As you all (as huge Covenant fans) will know, Donaldson is at last releasing the third and final Thomas Covenant trilogy. That may seem odd given the conclusion of the second trilogy, but interviews with Donaldson seem to suggest that this was all a part of the plan.

So, has anyone read the new book yet (The Runes of the Earth)? It should be on its way to me as a Christmas gift (dropped enough hints), so don't spoil it for me, but is it any good, and does it live up to its predecessors?

I'm a member of the British Fantasy Society and they managed to get Stephen Donaldson to give a free talk last month, in a pub in London. I did tell a few people on this site about it (you didn't have to be a member to go) but apologies for not announcing it more publicly. The BFS is quite cheap to join, by the way, and they have a very good annual convention, one of the best features of which is that you can apply for an hour's one-to-one session with a top sci-fi editor or agent - send them your work beforehand then you get a very good grilling in terms of who your book's aimed at, the way it's written, presentation, etc.

Terry

O_O

Can't wait for xmas, I'm off to order it now!

Dee.

Fan of clench racing are we?

Jon

I ordered my copy from Amazon Christmas Eve - it still hasn't turned up [delay at printers the latest excuse]. Has anyone else got theirs yet?

I got mine before Christmas, although I only started reading it yesterday. I made myself wait until I’d finished my novel first, so it’s a long-awaited treat. It’s set ten years after Covenant’s death – but I won’t tell you any more…

Dee

Please don’t throw any tomatoes at me for being such a philistine, I’ve never read any Thomas Covenant, but I would like to start…

What’s the first book called?

Grinder

Grinder, you’ll love them, but you must read them in the right order.

Lord Foul’s Bane
The Illearth War
The Power That Preserves

The Wounded Land
The One Tree
White Gold Wielder.


Dee

He he he, I can feel a shopping trip coming on

Thanks Dee

Grinder

The Thomas Convenant series is probably the only fantasy story up there with Lord of the Rings. That silent character, Vain, in the second trilogy was a stroke of genius.

I read them a long long time ago but what I still remember is the emotional drive behind the writing. This is still unusual in fantasy where writers tend to hide emotion behind huge casts of characters with a apostrophe-riddled names. But Stephen Donaldson created a brilliant main character, who in many ways represented the creator of the fantasy world – someone who didn't really believe in it, whose very indentity depended on it not being real. This was a kind of grown up version of 'do you believe in fairies?' in Peter Pan.

Incidentally, I recall reading somewhere that the book was turned down something like 44 times, and that the ms he was circulating was twice as long as the final book.

Love his books!

Had a weird thing happen to me while I was reading one a long time ago. For those of you that have not read any I won’t spoil anything for you but a lot happens around his ring made of white gold.
We had just received a new hand cream at the clinic that was supposed to be almost as good as wearing gloves. The ad showed a picture of a guy pouring acid on his hands with no ill effects.
Anyway, I had just tried some that day and fell asleep that night reading his first book.
What Brian does all this have to do with anything you may well be asking yourselves…
Well in the morning when I looked at my ‘gold’ wedding band it was white!
I had to do a double take. For a minute I thought I was living his book. I had forgotten about the cream and had fallen asleep reading about the powers of this white gold ring.
Figuring I was (or should I say my wife) was cheated I took the ring into a jeweller and he scraped some metal from it and tested it. It was gold, no impurities but white gold. The guy refused to believe me that it had been yellow.
Anyway by the time I finished the book my ring had returned to being yellow. I tried the hand cream again just to see if it would happen again and my ring staid yellow.
Any author that can perform a trick like that is OK in my book.
Dee, how’s that for paranormal.
Makes you wonder.
Brian.


<Added>

try stayed not staid. oops.

That is f-f-f-reaky! What the hell was in that stuff?

Dee

Don't know. Stopped using it though. Was called Dermashield. I'll tell you it could not have happened at a more coincidental time though. I was litterally reading about this white gold ring the night that it changed!

Brian.