Rating: Summary: Read it, reread it, love it. Review: This is the best of the Chronicles. Donaldson continues his modus operandi (action and heart shaking despair, then a final, cleansing burst of glory) to bring us a depressing, tormentuos book who's ending totally blasts away any lingering sadness. The end justifies absolutely anything Donaldson could have inflicted on us along the way .
Rating: Summary: The best Fantasy ever! Review: This is the most breathtaking book I ever read. It is full of darkness and misery, but on every page there is a piece of hope, of believe in a man that doesn't know himself, that can't handle life itself. You have to read this, it's an unforgetable experience.
Rating: Summary: What more could you ask for Review: This is the most enthralling book of the First Chronicles. I get such a sense of awe when following Mhoram's thoughts, inner struggles, hope and eventual victory. Ne'er have I found such emotional writing, it's not deep like the Second Chronicels, but it inundates you with emotion.
Rating: Summary: A classic to read over and over Review: This series always takes pride of place on my bookshelf. Donaldson has created a complex and rich land and populated it with compelling characters and creatures. Covenant is the perfect antidote to the predictable fantasy hero, becoming resolute in his hatred for Foul and growing in character throughout the three books of the first chronicles. Comparable to Tad Williams, Feist and Terry Goodkind, but for me still edges it as the best!
Rating: Summary: A fitting end to a great series. Review: This was the conclusion to one of the best fantasy trilogies I have ever read. The reader really gets to know the major characters over the course of three books. It's amazing how Donaldson tied them all together at the end (having Saltheart Foamfollower skip book two, and having Elena appear again in book three). The only complaint I have about these books is that I got a little tired about hearing about the main character's problems with leprosy. He was always exclaiming "I'm a leper, don't you understand!" every 10-20 pages or so and in a 1,500 page series it got old pretty quickly. I know the concept was important to the stories but it was a bit overplayed. In terms of what I liked about the book: the story was not entirely action-based, it had a somber tone rather than the typical "happy-go-lucky" tone of most fantasy novels, I liked the fact the main character wasn't able to use his power until the very end of the series.I'm looking forward to reading the other trilogy.
Rating: Summary: very dark Review: Time in the Land has made Covenant out of place in any world. The fruits of his actions haunt him, and his search for peace drives him to the brink of death, a thing that would make too many people witout hearts rejoice. Yet, his heart has been cured of leprosy, even if his body is sicker than ever. So, when he has the chance to save a child, he takes the risk of condemning the Land to save her. Then, he is given the chance to rectify his error and is taken to the Land to find it changed. The Bloodguard and Giants are no more, the girl who loved him is old and insane. It's now or never for the Unbeliever to face Lord Foul, but with a heart so filled with lornness, how can he fight despair incarnate?
This book is another winner, one that reminds us that hope always lives.
Rating: Summary: It's all in the mind Review: Well ! Well ! Covenant proves himself. He is the only person who can still think straight.While everyone is consumed by hate , despair and despite and an urge to slay , Covenant knows the right way to kill Lord Foul. Donaldson strikes out at the world and its beliefs, that experience necessarily breeds despair(read Hemingway for example).He tells us to laugh in the face of the grimmest odds and the most desparate situations. Despite is defeated and the Land is saved.This book must be read by anyone who read the first two."The Chronicles" is a great book.
Rating: Summary: Excellent!! Review: When I finished, I felt... well, the words of the Land fit it best! Melenkurion abatha!! Duroc minas mil khabaal!! I felt that the triumph of Mhoram, Covenant and the Land as if it were my own. I've never read a more intense book. Read it!!
Rating: Summary: The Best Book in the Series Review: Wow. Just wow. "The Power that Preserves" is amazing. Astonishing. Breathtaking. The sort of fantasy novel that you expect to find once a decade, if it's a particularly good decade. This is the culmination of a story that so big you can barely believe it fits in three books, so intense that it seems amazing that any person could actually have written it. It is a story you will never forget. One portion of the novels follows Lord Morham as he attempts to save the Land from total destruction in a final battle against Lord Foul's forces. The giant reaver Satansfist has Morham and the other wizards and defenders of the Land under siege at the castle of Revelstone. This contest is in amazing piece of virtuoso writing, perfectly melding several great action sequences with intense psychological passages to create something dazzling. I feel perfectly comfortable saying the Donaldson is the only fantasy author who has ever equaled Tolkien in writing battle scenes. The emotional triumph at the conclusion of this one is, well, words just can't describe it. Any lesser author would have devoted an entire book just to that. For Donaldson, however, it's just the prelude to the main event. The main event, it's no spoiler to say, is the final showdown between Thomas Covenant and Lord Foul. And what a showdown it is. When Donaldson started writing this trilogy, the most important decision he made was that his main character would not be a standard fantasy hero. Thomas Covenant, of course, is the most deeply sympathetic and real character ever to appear in any fantasy novel. Having created a person as amazing as this one, of course, poses the problem of how to provide a satisfying conclusion while still remaining true to the character. Probably nobody alive could have pulled it off as well as Donaldson, but then again no one other than Donaldson would ever have attempted a fantasy series this ambitious anyway. So in conclusion, read it, love it, be amazed by it.
Rating: Summary: The Best Book in the Series Review: Wow. Just wow. "The Power that Preserves" is amazing. Astonishing. Breathtaking. The sort of fantasy novel that you expect to find once a decade, if it's a particularly good decade. This is the culmination of a story that so big you can barely believe it fits in three books, so intense that it seems amazing that any person could actually have written it. It is a story you will never forget. One portion of the novels follows Lord Morham as he attempts to save the Land from total destruction in a final battle against Lord Foul's forces. The giant reaver Satansfist has Morham and the other wizards and defenders of the Land under siege at the castle of Revelstone. This contest is in amazing piece of virtuoso writing, perfectly melding several great action sequences with intense psychological passages to create something dazzling. I feel perfectly comfortable saying the Donaldson is the only fantasy author who has ever equaled Tolkien in writing battle scenes. The emotional triumph at the conclusion of this one is, well, words just can't describe it. Any lesser author would have devoted an entire book just to that. For Donaldson, however, it's just the prelude to the main event. The main event, it's no spoiler to say, is the final showdown between Thomas Covenant and Lord Foul. And what a showdown it is. When Donaldson started writing this trilogy, the most important decision he made was that his main character would not be a standard fantasy hero. Thomas Covenant, of course, is the most deeply sympathetic and real character ever to appear in any fantasy novel. Having created a person as amazing as this one, of course, poses the problem of how to provide a satisfying conclusion while still remaining true to the character. Probably nobody alive could have pulled it off as well as Donaldson, but then again no one other than Donaldson would ever have attempted a fantasy series this ambitious anyway. So in conclusion, read it, love it, be amazed by it.
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