The Man Who Fought Alone

Rating:
Summary: Terrifically Tense and Intense
Review: Donaldson is definitely one of my favorite authors and I especially enjoyed his slamming, futuristic sci/fi Gap Series. This new book is written with the same intensity that I have come to appreciate so much about Donaldson's style. He grabs your attention in any number of ways and hangs on to it with plot twists and turns that he spins in a very hip way of expressing his characters' flaws and fortunes. Axbrewder "Brew" is both likeable and contemptible. He is full of flaws and fire, fear and fearlessness and his struggle to find himself now unattached at the hip from his former partner Ginny and on his own to face his co-dependency and the myriad storms of feelings over what he perceives as a form of abandonment leaves him floundering and needy both physically and psychologically. These burdens add a large dose of bitters to the task of finding his identity as a sole provider for himself at the work he is best able to do and to undo. I loved the constant tension of wondering where or when he would mess up next.

SRD paints his characters with brilliant brush strokes that leave a reader in no doubt as to what makes them tick. Additionally, I appreciated the learning curve offered by the author in this book that really helps one's understanding of the real and the more esoteric practices of the martial arts. It is a subject that can be pretty confusing unless one is involved in that area of study.

The plot was fairly straightforward and I knew about the first third of the book who the "villan" would be. This was an interesting twist in his style for the reader to have the CLUE, while the hero was left to navigate the minefields of being clueless which the author dressed up as hunches. Nice touch. All in all, I have to say that I like "Brew" a lot as a character and hope to see him around again. And again. Thanks for a cool yarn SRD!

Rating:
Summary: an incrimental mystery
Review: I read this novel because I enjoyed Donaldson's Thomas Covenant and Mordant's Need series. I was curious how he handled the mystery genre. Although I tend to think of mystery being written in short, backhanded sentences with a minimum of description except to evoke atmosphere, and largely supported by dialogue, Donaldson is remarkably effective with his typically long, analogy-studded sentences (ie sunshine like piledrivers) and his brilliantly, meticulously drawn characterizations.

This is not an easily read novel. I'm reminded of this whenever I recommend Donaldson to someone else, and find they can't get past the first few chapters. Donaldson always builds momentum in his novels so that you love by the end exactly what you hated in the beginning; it's sort of a relationship where you get out what you are willing to put in. In this case, you have to invest in a misanthropic, unemployed alcoholic ("Brew") who seems likeable at first only because we the readers inevitably shine in comparison. But when the plot kicks in, Brew is a very real character worth following around. He's no Spenser, but his faults are refreshing in this light.

The martial arts side of this novel is well-inserted, and fascinating. I've attended tournaments exactly like the one he describes, and he gets it perfect. I would have read the book for this alone.

I recommend this novel if you know what you're getting into. If you're already a Donaldson fan, jump in. Otherwise, you might find you really like his style; it's certainly different from the majority of mystery I've happened to read.

Rating:
Summary: A not so decent Man who lives for trouble.
Review: This is one in a series of THE MAN WHO which followed all those CHRONICLES OF THOMAS COVENANT, a kind of follow through with some of the same characters. This one is a violent man involved with the martial arts and who kills without conscience. He had killed his own brother while drunk. Enough said.

This is touted to be a 'tale of a hero's dark night of the soul.' I feel he has no soul. Any killer is lacking morals and any other virtue. Most drunks lack all the needed virtues to function in this world.

Stephen Donaldson is one of my favorite writers for the trio he did with A MAN RIDES THROUGH as one of them. He had a good woman in these about time travel back to medieval times. I read his GAP series, GAP INTO VISION, GAP INTO MADNESS; I think there had to have been a third in this series. Anyway, I read them but did not understand much, so I classed it as science fiction.

If this book is based on real life, it is a life I know nothing of and wouldn't want to -- I had a young neighbor boy back in Pulaski who watched KUNG FO on t.v. and would get out in the front yard and perform all those moves with a long stick. Before I realized what he was emulating, I thought the child had gone crazy. To me, the martial arts are too noisy to begin with and ridiculous to watch. I suppose you're supposed to scare off your opponent by kicking high and yelling. To me, that is the coward's way out, not real fighting.

Brew fits his name as he is an alcoholic whose loved ones have turned their backs on him (mainly because of the murder he committed), not his drinking. The love of his life seems to be as seedy a character as he.

Donaldson, who lives in New Mexico (my daughter-in-law said she had met him when my son was a teacher in Alburque), is perfect with his use of the English lalnguage, the thing which attracted me to his writings. Now, he is on a MAN thing, THE MAN WHO RISKED HIS BROTHER, THE MAN WHO KILLED HIS BROTHER, THE MAN WHO FOUGHT ALONE, (a new series, I guess) and A MAN WHO RIDES THROUGH (which I loved, he was not a modern man but was from the medieval times). We need more dignity and humility as they practiced back then, even with the cruelty in wars.

We still have much cruelty in war. Consider the beheadings which are a continuing thing going on at the moment in Iran. Where has civilization gone -- to the dogs?! A dog-eat-dog world, what a drudge for sensitive, civilized folks.