Rating: 
Summary: Worth reading
Review: Donaldson's style of writing is a bit dramatic for me. Some nonessential events were described in overly flamboyant style.The plot was one dimensional, predictable, and even boring at times. Many of the characters were not developed enough. There are two aspects of Lord Foul's Bane that make it worth reading. Thomas Covenant is not your typical hero. In my opinion, he is more like my jerk neighbor. I suppose much of Covenant's bad attitude can be explained away by his struggles as a leper (I don't know what my neighbors excuse is)- but regardless of that, is was refreshing to see a protagonist who wasn't the legendary, squeaky clean, knight in shining armor. Also, the setting created by Donaldson for this quest is enjoyable despite the frequently overly dramatic descriptions.
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting idea....too much groaning
Review: I liked the idea; leper, outcast and unbeliever as a hero who causes more harm than good in some cases. That idea got me through some of the worst writing I have ever read. Everyone is groaning and spitting. No one says anything. They all groan through their teeth. After hacking through it all, there was a payoff of an idea. And that was worth the read to me. But the jungle of groans is hard to slash through. I do not wish this book on anyone. Go read Orson Scott Card instead.
Rating: 
Summary: A spell-binding, heart-wrenching tale
Review: No one could love Thomas Covenant. And that's what makes this book so great. Covenant is unique, realistic, and in a stomach turning way, almost tangible. His character could hardly be rammed into the casing of the typical fantasy hero archetype. He isn't young, he's hardly alturistic and self-sacrificing, and he's not going to rush into every battle waving a sword over his balding head. Now despite the fact that I loved this book, and the rest of the two trilogies, I would never recommend it to everyone. When I first tried reading this book in junior high I got about 50 pages before the "incident" forced me to throw the book down in horror. (And no, no, I'm not going to tell you what that incident was . . . unlike some fellow reviewers . . .) In anycase, the emotions, the actions-this entire book-it's all too much unless you have a strong gut and a desire to read about brutally realistic minds put to the tests of responsibility and tragedy on a journey through the fantasy realm of the Land.
Rating: 
Summary: What a jerk
Review: Since I can't wait to read the next installment of the Thomas Covenant Series, it's pretty obvious that I liked them. And for good reason. Donaldson paints pictures with words as well as anyone I've ever read. The stories have a great plot, and the characters are fully developed. So why did he have to make Covenant such a complete a@#hole? Time and time again, I thought that his rudeness detracted from the story. If you want a great start to a fantasy series, buy this book. But avoid it if you are expecting a story with a perfect protagonist that aids everyone.
Rating:
Summary: Suprised by the slams
Review: First let me say that I loved all 6 books and read them back to back. I was never bored and whished for more after they ended.
They are my favorite fantasy series.
Comparing to:
- Rift War Saga ( Fiest ) - Liked it
- LOTR & Hobbit ( Tolkein)- Liked it
- Eye of The World ( Jordan ) - Liked it but series is still
going therefore I stopped reading.
Most likly will pick up if when
the series ends.
- Wizard's First Rule ( Goodkind ) - Me no likey. Too much
torture and pain.
- Sword of Shanara ( Brooks ) - No go. Maybe others are good
but I thought the story was a
little weak. [....]
Rating:
Summary: Lord Foul's foul ball
Review: Perhaps the reason why this series (beginning with the extremely promising Lord Foul's Bane [The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever, Book 1]) is so disappointing, is that the writer is a remarkably talented and capable writer. One can see--and feel--the potential of the premise and be equally frustrated and offended by the weakness and immorality of the (alleged) protagonist. After five books, my friends and I were in violent agreement that the author was intentionally trying to lead us to depression. The only reason that an experienced reader might find to hang on to this series, is in pursuit of the hope that some kind of rehabilitation might occur. Alas, it never happens. The author is terribly fortunate that he doesn't live in our neighborhood. Never have I invested more time in a series that I have grown to hate! The hatred is professional--not personal--as this series is paridise squandered, not lost.
Rating:
Summary: The true nature of power, and of the law
Review: These books, Lord Foul's Bane being the first of six, tell a tale which has brought me both the elation of battles fought victoriously within their pages and the most aching of sorrows at the spelling out of beloved characters fates outside of even the explicit text itself.
I devoured these books for the first time when I was fourteen and have read them at least a dozen times since. The writing is extraordinary, painting scenes perfectly etched in my mind's eye of every event and the traits and fullness of the Land's beauty and of its' people.
While the outward structure of the books entertains and enthralls, a grim, yet perservering philosophy is laid out from the standpoint of one who sees clearly whats important because he must not let himself feel the exigencies of existence. A path whose destination may not be joy or happiness but an end which one can assure oneself is morally and ethically sound.
Rating:
Summary: Tolkien-derived, yeah, even an homage, but far superior!!
Review: In truth, I waded my way through the entire Thomas Covenant series (all six books!) before I finished Tolkien's Ring trilogy. Not the typical routine, perhaps, but when I first tried to get through The Two Towers some years ago, I found it just too damn slow-going, and gave it up for several years. So we come to Stephen Donaldson's Thomas Covenant series. In retrospect (having now read both series), there are many uncanny similarities between Donaldson's "Land" and Tolkien's Middle Earth. The dimly-seen dark overlord (Lord Foul=Sauron) in his impregnable fortress (Foul's Creche=Barad-Dur), with several disembodied henchmen (Ravers=Ringwraiths), seeking the overwhelming power of a unique ring (white gold=One Ring) in the hands of an unlikely wielder (Thomas Covenant the leper=Frodo Baggins the hobbit). The parallels are so pervasive as to seem almost like plagiarism at times, though it seems to me more in the spirit of an homage to Tolkien's epic. While taking nothing away from the Lord of the Rings series, Donaldson's world not only pays tribute to its predecessor, but surpasses it in many ways. Without resorting to the seemingly bottomless well of supplemental volumes about Middle Earth that have surfaced in the years since the original trilogy's publication, Donaldson manages to flesh out his world to an amazing degree, such that the reader cannot help but become personally invested in The Land's fate. And in Thomas Covenant, Ringbearer and Unbeliever, we have a truly remarkable protagonist, alternately raging and helpless, loathsome and pitiful, and at all times a uniquely "objective" viewpoint on the oftentimes fantastic occurrences of that world. "Reluctant hero" doesn't even begin to describe Thomas Covenant's role in these cataclysmic events (a sobriquet much more suited to his Tolkien counterpart, Frodo Baggins); rather a true "anti-hero," not only in his actions (the brutal rape of a woman in the Land) but in his firm beliefs that everything he is experiencing is likely nothing more than an elaborate delusion, a hallucination. And as such, there is no point in becoming personally involved, or even interested, in the fates of the people and places over which he wields such absolute power, merely by the accident of his white gold ring. The process by which he slowly, painfully, begins to change these beliefs, is what ultimately makes this, and the other volumes of the series, so remarkable.
Rating:
Summary: The Ending Left a Sour Taste
Review: This is the first book I've read from the Chronicles of the Unbeliever. Unlike many other reviewers, I have not read any of the following books, so I don't bring a wide, forward looking scope to this book. What I do bring is my views and perspective on this one work as a stand-alone novel. The story started out very strong. Covenant's struggles with his leprosy, the way his disease affects his relationships with his family, community, and self, was the strongest part of the novel. Once Covenant arrives in the Land, the book loses something, in my opinion, because Covenant doesn't do anything. He floats from one guide to the next, discovering different aspects of the Land, but he doesn't take any action on his own, except for one, and it is so dispicable that I developed a true distaste for Covenant very early. Not only does Covenant rape the young woman who has been helping him through the beginning of the book, he hardly thinks of it through the rest of the novel. The author justifies Covenant's actions by having him stubbornly believe he's having a dream, but one can never be 100% sure Covenant believes that. The strongest aspect of this book is the world building. Donaldson has created a great and intricate world that even after an entire book remains relatively unexplored. That's the only thing that makes me want to read the next book. I also want to see what Lord Foul has planned. Drawbacks: Monsters are not clear. I never got a clear picture of ur-viles or cavewights. Worse, I had no idea which was more powerful. The ur-viles and the Waynhim seem more powerful, yet they're led by a cavewight. I couldn't make sense of it. The biggest drawback was how characters came into Covenant's life and then just fell away by the wayside. His first guide leaves him a third of the way through the book and never returns. Even at the end, we never get any indication of what transpired with Foamfollower. The Quest left him to guard the entrance to the caves, but he never shows up again after that. What happened to him? Despite hating Covenant and these other drawback, the world was so strong and believable that I would have given this story four starts if it hadn't been for the ending. At the end,... Only four hours had passed in the real world, while weeks had gone by in the Land. This shift is so jarring that it borders on the "it was all a dream" ending. Covenant is changed, he's no longer sure whether his stay in the Land was a dream--in fact, he now is almost sure it wasn't--but the reader can't be 100% sure either. To sum up, not a bad book. Worth reading, but only if you really don't have a good fantasy to read. I'd rank this behind George R. R. Martin's novels, Goodkind's, the early Jordan, and the early Weiss & Hickman (Chronicles, Tales, and Deathgate cycle). I wish I hadn't been so disappointed with the ending. I'm desperately looking for new, outstanding fantasy novels.
Rating:
Summary: Tolkien a Little Too Light? Try This!
Review: Thomas Covenant is a leper. He sees no one and no one wants to see him. Ever. Covenant has absolutely no hopes for the future whatsoever. When he is transported to "The Land," an other-worldly place where he is viewed as the reincarnation of a legendary hero, Covenant refuses to believe in a land so beautiful or in a people who hail him as a hero. Yet in the Land, Covenant posseses a power he can't control or even understand. If Tolkien is a little too light, not hard-hitting enough, 'Lord Foul's Bane' may be exactly what you're looking for. Donaldson has written a dark, adult fantasy that is sometimes depressing, but always fascinating. Donaldson's Land is just as believable as Tolkien's Middle Earth, and a lot more satisfying in many ways. Covenant is the perfect anti-hero and one of the great characters in fantasy literature. I can't recommend this book (or the series) too highly. If you enjoy the book, don't stop! Donaldson wrote a total of 6 books and they're all good. Enjoy!
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