panguitch's Full Review: Stephen R. Donaldson - Lord Foul's Bane
What fan of fantasy hasn't read The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever? I haven't. At least I hadn't. Now I've started, and with Lord Foul's Bane down, I'm starting on the next installments of Stephen R. Donaldson's landmark series, The Illearth War and The Power that Preserves. My thoughts on Lord Foul's Bane? Ask and ye shall receive...
PREMISE and PLOT
Thomas Covenant is a leper in modern-day America. A leper in the literal sense. There being no miracle-workers in the real world, he inevitably suffers the fate common to all lepers: ostracism. It doesn't help that he lives in a backwards small town. In addition to the fear and hatred of his neighbors, Covenant suffers divorce and bereavement when his wife leaves with their son.
Just surviving with leprosy requires a certain amount of bull-headedness. And Covenant isn't about to let the world forget about him. Moreover, like any human, he feels the need to be among people. So he takes a trip into town to pay his bills--making a statement that he's still a real person. Unfortunately, he gets hit by a car.
Sort of. What he soon discovers is that he's actually been transported, summoned, to a fantastical place, The Land, where he becomes the pawn of Lord Foul. Sent by Foul to deliver a message of doom to the Lords of the Land, Covenant explores this Land, all the while wrestling with the question of its reality. His leprosy-spawned bitterness and cynicism clashes with the black-and-white good vs. evil Land, and the vitality and healing the Land restores to him threatens to drive him mad as he tries to maintain the conviction that he's experiencing a delusion.
The Lords of the Land enlist Covenant's unwilling aid in the struggle to regain powerful magics from Lord Foul and his minions, enmeshing him deeper in the world he is trying to disavow. Their faith in him and the supposed powers of his 'magic' white gold wedding ring push him to the brink of insanity. To add to his turmoil, he cannot help but begin to love the Land and its people for their beauty. It's up to him, a leper--icon of impotence--to save the Land. And yet every step of the way Covenant realizes he and the Lords are being manipulated by Foul.
SETTING
The world Donaldson has created is intriguing and complete. The ideas behind it are some of the most classic and original in all of fantasy. However, there is a certain neatness, or wholeness about it that smacks of artificiality. What I mean is that at the edges of the map, the world ends. And while Donaldson has a well organized history and background for his world, it shares the same restrictiveness as his geography. It seems big, and it has depth, but it’s obviously an attempt to create the illusion of a complete world behind the story. In reality, there is no complete world, and the illusion is only somewhat successful.
Which brings us to the inevitable and unfair comparison to Tolkien. Tolkien’s work is most successful at giving the reader a sense that there’s a complete world behind, and larger than, the story. Donaldson, like his contemporary Terry Brooks (who also premiered in 1977, with The Sword of Shannara), cannot match this feat. Unfortunately, they come as close to the mark as most fantasists. After all, not everyone can, or wants to, spend their entire life in a study developing the world for just one storyline the way Tolkien did. To my mind, those who have come closest are George R. R. Martin in his Song of Ice and Fire and David Farland in The Runelords. But I digress.
Unlike Terry Brooks, Donaldson is more than derivative of Tolkien. There are no dwarves, elves, or trolls. There are no skullbearer substitutes for nazgul. But Donaldson does pursue resonance with Tolkien, sometimes heavy handedly. The woodhelvennin, while human, are obviously counterparts to Tolkien’s elves, just as the stonedownors share similarities with dwarves. And Donaldson’s giants are philosophically identical to Ents, though they have their own charm.
In fact, all of Donaldson’s creations have their own distinctive flavor. When you realize giants are similar to Ents, you cannot equate them because there are important differences. Donaldson is not simply derivative. He seems more to be entering into a dialogue with Tolkien, presenting his own version of a fantasy world, similar to but not regurgitated from Tolkien.
CHARACTERS
Covenant is intriguing, and perhaps the only character in fantasy or science fiction I would favorably compare with Covenant’s complexity is Fitz from Robin Hobb’s Assassin’s Apprentice, although Covenant is most similar to Gollum from Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings. Covenant is an anti-hero. You may sometimes sympathize with him, but more often you just think he’s a selfish brat. I personally never liked him. He’s a terrible jerk to all around him, and the more they have faith in him, the worse he treats them. But you’re not supposed to like him. That’s what makes this book so unique. At times I felt Donaldson was overplaying Covenant’s despicableness, but usually it’s well done.
Towards the beginning of the novel Covenant actually does something terrible to someone who trusts him explicitly. Something unforgivable. And though he realizes this, and hates himself the more for it, I found it unsettling that most of the novel went by before the psychological effects this act had on Covenant were explored. I almost threw the book away, feeling it lost all credibility by ignoring the implications of this act. Near the end, however, Donaldson somewhat redeemed himself by exposing these effects in Covenant’s psychology. However masterfully done, it was a bit late for me and failed to completely redeem the novel.
The other characters bear less mentioning. As is common in fantasy and science fiction, they serve mostly as representatives of their groups rather than as individuals. (This is not a fault, just the way these genres work. The groups of people are interesting and well-portrayed.) The two most interesting individuals other than Covenant are Atiaran, who becomes a mirror of Covenant in her inner paradox. She hates him, but must aid him to save the Land, and this damages her psyche. Saltheart Foamfollower, a giant, is amusing and useful for purposes of exposition. But as the story progresses, he gains complexity and depth, and makes decisions of his own which cause debilitating regret.
STYLE
Donaldson’s style is a bit thick. He has a wonderful vocabulary, and employs interesting literary techniques, especially metaphor to an extent rarely seen in the genre. This ‘thickness’ reminds me of Ursula K. LeGuin in ways. While it has its strengths, it can at times wear on the reader. After all, most readers of fantasy read because they’re interested in either the setting, plot, or characters. Authors who flex their literary muscles just to show them off are usually better received in the college curriculums than they are in fantasy circles.
This is not to say Donaldson overdoes it. Not all the time. For the most part, I found it refreshing because too many fantasists go too far in the other direction. But sometimes I did feel it would have been better if he’d quickened the pace a bit. I should note that Donaldson’s style in this work is particularly well suited for exploring the anti-hero’s psychology.
REACTIONS
I have mixed feelings about this book. It’s very well crafted. But it failed to touch me deeply. The leading character is outstandingly intriguing amongst his peers in the genre. But I think Donaldson, while creating a wonder, had set himself too difficult a task and came up short in certain ways. Sometimes I just felt that Covenant’s nastiness was forced.
The world is interesting, but limited. And didn’t particularly capture my imagination. I won’t remember it with fondness years hence. But the interaction between our world and The Land was memorable, and especially in this respect The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever are a landmark.
Finally, I didn’t find that this book led me into any soul-searching or extended thoughts apart from the written page. Great themes were introduced, but seldom explored. And the exceptional nature of Covenant himself obscured opportunities for sympathy. In fact, there were times when Covenant’s inner struggling with himself and the questionable reality of his experiences was inadequately portrayed for me. I didn’t feel engaged to the point where I could see a credible character struggling to that extent with the reality of their ‘delusional fantasy’.
Any serious fan of fantasy owes it to themselves to read this important book, if not the series. I want to give it four stars for that reason. But to do so would be dishonest. For me, this was a three star book, and my recommendation is timid and comes with caveats. But keep in mind, three stars is still pretty good.
The first book in one of the most remarkable epic fantasies ever written, the Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, Unbeliever.He called himself Thomas Coven...More at Buy.com
The first book in one of the most remarkable epic fantasies ever written, the Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, Unbeliever.He called himself Thomas Coven...More at Buy.com Marketplaces
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