy series. My friends was right. Who would expect a young writer turned leper to become the hero of a quest? Even Covenant himself cannot believe that the beautiful, thriving Land in which he finds himself, which he must defend, is real. He must be dreaming. Hence his moniker "Unbeliever."

He not only regains feelings in his limbs, but Covenant also discovers that his wedding band of white gold (which he still wears, though his wife has taken their son and abandoned the leper) gives him special "wild magic." White gold does not exist in the Land. Covenant's heart takes much longer to reopen to feelings, and he starts off as a rather unpleasant, bitter fellow, though he does accomplish his task. Then he returns to our own world.

By the time I finished the trilogy, I discovered The Second Chronicles of Thomas Covenant. Notice that Donaldson no longer labels Covenant an unbeliever. "Unbeliever," however, has become one of his titles in the Land. The story again begins in our world. Covenant's estranged wife Joan returns, a crazed member of an evil cult. A young doctor, Linden Avery, comes to attempt Joan's healing, but when the cult tries to kill Covenant, he is returned to the Land--and Linden with him. Ten years of Earth time have been thousands of years in the Land, and Lord Foul, the Defiler, has corrupted much that was once good.

In this trilogy, Linden acquires the Staff of Law, and Covenant, in his confrontation with Lord Foul, uses acquiescence instead of resistance to fight the Defiler. Covenant dies in the process, but his essence becomes part of the Arch of Time which sustains the Land. Linden inherits his white gold ring, heals the Land, and returns as a changed woman to our world. Thomas Covenant is now dead in our world, too.

Since Lord Foul has been defeated but not destroyed, the story hasn't ended. And so we come to The Last Chronicles of Thomas Covenant. I expected this series to be another trilogy, so I collected books 1and 2 when they came out, but did not read them until book 3 was complete. THEN I discovered that this last series comprises FOUR books, and I had to wait two more years for The Last Dark, which the cover describes as "the climax of the entire Thomas Covenant Chronicles."

The Last Chronicles picks up another ten years (or several thousand years) later. Linden has adopted an abused and disfigured boy named Jeremiah. A confrontation with Covenant's now adult son Roger causes Roger to shoot Linden and Lord Foul to kidnap Jeremiah. As with Thomas in the previous series, Linden works strong magic to try to heal the Land, including resurrecting Thomas, but in so doing releases a greater evil which will destroy everything. She spends a good deal of the book grieving over her inadvertent guilt, and seeking her son. Thomas has confrontations with Roger and with demonic creatures who wish to take possession of human bodies. Book 3 ended with Thomas on a quest to stop Joan's insanity from destroying the Land while Jeremiah builds a sort of house of bones, which finally frees him of ten years of self-imposed silence and withdrawal.

The Last Dark really does attempt to provide full closure for the series and a tidying up of all loose ends. Every event of the previous nine books is tied together and more fully explained. In the light (pun intended) of deeper understanding, all the different magics accomplish believable wonders. And now the Land will either perish utterly, or finally find full cleansing.

I don't think anyone can make much sense of this book if they have not read the previous titles. And even those who have followed the series (serieses?) will need their memories refreshed. I delighted in meeting again the Giants, who fight grief with laughter, the Haruchai, stern, strong men at the opposite extreme who try to live totally free of emotion, the wise and beautiful Ranyhyn horses, and so many other old friends.

In places the narrative drags heavily, but the pace picks up, and the story immerses the reader. This is as much philosophy/psychology as it is fantasy, and the external struggles mirror the internal struggles of Thomas, Linden, and Jeremiah. About the time I tire of all the battles and killing and gore, the characters likewise tire of always fighting. And each in their own way finds a road to victory through action rather than reaction, through love and compassion rather than wrath and hatred. Alliances accomplish far more than weapons, and the only way to conquer fears is to seek the sources out and face them head on.

I think this is ultimately a story about taking ownership of our problems and of learning to live at peace with ourselves. Unmitigated guilt only cripples, whether those feelings of guilt have justification or not. One of my favorite scenes in the book is the wedding, I won't say of whom. Probably my second favorite is the work of the new Forestal (a kind of caretaker of the forests). I love the horses and the Giants. I especially like the character Stave (who we never see from within). Even the odd little Feroche are cute in an odd way. As much evil as we have to face in this truly dark book, it still glows with light and hope.

It's a lot of reading, but I do recommend the entire series of series. I think I am a better human being for having read theses books.

With The Last Dark, Stephen Donaldson draws to a close not only his most recent tetralogy, but his entire ten-book epic centered on the travails of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever, certainly one of the longest-lasting and most significant and influential characters in modern fantasy. No matter one’s feelings on the book itself (and mine were definitely mixed), the series as a whole stands as a towering achievement, one of those classic/canonical works of fantasy that any student of the genre has to wrestle with. Though I confess to some disappointment in these final few novels, the very ending left me feeling both satisfied and saddened. Satisfied because Donaldson ends the novel in an entirely fitting fashion and saddened because it is an ending.

As in the prior books of this LAST CHRONICLES OF THOMAS COVENANT (and I’m going to assume you’ve read those so will be freely tossing off names and terms), Covenant and Linden Avery, joined by various friends and not-so-much-friends (the Haruchai, Giants, Ramen, Ranyhyn, and other denizens of The Land) are faced with the literal end of the world. Not merely a Dark Lord rising and making the world oh-so-unpleasant, but the star-swallowing, sun-devouring, mountain-dissolving destruction of the world thanks to the awakening of the not-so-subtly-named Worm of the World’s End, who will not only destroy the world but also wreck the Arch of Time, thus freeing Lord Foul from his near-eternal prison. The Last Dark brings things to a fever pitch of urgency, as the end times are so close that our heroes can actually see the Worm eating the stars overhead and then moving across the Land itself toward them. Beset by Ravers, Covenant’s half-mad son, Sandgorgons, Skurj, Cavewights, Elohim, She-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, and fear of possession by Lord Foul himself (this particular fear belonging to Avery’s son Jeremiah), Covenant and Avery head toward a final confrontation they cannot hope to win.

The pace, as one might guess from the above not-even-complete list of players—or both good and ill—can be frantic at times. Fight scenes abound, as do great sacrifices. Even when characters aren’t fighting off evil creatures, they are battling the elements—climbing impossible cliff faces, racing floodwaters, dealing with time vortexes. But it wouldn’t be a Covenant novel if all those battles and suspense scenes weren’t interspersed with sections of introspection, self-doubt, self-loathing, philosophizing, questions over ethics and actions. And those abound as well; the novel after all is 500+ pages. And herein lies my biggest complaint, and it’s the same one I had with the last one. I’m just not sure all these pages are needed.

While in a vacuum, many of these scenes are absolutely top-notch, stylistically and in terms of their impact on the reader—whether that impact be to evoke emotion, to provoke thought on deep issues of human nature, to simply excite and thrill via action—in the context of this series we’ve seen most of it before. We’ve seen impossible battles, even impossible ones against these very same creatures—the Ravers, the Sandgorgons, the Skurj. We’ve seen possession, multiple times. We’ve seen self-doubt and self-loathing (boy, have we seen self-doubt and self-loathing). We’ve seen Giants laugh despite all that surrounds them, but worse, we’ve seen that laughter remind Covenant of that first Giant (Saltheart Foamfollower) and heard him tell us how it reminds him of that first one. We’ve seen grand sacrifices (sometimes these exact same ones, though I won’t spoil them). As I said, in a vacuum many of these are great scenes, but nobody is coming to a book ten in a context-free vacuum.

Sure, sometimes these same actions/thoughts/themes are given to different characters. Jeremiah, for instance, gets to have his moments of self-pity and doubt, but he’s a teenager and so not only do these moments smack too much of been there-done that, they come off as far more trivial than earlier because he just sounds too often like your typical surly, truculent teen.

And yes, there is definite growth in these characters. Huge growth. Covenant, for instance goes from an utter victim when we first meet him (victim of leprosy, victim of those who would shun him, victim of his ex-wife) to victimizer in turn (not only generally by taking his anger and “unbelief” out on all around him, but also more repellently in one of the most risky and controversial scenes in fantasy, at least at the time and for years afterward) to reluctant, has-to-be-literally-dragged-along hero to the guy doing the dragging to a man of such self-knowledge and dignity and courage it almost hurts to consider. Avery makes a similar journey. As do entire groups—the Haruchai for instance. And finally, there is some major movement in terms of Avery and Covenant’s relationship. I’d just argue that this growth didn’t require four more books, two, possibly even one (that might have been my preference) would have sufficed. Themes and character growth would still have been sufficiently explored but without so much repetition in both plot and thought

In the limited context of this single novel, the familiarity issue raised itself in other ways as well. It doesn’t help that there seems an inordinate amount of minor but noticeable linguistic/dialogue repetition in this book, such as of the word “condign,” or that at least part of the very ending will seem a well-traveled road to most fantasy and science-fiction fans. And to be honest, the battle scenes began to feel a bit too similar so that I had to fight the urge to skim the latter ones: small group, bad odds, sacrifices, eke out a victory via wild magic or something similar.

On a final note with regard to the level of familiarity, I do think there’s no doubt that some of it, much of it even, is purposely there to parallel earlier scenes and use that parallel imagery or structure to make a thematic point or to characterize. But it’s a fine line, a very fine line to walk, and I can’t say it was successful from my point of view.

There are certainly moments to cherish in The Last Dark. I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that despite my sense of familiarity, certain scenes with the Haruchai or the Giants or the like still had an impact, albeit a diluted one from earlier, similar scenes. And while I have I confess grown weary of some of the same-sounding philosophy, I appreciate the depths this novel plunges. Finally as I said, I do think the ending is perfectly appropriate, one that left me wholly satisfied (or nearly so) for a host of reasons, though I don’t want to go into them to avoid spoilers (anyone who has reached this far in a series deserves to enter it with eyes wide open).

It seems almost silly to give a rating to The Last Dark as it doesn’t seem to really matter. The book itself isn’t the point; it’s the journey one takes to finally arrive at it. Was I disappointed in it? Yes. Do I wish this latest Chronicles, these LAST CHRONICLES, had been whittled down to one or two novels rather than four? Yes. Would I ever tell anyone not to read them? Just the opposite. For their depth of thought and character, for intellectual heft and for their moments of pure beauty and heartache, I place the CHRONICLES OF THOMAS COVENANT, all of them, on the must-read shelf of any serious fan.

This review was originally written for LibraryThing Early Reviewers but I thought I would also share it here.
I first encountered Stephen R. Donaldson's characters from "The Land" when I was in grade school - about 9th grade if memory serves. Both like my other favorite fantasy "classics" like Tolkien's LOTR and other, "safer" fantasies, "Lord Foul's Bane" was both familiar and yet very different and surprising. Thomas Covenant, the modern-day protagonist, contracts what is now a very rare disease called Hansen's but better known as leprosy. The turmoil that follows basically destroys his life and relationship, and places him in a very dark place where he's had to become very regimented in everything he does, in fear of the disease spreading (while facing the fear of the disease by his spouse and community). When he's first exposed to the alternate reality of "The Land" - neither he nor the reader is sure whether the adventure is in his mind or in some way real. The trilogy has always had a lasting impression on me that no other has had, until Donaldson revisited the characters in a second trilogy.

I remember how my friends howled at the sell-out, and then how surprised we all were at how good the second trilogy was, something that never happens. There are so many new characters and concepts, as well as those already established plus a plethora of plot twists and angst - all stuff that made me fall in love once again with the character and "The Land." The same and different and really, a better, more mature series than the first.

Finally, this last 4 book story arc, once again visiting the land with new characters, major changes and a climax to the entire triptych (3 different series, related but spread over time) that feeling from reading the first 3 books returned and hit me hard. The books in this final cycle were both compelling yet repulsive, often twisting my guts with emotion while grasping for understanding in the new characters and motivations. In all, fairly tough to read and leading up to the last book, slightly disappointing (I almost gave up before completing book 3) - these books take more concentration that I usually like to commit. That being said, this final book really "fired on all cylinders" concluding to an awesome finish where all the questions come to a great finish and threads come to be raveled into a whole. If you're a fan of this series, you'll be very happy and satisfied with the conclusion. If you're new I think you'll be lost - this book and the three preceding are obviously written for the hardcore fans. Kudos to Donaldson for taking care of us - so few authors do these days.

Where do I go with this? I started the first Chronicles of Thomas Convenant probably over 20 years ago, and fell in love. I read through the three books, anxiously picking up the three of the second chronicles. What seemed many years later, Donaldson released the start of the third and final chronicles, and each time I have waited anxiously for the next book. That all ends with the release of this one. A great series has come to a close.

This is book four of the Last Chronicles of Thomas Covenant. It starts off right where book three had ended, though it has been quite some time since I read it, I thought I would be able to just pick up right where book four starts, but easily within the first few chapters, I realized I was having issues. I didn't remember characters doing/being certain things/places, and felt lost for quite a bit of the beginning here. Probably would have been good to go back and re-read the first three books, so everything would be clearer for me.

Either way, once I got started, and knew what was going on with whom, it became a bit easier. It seemed so much of this book dealt with internal personal issues for the main characters. I found myself getting a bit bored with what felt like lengthy descriptions of inner turmoils, that, quite frankly, made me skip/skim pages at a time. I understand that much of this inner turmoil is necessary to the story, but just seemed repetitive throughout the book. The ending I felt was a bit of a let-down, but honestly couldn't see a clearer way to end such a life-long series. Overall, even with some boring passages, it was a finish to some great characters.

Thomas Covenant spans my reading life from middle school to middle age. If you are looking for objective opinions about this book look elsewhere.

I loved it.

I think Donaldson did too.

It's a lovingly crafted finale to a lifelong saga. Donaldson never rushes anywhere and his Giantish love of more words where fewer will do is given full reign in this extended epilogue. What is left of the world is bleak and under siege and Linden and Covenant are embattled to the last. Still, Donaldson finds in the end the truth and beauty that have not perished.

Bring a dictionary- a big one. My Kindle' s digital one sobbingly surrendered within the first chapter.

I've never put down a Covenant novel wanting more. Usually I'm exhausted. The Last Dark though feels different. I think Donaldson is finally satisfied it is over. I do look forward to what he will try his hand at next.

As a big Stephen Donaldson fan, I was somewhat apprehensive about reading The Last Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, since the series has received decidedly mixed reviews from long-time Donaldson and Covenant supporters. But, having finished all four volumes, I am happy to say that I found the Last Chronicles to be an excellent read. I’m not sure exactly where I’d rank it among Donaldson’s other works, but like all of Donaldson’s series-Covenant or otherwise-this one leaves me impressed and increases my esteem for the author.

Although I disagree with the naysayers, I do think the less than stellar general response to this series is in many ways understandable. Donaldson put himself into a rather tough situation simply by returning to the Covenant story after a 20-year hiatus, and after killing off his main character back in 1983’s White Gold Wielder.

All the water that has since passed under the bridge meant that Donaldson approached this series as a changed person, impacted over time by new creative influences. So, Donaldson’s Covenant hiatus ensured that the 3rd Covenant series would have a different “feel” than the first 2 series, which were written back-to-back in a relatively short amount of time. (Granted, the Second Chronicles is a brave creative departure from the First Chronicles, but when comparing all three series, clearly the third is the most dissimilar.) Donaldson’s new approach consists of 2 aspects. First, the 3rd series is positively crowded with powerful demigod-like characters who strut across the world and appear out of the blue to impose their agenda, wreak havoc and upset the plans of others. Second, Donaldson plays his cards close to his chest, doling out key information in a very stingy manner and keeping his characters and readers mystified for a frustratingly long time as to what is really going on. Both these aspects of the Last Chronicles seem to reflect the influence of Steven Erikson, whose Malazan work Donaldson greatly admires. (And in fact, by making this series a 4 book effort, he creates his own 10 volume series to pit against Erikson’s in the spirit of friendly competition.) I have read several reviews that mention that Donaldson’s new approach is off-putting when introduced in the context of an already established Covenant series. I can understand why one might feel that way, though I had a different response. Since I think of this 10 book series as 3 related but distinct series each with its own artistic unity, to me the differences between the series do not serve to mar Donaldson’s work. In addition, Donaldson’s alterations show that he is still relentlessly pushing forward and taking creative risks, which is one thing I’ve always admired about him.

The Last Chronicles also necessarily focuses less on Thomas Covenant than the previous Chronicles, because a rationale and an opportunity for resurrecting Covenant must be developed within the story before he can make an appearance. However, Covenant does not appear until the very end of book 2, and it takes until the end of book 3 for him to free himself from a stupor. I can understand why many readers who looked forward to reading about Covenant again might feel shortchanged by this; personally I think Donaldson utilized Covenant very well given the new story he was trying to tell. A related issue is that given Covenant’s prolonged absence, Donaldson had to focus this series on someone, and his decision to build this series around Linden Avery is a source of dissatisfaction for those who don’t find her a strong character. As for the spotlight on Linden, I would agree that she was never Donaldson’s strongest character. Nevertheless, The One Tree is evidence enough that Donaldson can write a stellar Covenant tale with a focus on Linden. Donaldson has so much going on in his stories that I don’t think they stand or fall by one’s feelings concerning Linden. (Admittedly, if I actively disliked Linden, as some readers seem to, rather than simply finding her less compelling that Thomas Covenant, I might have a different reaction.)

Donaldson has apparently claimed the Last Chronicles was conceived at the same time as the Second Chronicles, and that he delayed starting the project until he had improved as a writer so as to do it justice. Perhaps. However, it seems more likely to me that he decided to revisit the Covenant story after his artistically successful but commercially lackluster post-Covenant work left publishers unenthusiastic about non-Covenant related material, and left Donaldson realizing that his Covenant stories were special to the extent they resonated with a greater number of people than his various other projects ever did or were likely to do. I think Donaldson eventually decided to re-open a Covenant saga that he had, in his own mind, finished in 1983. If Donaldson had planned a 3rd series all along, I don’t think he would have killed Covenant in the 2nd, and I don’t think he would have taken so long to start the final series. Either way, by returning to Covenant Donaldson sought to recapture and reconnect with his largest audience, but by returning to Covenant under the problematic circumstances he did, it was probably inevitable that he would alienate a not insubstantial segment of that audience.

The saving grace in this risky project is that once Donaldson decided to take it on, he characteristically went “all in.” For instance, the Last Chronicles clearly contains the most complex plotting of all three Covenant series. Given Donaldson’s stellar plotting skills, this is really saying something. Yes, the plot concerning the Worm takes a while to unfold, but when it does, in books 3 and 4, the dire situation Linden, Covenant & company find themselves in, the multiple threats they face, their grim prospects (failure seems assured), and their uncertainty about how even to proceed, are problems that are powerfully rendered and then powerfully resolved. The series stunningly illustrates the saying that some of the characters keep in mind to ward off despair: “There is no doom so black or deep that courage and clear sight may not find another truth beyond it.” I find the sudden, unexpected victory at the end of the story a complicated, well-conceived and executed fulfillment of this message on Donaldson’s part, certainly not the “lazy ending” that some reviewers make it out to be. In addition, earlier in the series, as the stage was being set for the overarching plot, Donaldson managed to utilize time travel quite effectively to bring together Linden’s story with the Land’s history. So, the Last Chronicles is a solid story in its own right, and it helps enrich the Covenant saga, not merely by adding a concluding chapter, but by expanding our knowledge of the Land’s past, most significantly, Lord Berek and his education.

In addition to Donaldson’s superior plotting, which requires multiple readings to fully appreciate, I am impressed with his various creations. The Insequent are a masterstroke, one of the absolute highlights of the series. (And the 7 Words, taught to Linden and Berek by the most powerful Insequent, the Theomach, are themselves worthy of mention.) She Who Must Not Be Named is an impressive fantasy creation as well, figuring prominently in Linden’s personal journey and the ultimate resolution of the conflict against Foul. Esmer struck me as annoying at first, but the presentation of his divided nature and the resolution of his plotline ultimately proved very powerful. Of course, the oncoming Worm looms large over the final two books, contributing to an impending sense of futility and doom. We learn more about the Lurker, who manages to form an unexpected and fascinating alliance with Covenant against the Worm. The Feroce, descendants of the jerrhin and sur-jherrin and servants of the Lurker, are creatures with a special talent for remembering who end up impacting the story in several ways. The significance of Jeremiah’s special construction talents for the overall story was very creative as well.

The well-rendered characters are another strength of the series. All of Linden’s companions grew on me over the course of the series. I will mention two especially. Stave, the greatest of all Donaldson’s Haruchai, is a major character in his own right, and is in my pantheon of great Covenant figures, alongside the likes of Mhoram and Pitchwife. And Mahrtiir, whose developmental trajectory is slower than Stave’s, is by far Donaldson’s greatest Ramen character, and plays a remarkable role in the last book. Speaking of characters, many reviewers take Donaldson to task for his relatively perfunctory presentation of the Giants in the Last Chronicles. I agree that Donaldson renders them with less attention than in the Second Chronicles, but so what? They are not as central to this particular series, and the Last Chronicles has plenty else going for it.

Thematically, I think the focus on “family” worked well in the Last Chronicles, and does come across as a fairly natural progression after the focus on Covenant’s isolation in the First Chronicles and the relationship between Covenant and Linden in the Second. (And say what you will about Linden, she comes across as a credible mother.) Of course, when talking about themes in the Last Chronicles, it is well to remember Caerroil Wildwood, who influences the protagonists in this tale, and behind whose violent rage are love and a yearning for restoration. The Last Chronicles, unlike the Second Chronicles, does not trend in a pacifist direction. Rather, it seems to return to the First Chronicles’ appreciation of the usefulness of unleashed righteous anger. I should also mention that one of the most impressive and thought-provoking themes of the series involves the critique of the Masters, most memorably by Stave at the end of book 1 and by Bhapa and the ak-Haru himself in book 4. Here Donaldson’s critique of an elitist mindset that views service in terms of management/control rather than self-effacing participation suggests various real-world political applications.

And of course, there is the battle against the Despiser. At the end of The Last Dark, Covenant says to Infelice that “taking a stand against him (Lord Foul) is what makes us who we are. When we don’t, we aren’t anything. We’re just empty.” This seems as good a valedictory statement as any. Some reviewers have lamented that unlike the first two Covenant Chronicles, the Creator does not put in an appearance in this series. However, in my opinion these critics overlook Linden’s moment of insight as to why the Creator did not warn her regarding Jeremiah’s kidnapping, and Stave’s earlier (and foreshadowing) question, asked as he sought hope amidst the despair: “Ur-Lord, is it conceivable that the Creator’s abandonment benefits his creation?”

The Last Chronicles of Thomas Covenant evinces tremendous skill, creativity and profound psychological depth. It is also a series of such complexity that it needs to be studied to be fully appreciated. Given my prior positive experiences with Donaldson’s work, I found it easy to put in the time and effort, and was abundantly rewarded. Donaldson truly is one of the greatest fantasy writers, and hopefully this series will one day receive the respect it deserves.

I originally embarked on the chronicles of Thomas Covenant many a year ago, and confess at that time almost feeling like I would never actually read the entire series. It is only in the past few months that I have managed to conquer the last chronicles of the series, while technically not the longest epic fantasy series, the manner of the dense prose makes one feel as if the series is the longest out.

Before I delve into the Last Dark I suspect it is useful to point out that I have not enjoyed the final chronicles as much as I wished I had. Where the earlier trilogies were an equal mix of harshness and originality, the last chronicles felt overburdened with conversation, and Foul's plot lacked the intrigue of his previous.

So what about the final, final book? Firstly the action is brilliant, it seemed like Donaldson saved all the violence and conflict for the end, which wasn't too bad. The plot still dragged at times, its not interesting when there is so much world ending going on to hear about our heroes wandering around (or being carried.)

Ultimately the conclusion was a satisfying one, however I felt a little let-down that there wasn't a stronger twist or something unexpected. Lord Foul didn't really have anything new, or any shocking revelations for TC, and because the secondary characters were somewhat undeveloped this quadrilogy there wasn't really much to attach to or feel tragedy about.

I guess in summary the last chronicles of Thomas Covenant are a huge achievement, while nowhere near the shocking brilliance of the earlier books, they are still something to be respected.

Typical of Donaldson - extremely wordy and complicated language. Should have collapsed the first 3/4 of the book to about 100 pages and spent the remainder on the real conclusion. Looks like he just got bored and ended the book. Spoilers follow: 1. Opened his heart to Foul and consumed him - give me a break! The Elohim coaxed the Worm back to sleep - if it were that easy, we wouldn't have needed that entire story line! And if they had the power, why did Jeremiah build a box to protect them? Roger Covenant didn't play any part whatsoever - what was the point of his charcter? "Stone Monsters"? - enough said there. All in all - after reading and thoroughly enjoying the series, I'm totally let down...

This review was originally written for LibraryThing Early Reviewers but I thought I would also share it here.
I first encountered Stephen R. Donaldson's characters from "The Land" when I was in grade school - about 9th grade if memory serves. Both like my other favorite fantasy "classics" like Tolkien's LOTR and other, "safer" fantasies, "Lord Foul's Bane" was both familiar and yet very different and surprising. Thomas Covenant, the modern-day protagonist, contracts what is now a very rare disease called Hansen's but better known as leprosy. The turmoil that follows basically destroys his life and relationship, and places him in a very dark place where he's had to become very regimented in everything he does, in fear of the disease spreading (while facing the fear of the disease by his spouse and community). When he's first exposed to the alternate reality of "The Land" - neither he nor the reader is sure whether the adventure is in his mind or in some way real. The trilogy has always had a lasting impression on me that no other has had, until Donaldson revisited the characters in a second trilogy.

I remember how my friends howled at the sell-out, and then how surprised we all were at how good the second trilogy was, something that never happens. There are so many new characters and concepts, as well as those already established plus a plethora of plot twists and angst - all stuff that made me fall in love once again with the character and "The Land." The same and different and really, a better, more mature series than the first.

Finally, this last 4 book story arc, once again visiting the land with new characters, major changes and a climax to the entire triptych (3 different series, related but spread over time) that feeling from reading the first 3 books returned and hit me hard. The books in this final cycle were both compelling yet repulsive, often twisting my guts with emotion while grasping for understanding in the new characters and motivations. In all, fairly tough to read and leading up to the last book, slightly disappointing (I almost gave up before completing book 3) - these books take more concentration that I usually like to commit. That being said, this final book really "fired on all cylinders" concluding to an awesome finish where all the questions come to a great finish and threads come to be raveled into a whole. If you're a fan of this series, you'll be very happy and satisfied with the conclusion. If you're new I think you'll be lost - this book and the three preceding are obviously written for the hardcore fans. Kudos to Donaldson for taking care of us - so few authors do these days.

Where do I go with this? I started the first Chronicles of Thomas Convenant probably over 20 years ago, and fell in love. I read through the three books, anxiously picking up the three of the second chronicles. What seemed many years later, Donaldson released the start of the third and final chronicles, and each time I have waited anxiously for the next book. That all ends with the release of this one. A great series has come to a close.

This is book four of the Last Chronicles of Thomas Covenant. It starts off right where book three had ended, though it has been quite some time since I read it, I thought I would be able to just pick up right where book four starts, but easily within the first few chapters, I realized I was having issues. I didn't remember characters doing/being certain things/places, and felt lost for quite a bit of the beginning here. Probably would have been good to go back and re-read the first three books, so everything would be clearer for me.

Either way, once I got started, and knew what was going on with whom, it became a bit easier. It seemed so much of this book dealt with internal personal issues for the main characters. I found myself getting a bit bored with what felt like lengthy descriptions of inner turmoils, that, quite frankly, made me skip/skim pages at a time. I understand that much of this inner turmoil is necessary to the story, but just seemed repetitive throughout the book. The ending I felt was a bit of a let-down, but honestly couldn't see a clearer way to end such a life-long series. Overall, even with some boring passages, it was a finish to some great characters.

Thomas Covenant spans my reading life from middle school to middle age. If you are looking for objective opinions about this book look elsewhere.

I loved it.

I think Donaldson did too.

It's a lovingly crafted finale to a lifelong saga. Donaldson never rushes anywhere and his Giantish love of more words where fewer will do is given full reign in this extended epilogue. What is left of the world is bleak and under siege and Linden and Covenant are embattled to the last. Still, Donaldson finds in the end the truth and beauty that have not perished.

Bring a dictionary- a big one. My Kindle' s digital one sobbingly surrendered within the first chapter.

I've never put down a Covenant novel wanting more. Usually I'm exhausted. The Last Dark though feels different. I think Donaldson is finally satisfied it is over. I do look forward to what he will try his hand at next.

As a big Stephen Donaldson fan, I was somewhat apprehensive about reading The Last Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, since the series has received decidedly mixed reviews from long-time Donaldson and Covenant supporters. But, having finished all four volumes, I am happy to say that I found the Last Chronicles to be an excellent read. I’m not sure exactly where I’d rank it among Donaldson’s other works, but like all of Donaldson’s series-Covenant or otherwise-this one leaves me impressed and increases my esteem for the author.

Although I disagree with the naysayers, I do think the less than stellar general response to this series is in many ways understandable. Donaldson put himself into a rather tough situation simply by returning to the Covenant story after a 20-year hiatus, and after killing off his main character back in 1983’s White Gold Wielder.

All the water that has since passed under the bridge meant that Donaldson approached this series as a changed person, impacted over time by new creative influences. So, Donaldson’s Covenant hiatus ensured that the 3rd Covenant series would have a different “feel” than the first 2 series, which were written back-to-back in a relatively short amount of time. (Granted, the Second Chronicles is a brave creative departure from the First Chronicles, but when comparing all three series, clearly the third is the most dissimilar.) Donaldson’s new approach consists of 2 aspects. First, the 3rd series is positively crowded with powerful demigod-like characters who strut across the world and appear out of the blue to impose their agenda, wreak havoc and upset the plans of others. Second, Donaldson plays his cards close to his chest, doling out key information in a very stingy manner and keeping his characters and readers mystified for a frustratingly long time as to what is really going on. Both these aspects of the Last Chronicles seem to reflect the influence of Steven Erikson, whose Malazan work Donaldson greatly admires. (And in fact, by making this series a 4 book effort, he creates his own 10 volume series to pit against Erikson’s in the spirit of friendly competition.) I have read several reviews that mention that Donaldson’s new approach is off-putting when introduced in the context of an already established Covenant series. I can understand why one might feel that way, though I had a different response. Since I think of this 10 book series as 3 related but distinct series each with its own artistic unity, to me the differences between the series do not serve to mar Donaldson’s work. In addition, Donaldson’s alterations show that he is still relentlessly pushing forward and taking creative risks, which is one thing I’ve always admired about him.

The Last Chronicles also necessarily focuses less on Thomas Covenant than the previous Chronicles, because a rationale and an opportunity for resurrecting Covenant must be developed within the story before he can make an appearance. However, Covenant does not appear until the very end of book 2, and it takes until the end of book 3 for him to free himself from a stupor. I can understand why many readers who looked forward to reading about Covenant again might feel shortchanged by this; personally I think Donaldson utilized Covenant very well given the new story he was trying to tell. A related issue is that given Covenant’s prolonged absence, Donaldson had to focus this series on someone, and his decision to build this series around Linden Avery is a source of dissatisfaction for those who don’t find her a strong character. As for the spotlight on Linden, I would agree that she was never Donaldson’s strongest character. Nevertheless, The One Tree is evidence enough that Donaldson can write a stellar Covenant tale with a focus on Linden. Donaldson has so much going on in his stories that I don’t think they stand or fall by one’s feelings concerning Linden. (Admittedly, if I actively disliked Linden, as some readers seem to, rather than simply finding her less compelling that Thomas Covenant, I might have a different reaction.)

Donaldson has apparently claimed the Last Chronicles was conceived at the same time as the Second Chronicles, and that he delayed starting the project until he had improved as a writer so as to do it justice. Perhaps. However, it seems more likely to me that he decided to revisit the Covenant story after his artistically successful but commercially lackluster post-Covenant work left publishers unenthusiastic about non-Covenant related material, and left Donaldson realizing that his Covenant stories were special to the extent they resonated with a greater number of people than his various other projects ever did or were likely to do. I think Donaldson eventually decided to re-open a Covenant saga that he had, in his own mind, finished in 1983. If Donaldson had planned a 3rd series all along, I don’t think he would have killed Covenant in the 2nd, and I don’t think he would have taken so long to start the final series. Either way, by returning to Covenant Donaldson sought to recapture and reconnect with his largest audience, but by returning to Covenant under the problematic circumstances he did, it was probably inevitable that he would alienate a not insubstantial segment of that audience.

The saving grace in this risky project is that once Donaldson decided to take it on, he characteristically went “all in.” For instance, the Last Chronicles clearly contains the most complex plotting of all three Covenant series. Given Donaldson’s stellar plotting skills, this is really saying something. Yes, the plot concerning the Worm takes a while to unfold, but when it does, in books 3 and 4, the dire situation Linden, Covenant & company find themselves in, the multiple threats they face, their grim prospects (failure seems assured), and their uncertainty about how even to proceed, are problems that are powerfully rendered and then powerfully resolved. The series stunningly illustrates the saying that some of the characters keep in mind to ward off despair: “There is no doom so black or deep that courage and clear sight may not find another truth beyond it.” I find the sudden, unexpected victory at the end of the story a complicated, well-conceived and executed fulfillment of this message on Donaldson’s part, certainly not the “lazy ending” that some reviewers make it out to be. In addition, earlier in the series, as the stage was being set for the overarching plot, Donaldson managed to utilize time travel quite effectively to bring together Linden’s story with the Land’s history. So, the Last Chronicles is a solid story in its own right, and it helps enrich the Covenant saga, not merely by adding a concluding chapter, but by expanding our knowledge of the Land’s past, most significantly, Lord Berek and his education.

In addition to Donaldson’s superior plotting, which requires multiple readings to fully appreciate, I am impressed with his various creations. The Insequent are a masterstroke, one of the absolute highlights of the series. (And the 7 Words, taught to Linden and Berek by the most powerful Insequent, the Theomach, are themselves worthy of mention.) She Who Must Not Be Named is an impressive fantasy creation as well, figuring prominently in Linden’s personal journey and the ultimate resolution of the conflict against Foul. Esmer struck me as annoying at first, but the presentation of his divided nature and the resolution of his plotline ultimately proved very powerful. Of course, the oncoming Worm looms large over the final two books, contributing to an impending sense of futility and doom. We learn more about the Lurker, who manages to form an unexpected and fascinating alliance with Covenant against the Worm. The Feroce, descendants of the jerrhin and sur-jherrin and servants of the Lurker, are creatures with a special talent for remembering who end up impacting the story in several ways. The significance of Jeremiah’s special construction talents for the overall story was very creative as well.

The well-rendered characters are another strength of the series. All of Linden’s companions grew on me over the course of the series. I will mention two especially. Stave, the greatest of all Donaldson’s Haruchai, is a major character in his own right, and is in my pantheon of great Covenant figures, alongside the likes of Mhoram and Pitchwife. And Mahrtiir, whose developmental trajectory is slower than Stave’s, is by far Donaldson’s greatest Ramen character, and plays a remarkable role in the last book. Speaking of characters, many reviewers take Donaldson to task for his relatively perfunctory presentation of the Giants in the Last Chronicles. I agree that Donaldson renders them with less attention than in the Second Chronicles, but so what? They are not as central to this particular series, and the Last Chronicles has plenty else going for it.

Thematically, I think the focus on “family” worked well in the Last Chronicles, and does come across as a fairly natural progression after the focus on Covenant’s isolation in the First Chronicles and the relationship between Covenant and Linden in the Second. (And say what you will about Linden, she comes across as a credible mother.) Of course, when talking about themes in the Last Chronicles, it is well to remember Caerroil Wildwood, who influences the protagonists in this tale, and behind whose violent rage are love and a yearning for restoration. The Last Chronicles, unlike the Second Chronicles, does not trend in a pacifist direction. Rather, it seems to return to the First Chronicles’ appreciation of the usefulness of unleashed righteous anger. I should also mention that one of the most impressive and thought-provoking themes of the series involves the critique of the Masters, most memorably by Stave at the end of book 1 and by Bhapa and the ak-Haru himself in book 4. Here Donaldson’s critique of an elitist mindset that views service in terms of management/control rather than self-effacing participation suggests various real-world political applications.

And of course, there is the battle against the Despiser. At the end of The Last Dark, Covenant says to Infelice that “taking a stand against him (Lord Foul) is what makes us who we are. When we don’t, we aren’t anything. We’re just empty.” This seems as good a valedictory statement as any. Some reviewers have lamented that unlike the first two Covenant Chronicles, the Creator does not put in an appearance in this series. However, in my opinion these critics overlook Linden’s moment of insight as to why the Creator did not warn her regarding Jeremiah’s kidnapping, and Stave’s earlier (and foreshadowing) question, asked as he sought hope amidst the despair: “Ur-Lord, is it conceivable that the Creator’s abandonment benefits his creation?”

The Last Chronicles of Thomas Covenant evinces tremendous skill, creativity and profound psychological depth. It is also a series of such complexity that it needs to be studied to be fully appreciated. Given my prior positive experiences with Donaldson’s work, I found it easy to put in the time and effort, and was abundantly rewarded. Donaldson truly is one of the greatest fantasy writers, and hopefully this series will one day receive the respect it deserves.

I originally embarked on the chronicles of Thomas Covenant many a year ago, and confess at that time almost feeling like I would never actually read the entire series. It is only in the past few months that I have managed to conquer the last chronicles of the series, while technically not the longest epic fantasy series, the manner of the dense prose makes one feel as if the series is the longest out.

Before I delve into the Last Dark I suspect it is useful to point out that I have not enjoyed the final chronicles as much as I wished I had. Where the earlier trilogies were an equal mix of harshness and originality, the last chronicles felt overburdened with conversation, and Foul's plot lacked the intrigue of his previous.

So what about the final, final book? Firstly the action is brilliant, it seemed like Donaldson saved all the violence and conflict for the end, which wasn't too bad. The plot still dragged at times, its not interesting when there is so much world ending going on to hear about our heroes wandering around (or being carried.)

Ultimately the conclusion was a satisfying one, however I felt a little let-down that there wasn't a stronger twist or something unexpected. Lord Foul didn't really have anything new, or any shocking revelations for TC, and because the secondary characters were somewhat undeveloped this quadrilogy there wasn't really much to attach to or feel tragedy about.

I guess in summary the last chronicles of Thomas Covenant are a huge achievement, while nowhere near the shocking brilliance of the earlier books, they are still something to be respected.

Typical of Donaldson - extremely wordy and complicated language. Should have collapsed the first 3/4 of the book to about 100 pages and spent the remainder on the real conclusion. Looks like he just got bored and ended the book. Spoilers follow: 1. Opened his heart to Foul and consumed him - give me a break! The Elohim coaxed the Worm back to sleep - if it were that easy, we wouldn't have needed that entire story line! And if they had the power, why did Jeremiah build a box to protect them? Roger Covenant didn't play any part whatsoever - what was the point of his charcter? "Stone Monsters"? - enough said there. All in all - after reading and thoroughly enjoying the series, I'm totally let down...

There are no spoilers in this review. And I'm not going to argue with or rebuff anyone who has a negative opinion of the book. All I can tell you is that I loved it.

I read the first book in this series, Lord Foul's Bane, when a friend loaned it to me in 1986. I was 13 years old, and the book had already been out for the better part of a decade. I was floored. Having read some Dragonlance, some Forgotten Realms, some Tolkien, and a few other fantasy books beforehand, nothing could have prepared me for the Land and its characters. Or Thomas Covenant. It's safe to say that Lord Foul's Bane changed how I viewed - and judged - fantasy.

Fast forward many years. The Last Chronicles of Thomas Covenant appears. I eagerly devour the first three books. Then, The Last Dark. I pre-order from the store. I wait with baited breath. I grab it, tear into it, read it in marathon sessions over three days.

Satisfying. Epic. Shocking. Sad. Hopeful.

This is the way you end a 10-book series. Listening, Erikson? Listening, ghost of Robert Jordan? This is how you do it.

I love this book. It's got flaws - so what? It's also got a sizzling ending to a journey I started 27 years ago. If you're a fan of the series, you won't be disappointed. In fact, I'll bet you'll be stunned (in a good way) when you read how it all shakes out.

Congratulations, Mr. Donaldson, the Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever is finally finished. And I for one can't recommend this final book highly enough. Five stars.

The first 3 books - Amazing! Wide in scope, full of fleshed out characters and scenery. Plot was astounding. Re-read it many times since the first reading.

Second trilogy - we leave the Land and visit more locales that take your breath away - ending definitely a good read, made sense in terms of what we learned during the previous novels.

Third - WTH. The first two books are The Linden Avery story (i thought it was the Covenant Chronicles?) and her continual need to show how helpless she is, even when she is a rightful ringweilder! The third book does have Covenant - but he is so broken he might as not have been there. New characters introduced seem contrived only to advance to a rigid predetermined ending - not the sense of wonder of new locales and people with their own interests. So much potential with her going back in time to explore the unknown kingdom of the Viles - that's a book right there if she were to learn how to beat her self doubt by teaching the Viles to overcome theirs! Everyone just falls in line like a pity parade of uselessness from one scene to another. Beings of such illimitable power we are forced to resolve them by use of "we are all one" contrivances.

I waited for years for another Covenant story - i didn't expect a better story than either of the first two. But i did expect a Covenant story. I'm not sure what this was.

If you haven't picked up any of these and want to retain the magic of the Land - please don't buy them. It hurts to say that, honestly. The best that can be hoped for at this point is for him to re-read the first two trilogies - and maybe come up with a book of short stories that don't try to make a point, just invites us back to the Land we knew.

michael

The last book of this third set of Covenant novels. If you haven't read the previous ones, don't start here. If you have read the previous ones, you can't give up so close to the end. I realized that I had spent 35 years or so reading these books; each one as it was published. A fantastic journey and this final work ties up the conflict between Lord Foul and the Land. Too many items wrapped up to go into detail but all the loose ends tied up nicely. Glad I read this one on the kindle as the built in dictionary helped with Donaldson's love of the thesaurus.

I so loved The Illearth War, with Elena, Amok and Troy. I had faith that the author could, after time and maturity, come up with a really fine finish for The Land and its characters. Alas, this did not happen. While it had good action, good characters and emotion, the stock, arbitrary wind-up was jaw-droppingly disappointing. Three tries and still pulling your punches with The Despiser!! And not a word from The Creator! Even for fantasy, Donaldson relies more on incredible timing and coincidence then Dumas. Please read the 1 and 2 star reviews for further con-points that are not without merit. I am really sorry. It could have been so, so good. Get a copy from the library and put the series to rest.

I reviewed the last volume, and I had some caustic comments for how the characters spend the first hundred pages of that book standing around, talking. That is emphatically NOT a problem in this book. Wow. This book is wall-to-wall action. Remember part 2 of the last book had a fast pace, with important resolutions to the Jeremiah and Joan subplots. This book pace picks up the pace even more. The confrontations and resolutions come fast and furious.

If anything, it's a little too busy. This series has raised SO many threats and subplots, our heroes come into the last volume with a very long to-do list. Kastenessen, skurj, sandgorgons, lurker, ravers, Roger, She Who Must, and oh yeah the Worm, all to be faced. Jeremiah's tasks and the Elohim's safety to be deciphered. And Lord Foul in there too, somewhere. It might all be a little much for one volume.

I'm going to call this a weakness of the book. For me there was a point, maybe about halfway or 2/3 into it, where the story bogged down. The relentless nature of the battles started to seem repetitive. Everything they faced was The Most Difficult Impossible Challenge of their lives! They could only barely succeed by their last extremity of effort! Chapter after chapter of this: so when they've barely survived several of those, and then (say) the skurj come charging over the hill, and they're impossible to beat, and then (say) the sandgorgons come charging after them, I started shaking my head and thinking "All right, come on."

I think that "weakness" is really two related issues. One is that, the whole structure of the first & second Chronicles has been to lead up to a face-to-face encounter with Lord Foul. So we come into this series with a very powerful narrative expectation of a similar finale; and the early stages of book 1 seemed to reaffirm those expectations. So as a reader you know in your gut that the book is aiming you toward this final, almost intimate confrontation. That drains some of the suspense from the other antagonists. By the time the (say) skurj or sandgorgons or cavewights or whatever get thrown at our heroes, it almost seems to serve no purpose other than increase the splatter and the body count. Which of our supporting cast are going to get maimed or die? It increases the spectacle, in terms of a summer blockbuster movie, and pads the page count; but I was a little impatient with it. It delayed getting to the meat of the matter.

The second issue might just be a pacing problem. When I finished the last book, I thought this could have been a trilogy; that a large selection of supporting cast members & sublots were extraneous. Finishing this one, I still think the book count is off by one, but I'm not sure if it's one more or one fewer than it should be. I either want to cut a chunk of cast and subplot and fit the remaining story in three books; or I want to stretch this book into a fourth and fifth volume. Handle Elohim & Kastenessen & Skurj (and maybe a raver) in this book; then the ravers & Roger & She Who & Lord Foul in the next. Something like that might give "equal weight" or stage time to the various antagonists, and sidestep the "battle fatigue" I got around the middle of the book.

Re-reading the above, that's a lot of paragraphs to devote to one weakness composed of two possible sub-issues. It's really kind of a small thing ("Too much action!"); it just took me a couple paragraphs to articulate precisely.

That stuff is offset by one nice strength that I think will please old-time fans of the first Chronicles: the appearance of the Covenant you probably wanted to see ~30 years ago. A whole Covenant: decisive, effective, compassionate, powerful. He made his appearance toward the end of the last book: he pretty much owns this book. We never really got to see him in the Second Chronicles. There, he was immediately crippled by venom etc, and most of the story was told from Linden's POV. Covenant got moments, but they were stingily doled out. Now, 30 years later, he's finally on stage. Most of this book is told from his POV. (Maybe technically it's just half-&-half with Linden - Jeremiah also gets a few chapters, and they're excellent - but it feels like most of the book, maybe compared to the previous books.) And it's just great to have him back. Walking thru the Land in Covenant's POV feels like coming home in this series. It's one of the great pleasures of this book.

There are numerous other strengths, esp the humor of the Giants during the worst of the battles and during the aftermath. This has always been an enormous strength of SRD's writing: when his protag has been un-sympathetic or insufferable (pretty often in this series), the supporting cast has been lovable & inspiring.

Fans will be happy with the ending, I think. It satisfies some long-held expectations. I guess I can't say more than that, for spoilers: but the expectations SRD creates in terms of epic confrontations, those expectations are met. I don't love the Last Chronicles on the whole (nor the Second, for that matter): but the expectations SRD sets up in book 1 of this series, he delivers on here.

There's a 10-page epilogue, which for longtime fans (ie from before the Second Chronicles were released) might be the best part of the book. I wish it were a 40-page epilogue. (It could even have been a 90-page epilogue. Remember, the Lord of the Rings had a super-long epilogue, where the Hobbits return to the Shire etc. This story has been as "big" as that one; could handle a similarly super-sized epilogue.) What's here is great: I just want to see a bit more. Not another series, God knows: just a little more unspooling of the stuff SRD shows happening after the main story is over. Especially, more on the implications of the Covenant/Foul resolution.

You can see that my complaints a few paragraphs above make no sense at all. There's too much in this book! I want just a little more! :-)

Or maybe it does make a crazy kind of sense. Of course my reaction to this finale should contain contradiction: these books are all about contradiction. It's a major theme. What's one more? Anyway: this is a very satisfying capstone to the Last Chronicles. It doesn't stint on anything.

Only SRD can turn a 100 page story into a 4 volume novel. Language is overly complex (not sure what professor he's trying to impress), way too much despair (luckily I'm not suicidal), and a boring cast of character. Book 4 was the best - but it cost me several months of my life that I will never get back.

I recommend folks spend their time reading physics books - the language is easier to understand and follow.

. . . to a truly epic tale.

Another reviewer has suggested that there won't be any unbiased reviews of this book -- and I strongly suspect that he is correct. This review is no exception -- I loved the book.

I have been reading and re-reading the saga of Thomas Covenant for more than 25 years -- and for me, this book was a fitting and emotionally satisfying conclusion. I have no quarrel with the length of the book; nor with Donaldson's extremely extensive vocabulary.

I felt that necessary loose ends were tied up -- and that the story of Thomas Covenant has been well and truly concluded. I'm glad that Donaldson returned to The Land with these final chapters, and wish him the best in his further endeavors. He has well-earned the respect he holds among those who love this genre.

What can you say about this "Final" series about one of the great fantasy anti-heroes of all time except "Whew. Thank goodness it's over." Or as an illiterate, uneducated scion of The Land might say, "I find it sooth and condign in the climax of this lore." Does anyone else find it odd that in a completely desolate, underpopulated agricultural society with nothing resembling an education system that everyone speaks like a passage out of an SAT exam? I kept reading paragraphs and looking for something to bubble in with a #2 pencil. Like many reviewers, I started this series in the late 70's and loved every page. I consider the first three books to be one of the greatest stories in modern fantasy. I also completely loved the second series, too. I saw no need for a third series, especially one that took nine long years to culminate. I have to say that of the four books in this series, the last one was clearly the best. The self-reflection and debate was kept to a minimum and seemed to actually progress the plot, something lacking in the previous three books. There is plenty of action in this book, something also missing from he other three ponderous tomes. The ending is not great, but at least it ends. And, if that's the best you can say about this book, then that means Mr. Donaldson got his pay day and cashed in on his better days as a writer. Not that he doesn't deserve it, however, I do think the rest of us deserved better.

In 1977, Stephen R. Donaldson saw his first novel, LORD FOUL'S BANE, arrive on bookshelves. Within its pages, readers were introduced to Thomas Covenant. A once successful author, Covenant has been rendered an outcast --- both by his town and by his wife --- after he contracts leprosy. Embittered by his losses of career, marriage, identity and physical form, Covenant finds himself transported to The Land, where he is perceived as the reincarnation of the great hero Berek Halfhand --- an ancient Lord who saved The Land from the doom wrought by Lord Foul the Despiser. Denying his own sanity and the existence of The Land, Covenant nevertheless quests to preserve The Land from the newest onslaught by Lord Foul.

Donaldson would follow the original trilogy with a second trio of books, The Second Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, whereby Thomas is again brought to The Land, but this time he brings someone with him --- Dr. Linden Avery. Four thousand years have passed in The Land, which is afflicted by Sunbane, and the once revered Earthpower is waning under a new assault from Lord Foul. Covenant and Avery find a relationship growing between them, and together they seek to defeat the Despiser once more.

Following those three novels, Donaldson would wait 21 years to return to The Land and bring about the final chapters in the saga of Thomas Covenant. And now, with the release of THE LAST DARK, the conclusion of The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant is at hand.

As we begin THE LAST DARK, the Worm of the World's End is loose and the doom of The Land is laid. Once the Worm drinks the Earthblood, the Arch of Time will break and Lord Foul will be released. He will then seek to create a prison for the Creator and thus take control of all of the universe.

Linden and her son, Jeremiah, are reunited, but the once mute boy is now alive with excitable speech and ideas, and he claims he can build a construct in which to capture the Worm, thus slowing it down enough for Covenant to devise a plan. And it is a powerful thing to see the reactions of the Giants as they realize that the stars are going out, being devoured by the Worm as it advances in its hunger. In the meantime, Covenant is physically broken after his battle with his ex-wife, Joan, and must set out in an effort to defeat turiya Raver, one of Foul's vile soldiers, before he can find his way back to reunite with Linden.

To discuss any of the specific elements of THE LAST DARK would be a tremendous disservice to the people who have taken up this series and followed along, anxious for the next installment. The events and results of the attempts to save The Land must be experienced with page turns and not spoiled by a well-meaning review. Battles come at a furious pace as the forces of good struggle to preserve The Land, but between the heart-pounding action are moments of deep introspection. It is in these moments when Linden Avery, Jeremiah and Covenant show their growth, understanding and hearts. This is the key to THE LAST DARK.

Donaldson has devised a compelling final installment that covers the themes of self-despair and overcoming it, of understanding your value, and that great deeds often require great sacrifices. Even in failure. "You risk much, as you have ever done," he writes. And the risks here are great, as both the Worm and She Who Must Not Be Named seek to rend The Land. And Donaldson takes epic fantasy as deep as it has ever gone, exploring faith and despair, possession to freedom, and ultimately the very depths of love and loss.

THE LAST DARK is, well, dark. And yet, for its darkness, it is buoyed by the openness of the cast of characters and the depth to which they are explored, and the notion that a sacrifice for that which you love is never too great. Hope will ultimately shine, though perhaps not in the way you imagined. Donaldson weaves a tremendous tale of the death of a world, a world loved by millions of readers, and crafts an ending that will satisfy and surprise.

Closing the book on THE LAST DARK is a sad affair. For 36 years, Donaldson has taken the worlds born of Tolkien and reimagined them, much more so than many of those who have taken up the mantle of fantasy. In the course of 10 novels, he has explored a wide range of psychological ideas, has challenged nearly everyone with his astounding word usage (keep those dictionaries handy for this one!), and made you so dedicated to The Land as an outside observer that in turning that last page, the loss you feel is real.

For that wonder doled out over thousands of pages, and even for that ache upon the end of the tale, Donaldson only deserves our deepest and heartfelt thanks.

Reviewed by Stephen Hubbard

I often wonder who would bother reading a review of a book at the ending to a long series? If they read the other 9, they will read this one. If they didn't read the other 9, they won't consider it. So here I am reading them and making a contribution :) The reviews are what I would expect, more a discussion board on the merits of the culmination of this story.
There is not a book of Donaldsons that I have not read, most more than once. I believe he is one of the finest writers alive today. I enjoyed this final series as well. Of course there were disappointments but that is mainly because things didn't go the way I had hoped rather than a weakness in the writing or the story itself. I fell in love with the Land and the characters (except Avery). I had enough of her insipid whining a few thousand pages back and could no longer enjoy her part in the story.
Thank you SRD for another fine tale!

When a major fantasist concludes a major work, it behooves us to treat it with some seriousness.

Donaldson, like him or not, is a major fantasist; and the completion of the tale of Thomas Covenant, after thirty-plus years, is clearly the completion of a major work, indeed his primary work.

To review: In the mid-'70s we were given (in a publishing pair with The Sword of Shanarra that launched the modern fantasy market) the Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, a deeply flawed but important tale of a man who damns himself and seeks to exceed his damnation. There is no escaping the fact that the first important thing Covenant does in the Land is an inexcusable, horrible act of rape, one whose consequences extend out through the trilogy and, ultimately, the entire ten books.

Throughout this first trilogy, Covenant attempts, first to escape, then to ignore, and finally to face what he has done. When I say "escape," I do not mean punishment: I mean he seeks to deny that it "really" happened. "What you do in a dream doesn't count." When he finally faces what he has done, he becomes, not a hero, not even a redeemed man, exactly: but someone capable of doing what must be done. And he does it.

In the '80s came the Second Chronicles. In this second trilogy, perhaps Covenant becomes a hero. We see him, in these three books, only through the eyes of a new character, Linden Avery, a doctor with her own emotional troubles. She comes to see him as something admirable, and, willy nilly, so do we, as her point of view is all we have. And in the end he commits an act of extreme self-sacrifice to save the Land.

Then came the long wait. To be fair, during that time, he has completed a great deal of other work: the Mordant's Need diptych (fantasy), the "Gap" series (space opera), two collections of short stories, several mystery novels. But, while all of it is serious work, none of this has the importance or, well, the gravitas of the Covenant books. Finally, word came from the Southwest that Donaldson was "ready" to write the last Covenant chronicles -- a tetralogy. (The Second Chronicles were conceived as a tetralogy also, and shoehorned into trilogy by the demands of Lester del Rey.)

To summarize the Last Chronicles at this stage would be a kind of violence. Take it as follows: Extreme things happen and extreme passions are unleashed. The Earth is threatened in more ways than you can shake a stick at, and the Despiser is behind much, if not all, of it. Thomas Covenant's ex-wife Joan and their son Roger are key players, as is Linden's adopted son Jeremiah. And, in the end, perhaps Covenant finds the true answer to Despite.

What I'm left with is that I deeply respect Donaldson's work, but have to acknowledge that many people whose taste I respect loathe it. Some reasons why that may be of interest:

One: Something that makes Donaldson's work stand out is that for long periods "nothing happens." (In his review of Lord Foul's Bane, Dick Lupoff complained about "endless" walking through forests.) But these are the most important parts of the books: these are where the characters respond to what has happened, and they change as part of their responses. Donaldson's novels are, in this sense, fare more novelistic than most fantasy.

Two: Donaldson's work is often deeply unpleasant. Fantasy is, in both good and bad senses, escape literature; but Donaldson allows no escape. Bad things happen and actions have bad consequences. Even when there is victory, even when there is joy, it comes at horrendous costs, and we are never allowed to forget those costs. His battle scenes are not the glorious contests of Tolkien or the Arthuriad, but gruesome, depressing, and desperate. (Okay: yes, Tolkien did desperate. But it was always a cheerful, British sort of desperation.)

Three, and perhaps most important: Donaldson's style. Donaldson has always been a conscious stylist, but in the original trilogy he was a stylist with a tin ear. One of the things he accomplished during the quarter-century gap between the Second and Last Chronicles was to learn how to write well. His style is still larded with obscure words, but the larding is no longer cloying; and there is now music in his sentences.

This is a review, not a critical assessment of Donaldson. All I can say in the end is that I found this book and this series powerful -- in, to be sure, a very different way than the power of Tolkien, or Powers, or Le Guin: but powerful in its own way. I like it and am grateful to Donaldson for finishing his (flawed) masterwork.

You know, this book was better with less of Donaldson's overused:

"Oh no, I'm going to fail again"
Trot out the 15 hundred reasons why and endlessly worry them...
Five paragraphs of self doubt, self loathing, self recriminations...
"Oh, well I guess I have the strength anyway"
Repeat

This book actually moved the story to its conclusion and as I said in my review for the last book - the actual things that happen in the book are very cool and the world is cool...it is just that the people are written so that we must review how damaged they are every three pages adnauseum...

I am glad that Thomas Covenant finally got to live in the land in peace. It was painful to get to that point...

Stephen R. Donaldson is a very good writer. But his concept for the characters in this series made it so you did not want to spend time with these characters in the first place, then he beats you over the head with their failings for hundreds of pages.

Time for something new I think...

Wow! Four additional books just to tell this story? Big fan of the First and Second Chronicles, a story of heart and hope. The rest of the story is simply a very, very, very long journey of despair and self doubt. Very disappointing.

This review covers the entire last chronicles and contains SPOILERS.

Before beginning the Last Chronicles, I re-read the First and Second again and found them to be enjoyable as ever, having stood the test of time. In the Last Chronicles, however, Donaldson gives us back something broken. Not only are these four books a disappointing ending to the Land, but ranks among one of the worst fantasy series I have read. The plot is tedious and unbelievable, the characters stale and unlikeable, and the writing repetitive and pretentious. There are precious few enjoyable moments in the Last Chronicles, and most of these cluster in the first book; it was an absolute struggle to bring myself to finish the third and fourth volumes. I could write a dozen pages on the numerous problems in these recent works, but I will restrain myself to just a few.

The series begins promising enough. We see a confident and assured Linden Avery, who seems to have matured into a capable and confident woman in her decade away from the Land. Unfortunately, as soon as she returns she transforms into an emotional and indecisive wreck continually whining about her lack of power (despite white gold) and her love for her adopted son. Jeremiah somehow manages to be even more angsty than his mother, but still ends up saving the world with his all-powerful but never explained magic. Honestly, is there anyone who didn't predict that the sullen teenager with mommy issues would save the day?

Plots involving time travel require particular care and Donaldson just does not evidence that here. I am willing to accept that white gold can facilitate time travel, as it is beyond the Arch of Time. But the Insequent and the elohim can time travel, yet somehow not Lord Foul? The introduction of the Insequent is ludicrous enough without adding time travel to the mix. Other unbelievable or unexplained plot devices: She-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, sandgorgons in the Land, Kastenessan, Roger, Esmer, etc.

For some inexplicable reason, Donaldson can't get enough of the Haruchai. Despite their hostility toward Linden, their disservice to the people of the Land, and their intolerable arrogance, both Linden and Covenant forgive them at every conceivable opportunity. The Haruchai would have made for interesting villains, but Donaldson instead presents them as misguided paragons of virtue.

The writing is terrible, particularly the dialog. Donaldson has always indulged in pretentious diction and stilted dialog, but in his earlier works he (or a prudent editor) toned it down a bit. Not so here. Donaldson endlessly repeats numerous obscure words (the two that annoyed me the most being "condign" and "theurgy"), which is one thing if they remain in the narrative voice, but he inserts them in dialog as well. Are we really to believe that everyone in the Land is a walking dictionary? The effect is that none of the characters have a distinctive voice. Donaldson also has an annoying habit of interrupting dialog with a reminder of something said previously that is supposed to be somehow meaningful or profound, or having characters rehash in dialog events that occurred not that long ago. So much of the writing is repetitive that the main plot could probably fit in two books rather than four. Instead, we are dragged along from one unbelievable and ultimately meaningless battle to the next.

I will continue to re-read and enjoy the First and Second Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, but will end there. These recent books should not exist.

I've read all covenant books, and Mordant's Need. I have not read any Gap into Conflict books. 30 years ago when I read first Covenant books, pretty good even though it was an intentional, obvious ripoff of Lord of the Rings. This time, in book 3 (of 4) the latest "bane" Donaldson invents seems to appear at the last minute outta nothing, and this book foreshadows that bane constantly. I read this book only to see it end, and the ending against the main baddie Lord Foul was most unsatisfying. Let's just say after 3 series and 10 massive tomes, one expects a Final Solution, especially since this is called the LAST tom covenant chronicles. As usual in donaldsons books, the characters spend pages and pages whining and weeping about the necessity to kill or be killed. When are you people gonna get over yourself? Ok you are all passifists, but that's a luxury you don't get to indulge in, unless you like to see all your friends die horribly. Get over yourselves and get the damn job done. The victims of your aggression are pure, true evil, so what's the problem?? I got sick of this attitude in second series and since 10 years passed for linden and 4,000 years passed for covenant, and since both of em KNOW there is life after death, why are they still so squeamish? I will say that linden does act very heroic with self sacrifice and covenant finally does some action man stuff at the very end, but the end of this series seems very rushed and stapled on. We sat thru four books for this? MEH, I say!!

A compelling story and a great read, but the story gets a bit over the top in complexity. He is an very good writer but about half way thru the book you start to forget all of the different outside characters and just concentrate on the 3 main characters.

This is part 10 of and the final volume of a trilogy of trilogies. If you haven't read the previous nine volumes in the series, do so. Preferably in order.

In recent volumes I tired of the repetitive use of 'puissance.' Taking up this volume I counted the pages until the term appeared yet again. Page 42.

But this volume is puissant indeed. I'm only through Part 1 and I've been choked up and teary eyed so many times already that I stand in awe. I can only hope that Part 2 transcends and exalts.

** Spoilers Here*** (Is that enough on that?) **Don't read this if you care about learning what happens in the end**

Well, I will start by saying I have been reading and re-reading these books since they first came out, I have gone through multiple paperback editions of the first 6 books. In terms of complexity and writing, I'd have to rate the Second Chronicles as top of the group, by a pretty large margin, although the original series was very nice as well.

As other posters have mentioned, the interminable amount time spent (especially in the last two books) sitting around and reflecting/agonizing is remarkable, especially since only 4 or 5 days actually elapse in real time. The poor Giants always seem to be running after the Ranyhyn and getting completely worn out in the process.

But there were 2 particular moments that I'm sorry I just didn't really like: The first of course is when Covenant decides to get down on one knee and propose to Linden -really, the "Unbeliever" would really do that ? And when the world is literally ending within a matter of hours. The second one unfortunately is at the climactic moment, when a large fist literally reaches down from the heavens and squashes Lord Foul, like something out of an old Monty Python episode. And they didn't even let him kill Jeremiah before getting squished.

So I am glad it ended, for some reason I was bummed out that Handir, Voice of the Masters, didn't make it very far. The ending to me seemed right out of Mordant's Need - nice, sweet, but not really fitting in with a Covenant book.

Following this train wreck of a final chronicles of a beloved series ,involved the full strength of my inner masochist to power me to its sad conclusion. A causality of that en devour was love for the character of linden avery becoming hate.There is a difference between been flawed and being stupidly, repetitively selfish and that character crosses that line by leaps and bounds. In so doing she makes total idiots of the giants and any one else who accepted and followed such decisions, unless of course her followers faith in her turned her into a GOD in their eyes. The previous two chronicles were works of ying and yang perfection,this last chronicles is total commercial prostitution or a admission by Mr Donaldson that he has lost his mojo.

This conclusion to the Thomas Covenant Series is fitting in that the answers created by/found by/given to Thomas and Linden are unexpected or contradictory. I do not want to give spoilers but the action, intensity, and emotional journeys of the group are exhausting, continuous, and addictive.

No resolution. No character or plot development. Just a hand-wavy series of events with no emotional resonance or discernible purpose. Which - coming from the author of some of the deepest and most inventive novels of the past three decades - is doubly disheartening. I wanted so bad to enjoy this but I couldn't do it. Sorry SRD.

The writing quality is superb, and this ties all of the prior stories in beautifully. The very ending may not be what I had hoped, but it does well sum up the Chronicles in such a way as to be enjoyable while leaving several questions open to reader interpretation. In short, the deeper meanings one can draw from the conclusion are yours to explore and enjoy as you remember the amazing series. The method by which this book resolves and culminates all of the prior plot-lines, is well done and deserves the highest merit of writing respect. No other series in my lifetime of reading, has given me as much appreciation for quality literature, as has the Covenant series.

the three family members are each taxed with burdens and chores of their own. saving the Land and the life on it will require more than each can give but they must face their fears and gone on. the Worm, Foul, and She Who Must Not Be Named are not the only terrors lodged in their hearts. they must learn and succeed.

the series was engrossing. I found the mixtures of protagonists superb and I know why I enjoyed it the first time.