Rating: 
Summary: Plumb The Icy Unfeeling Depths
Review: In short, buy this book. Beautiful and complicated settings and characterization make this more than the standard hero vs. dark lord in a fantasy land.Lord Foul's Bane (LFB) is a complex novel. It is not for the faint of heart. It is full of what we commonly term evil: rape, murder, slander, lies, viciousness, torture.... Horribly, realistically, the evils that men do are the work of the hero--and strangely yet wonderfully, are not eclipsed by the antagonist, Lord Foul, one of the most sinister Dark Lords that a fantasist has ever spawned. In the end, because all revolves around a man-- a mere man, a man who has sunk as low as a man can--redemption is not only possible, but believable. Thomas Covenant, the protagonist of LFB, is one of the most complicated characters in literary history. He is more monstrous, inhuman, and distant than Kafka's Gregor Samsa (the cockroach); more cynical, doubting, and full of self-hatred than Salinger's quintessential suicidal adolescent, Holden Caulfield; and more fatally, beautifully, humanly flawed than Achilles. By bringing the reader down into the depths, forcing us to see the world through the eyes of a man damned by himself over and over again, the author creates the possibility for inexpressible deliverance. Suffering from a kind of spiritual leprosy that is mirrored in his physical state (he is a leper), Thomas Covenant lives in the 20'th century outside a small town in the US. Shunned by his neighbors, deserted by his wife and child, he lives off the proceeds of a novel he wrote when he was full of courage, optimism, and love. Broken, bereft of everything, he is ripe for fantasy, and when he is hit by a car and enters a coma, he enters a mystical realm in which his leprosy is magically healed--the worst possible thing that can happen to a man who depends on his physical stigmata to reinforce his self-loathing and self-hatred. In the end, however, the seed of hope is planted, creating an awesome novel that stands on its own--yet is part of the greatest fantasy trilogy of the 1970's era. I can't think of many parallels in modern literature. LFB was definitely ahead of its time, and it signalled the coming of such works as The Dark Knight Returns, and Watchmen; although Rorschach and the angst-ridden Batman have nothing on Thomas Covenant!!
Rating:
Summary: emotions or what?
Review: These two trilogies contain the only books in history to actually make me cry. After hating Covenant and some of his dastardly deeds (such as rape), when it came to the end of White Gold Wielder, I cried my heart out. I must have gone through every emotion known to mankind whilst reading these books, as well as questioning my own feelings and emotions toward the basest quest for survival and the need for other human interaction. Please read these books. You won't be disappointed. Please Mr Stephenson, hurry up with the third series. I can't wait.Nothing else compares with stirring up human emotion and awe at some of the characters such as Saltheart Foamfollower and Bannor of the Bloodguard.
Rating: 
Summary: Refreshing hero and themes; but unoriginal story and setting
Review: Thomas Covenant is an interesting anti-hero. He rufeses to believe in all the wonderful things that are around him. He also doesn't believe in the people. He is bitter and spiteful, yet Donaldson does not over do this. The book also wrestles with interesting themes: nature of reality, cruelity of the world, man's cruelity to others, etc. The themes could have been delved into more deeply but this isn't Philip K. Dick. The major problem with this book is that the world and events around Covenant I've already seen in other fantasies. The feel of "the Land" is a bit too Tolkienesque and so are the events in the story (Lord Foul/Sauron, Sauron/Lord Foul). Maybe, I shouldn't have read this after finishing Jeffery Ford's "Memorandum", which breaks away from the traditional fantasy world.
Rating:
Summary: Thomas Covenant Trilogy Ranks With the Best
Review: The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever are quite simply the finest fantasy books since Middle Earth. I envy the fantasy reader who gets to read them for first time. This is not another Tolkien rip-off. Donaldson crafts a rich world with characters that add a new dimension to his stories. Once you pick up the first book, you won't be able to wait to get through the rest of the books. For the lover of pure fantasy, this is a must-read.
Rating:
Summary: Hey, I remember you!
Review: I saw Stephen R. Donaldson's name on one of these web pages, and had a Thomas Covenant flashback. I read them almost twenty years ago. I also have met others and in talking about books mentioned reading about ol' Tommy. The consensus has always been- loved the stories, HATED Covenant. He is the single most whiny, woe is me, everyone is picking on me man in literary history. I often found myself hoping something would eat him, or his fingers would grow back, and his tongue would fall out. Oh, my god,this review thing is better than a shrink! All this pent up anger towards that guy who would see someone get cut in half,or argue with some giant ogre, then say "Nope, I don't believe it." I feel wonderful. Thank you, ..., I might even try reading another of Robert Jordan's five-pounders. Well, maybe not.
Rating:
Summary: Quite possibly the finest fantasy series ever written
Review: High fantasy with a twist-the lead character is one of the finest anti-heroes ever created! Simply incredible. Amazingly, the Second Chronicles of Thomas Covenant is actually better than the First!
Rating:
Summary: Absolute Brilliance
Review: Having just reread all six books in the Thomas Covenant Chronicles, I am once again breathtaken by the imagery, magic, heartbreak and gritty realism which Donaldson manages to convey with such ease into all aspects of his writing. Lord Foul's Bane, the first step into the life of a leper in small town America and the first insight into The Land is astounding. Although Thomas Covenant does nothing to endear the reader to himself, you still find yourself sympathising with him throughout the book, and by the end of the first trilogy empathising with him. I have never read a book in which I have become so involved with the characters and the surroundings in which they live, (and yes, this does include Tolkein). Anybody who reads or enjoys fantasy MUST read these books. For those who don't, this is arguably the best place to introduce yourself to new worlds, in which your imagination can just take flight.
Rating:
Summary: The BEST fantasy I have ever read (well, aside from Tolkien)
Review: I say unequivicably the Donaldson's series is far and away the most unique fantasy story telling I have read. I refuse to compare anything to Tolkien (which is in a class by itself) so I won't go there. Thomas Covenant is the ultimate anti-hero, the man who does not want to care, the man who cannot break out of being a leper becuase that is who he is. And yet, The Land draws him deeper into its spell while at the same time his self-hatred grows. The sadness of the giants and their love is overwhelming. The integrity of Mhoram. There is so much here to captivate the mind. This is one of the only books I can think of where I truly wept with joy and sadness at the end of the last book of the first trilogy. The beauty of Covenant's final ability to love the land and to truly want to save it is heartbreaking. Donaldson has a unique and highly imaginative way of writing that both captivates and disturbs at the same time. The characters he creates are beautiful and complex, the world he describes is one full of beauty and life. I cannot commend this series to you more. As a final comment, the Second Chronicles series is also excellent, but not quite as captivating and seems to try to hard to play off the greatnes of the first series.
Rating:
Summary: The best-kept secret
Review: The series that starts with Lord Fouls Baine is most likely one of the most astonishing (and incredibly touching), philosophical, psychologial, and almost prophetic series of books of fantasy that I have ever read. For great joy, read "The Power that Preserves". For great dispair, read "The Wounded Land". If you must read them all, you must read them in order. They are astonishing in a way that I can't even describe, which is why I feel that this man never recieved the recognition that he so richly deserves. The character Thomas Covenant was told in one of his books (White Gold Wielder) that the thing he wants must be gotten to recieve, but in the end he must return. I dearly hope he does return to the land. If you want a look at Eden, you must read of Andelaine (sp?), the precious heart of the land that is unspoiled, and that is in a sense magical. There is too much for me to describe, too many wonders, too many dispairs, too many wars, and too many mysteries, and this fantasy that is, in so many ways, so real.
Rating:
Summary: A canvas of imagery
Review: Donaldson writes with imagery and magic in a way that makes his world more real than surreal. Its people are the people you know. You enter Covenant's life and feel every second of it. You never leave his side. The magic makes every page a picture, and the first book in a series of six leaves you hungry fore more!
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