jerryh@SDCSVAX.ARPA (06/22/85)
From: crash!jerryh@SDCSVAX.ARPA
I've been following the discussion of Stephen Donaldson's _Covenant_ series
over the past few days (digests) and couldn't stay silent any longer.
Donaldson is a gifted writer and a superb storyteller, but I can't bring
myself to finish reading the _Second_Chronicles_. I found the plot line very
banal and trivial (forgivable sin), and extremely padded (unforgivable sin).
I stopped half-way into the second book (fifth in the overall series) when I
realized that I had plowed through 150 pages of dialog that had gone nowhere
and done nothing. One of the best examples of padding I've ever seen.
I might have been able to continue wading through it if I hadn't though to
myself "Gee, this story never lets up! There's something depressing on every
page!" Intrigued, I went back to page one and started looking for dialogs or
descriptions that *weren't* Gloom And Doom. Guess what? The first _163_
pages of _The_One_Tree_ are continuous, non-stop depression. Every one of
those pages has at least one mention of something depressing, morbid, flagg-
elatory or unpleasant. Finally, on page 164, four paragraphs that don't deal
with something depressing.
I don't know about anyone else, but I was getting tired of paying for the
privilege (in time and money) of watching Donaldson air his psychological
laundry in public. In my opinion, whatever merit the _Covenant_ stories have
has been ruined by heavy-handed applications of depression and despair.
I know, I know -- "But that's the whole point of things! Covenant's despair!"
I understand that. But six novels and 3000 plus pages devoted to nothing but
despair? Give me a break. Donaldson had a great concept in Thomas Covenant,
and does a good job creating his world and breathing life into its charact-
ers, but he pushed me well past my saturation level with unrelenting doses of
depression. I felt like I was being beat over the head with it; like I was
too stupid to understand what was going on, and had to be constantly reminded
so I wouldn't forget what the story was about.
I liked the first three books (even though it might appear otherwise), but I
think the last three were a mistake. What I read of them seemed to be a re-
hash of the first trilogy -- an excuse for Donaldson to drop off more of his
mental baggage and make money while doing so.
"One Man's Opinion" Jerry Hewett {crash!jerryh@ucsd}kalpin@utecfc.UUCP (Jordan E Kalpin) (12/21/85)
Distribution:net
Organization: Engineering Computing Facility, University of Toronto
Keywords:
Does anyone know if there is ever going to be a seventh book in the Thomas
Covenant series by Donaldson? I was wondering if he was working on a
new trilogy to compliment the first two. Perhaps it would be called,
"The chronicles of Linden Avery".
I would appreciate any information.....
Jordan Kalpin
Mechanical Engineering
University of Toronto
...Melenkurion abatha....
-S.R.D.greg@unlv.UUCP (Greg Wohletz) (01/25/86)
In article <48@utecfc.UUCP> kalpin@utecfc.UUCP (Jordan E Kalpin) writes: > >Does anyone know if there is ever going to be a seventh book in the Thomas >Covenant series by Donaldson? I was wondering if he was working on a >new trilogy to compliment the first two. Perhaps it would be called, >"The chronicles of Linden Avery". I hope not! :-( ======================================================================== University of Nevada, Las Vegas --Greg Wohletz "Where the flashlight is" greg%unlv@CSNet-Relay seismo!unr70!unrvax!unlv!greg ========================================================================