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The One Tree #2 Second Chronicles of Thomas Covenant Book 2 Stephen R Donaldson 9780345418470 Books

Download As PDF : The One Tree #2 Second Chronicles of Thomas Covenant Book 2 Stephen R Donaldson 9780345418470 Books

The One Tree #2 Second Chronicles of Thomas Covenant Book 2 Stephen R Donaldson 9780345418470 Books

The idea that disembodied Ravers can float or fly into bees, rats and super eels is really absurd. Even in fantasy magical beings and adversaries should have limits so that they need to use some kind of strategy to succeed. The idea that a "possessed" eel could persuade a swarm of eels to engage in radically abnormal behavior is stupid. The idea of multiple simultaneous eel possessions is even dumber. It's all dumb. Sorry.

The Elohim on the other hand makes pretty good reading. The idea that they are Earth Power incarnate is great. The description of their enchanted, hidden world is marvelous. And the best part is that the Elohim don't keep any eels. Vain is an incredibly unusual character, completely unlike anything I've seen before. The various giants are well written characters with enough diversity to bring them to life and give them personality. Things pick up dramatically in Bhrathairain and the story becomes quite exciting.

In typical mad fashion Covenant is filled with guilt for having 'killed' magically made, mindless, evil demons, "“Hundreds of them,” he groaned." “They didn’t have a chance.” Enough said. Linden is a super guilt tripper too but no one beats the champ Covenant!

Stephen Donaldson is basically a fabulous fantasy author with vivid, unique ideas who apparently never suffered the inconvenience of running into an editor. Wounded Land like the preceding Covenant books is rife with strange archaic and obtuse words. Free floating Ravers abound like gnats in a swamp. And similes clutter the book like weeds in an abandoned garden. It's a real shame because the heart of the story is quite wonderful. I've even grown to tolerate the most dysfunctional and neurotic protagonists in literary history. But the other baggage is starting to drag it all down for me. I even had to skim the ridiculous eel stuff because I just couldn't tolerate the absurdity of it. That's something I rarely do in a book.

Near the end of the book Covenant says, “I’m sick of guilt.” Yes, yes, yes! I'm sick of your guilt too! Get some psychiatric help when you get back home again.

Even though these books were written decades ago they are new for me so I'm hoping the next book will be better. At his best Donaldson is great. At his worst... not so much.


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The One Tree #2 Second Chronicles of Thomas Covenant Book 2 Stephen R Donaldson 9780345418470 Books Reviews

I have always wanted to read these books, since my name is Steve Donaldson. The First Chronicles were OK, not fantastic. The Second Chronicles are what i wanted form the first series. Action start to finish.
it's a book, it's readable, it's what I expected
Some of the best fantasy writing I've had the pleasure of reading. A s good as Tolkien and other greats, I look forward to the next book.
This entire series is so well written it's a pleasure to read. Some people may need a dictionary to find out what some of the words mean, but that is merely part of what keeps the reader interested. The main characters are compelling, the Land is exquisitely personified, and the action/scenes move at a good clip. Start with the first three books of the Thomas Covenant Chronicles, otherwise you may be lost in this trilogy.
The Ur-Lord, white magic weilder, Thomas Covenant? Paralyzed by social anxiety and treated as a pariah in his hometown due to his teensy weensy problem w/ leprosy. He trips, gets konked out, and awakens in a palce called 'The Land. Meets a Giant, a bunch of other folk, and is revered by the populace as the second coming of Berek Halfhand, who also had a white gold ring, Therewas no white gold in the land so its magic, wild magic as a matter of fact! That means he cant control it. Great book series, very strange doings in the good ol' land, lemme tell ya! Oh yeah, theres also this bad guy called Lord Foul, yer basic amorphous evil dude that would like it if everybody would consign their souls over to him.
I love Stephen Donaldson.
But this book just does not have the same pacing as the other ones.
To enjoy this book - you need to be about to block out life for at least an hour.
Not for the faint hearted you just want to read for 5 minutes.
In The Wounded Land, the opening volume of The Second Chronicles Of Thomas Covenant, Stephen Donaldson clearly took the Covenant story in brave new directions. In the follow-up volume, The One Tree, Donaldson continues to push the boundaries of his fantasy creation. Not content merely to turn The Land inside out as he did in TWL, Donaldson here in volume 2 of the Second Chronicles sends his characters outside The Land altogether in search of the One Tree with which to carve a new Staff of Law to fight the Sunbane. And in The One Tree, Donaldson actually focuses his story more on Linden Avery than Thomas Covenant. Because of these choices, TOT is probably the least representative Covenant book of the first 2 Chronicles. Yet, it must be added, TOT may very well be the finest entry in the Covenant catalogue.

Though Linden Avery does not strike me as compelling a character as Thomas Covenant, TOT hardly suffers by giving her more of the spotlight. Linden is a strong enough character in her own right, and Donaldson also does not task her with carrying the story on her shoulders. She has plenty of help.

For instance, in TOT, Donaldson depicts the Giants better than anywhere else in the Covenant material. The members of the Search were introduced at the end of TWL, but in is only in TOT that we really get to know them and see them in their element. There are many wonderful Giants with distinctive personalities, strengths, and character traits, and it is a pleasure to read about them voyaging on and interacting with their beloved ship, Starfare’s Gem. As Pitchwife sang near the end of TWL, “We are the Giants, born to sail, and bold to go wherever dreaming goes.” The various relationships between Giants, whether husband & wife or brother to brother, are well rendered. And the real show-stealer in this book is Pitchwife, who more so than any of the kind and compassionate Giants takes Linden under his wing. Though some might consider it heretical, I consider Pitchwife an even better character than the Giant Saltheart Foamfollower from the first trilogy.

Like the Giants, the Haruchai are better depicted in this book than anywhere else in the Covenant material (with the exception of Stave in the Last Chronicles), and definitely help strengthen TOT as well. Brinn may be the most memorable-his “battle” at the end of the book is remarkable-but all of the Haruchai here are given opportunities to showcase their formidable service and skills. And if the Giants and especially Pitchwife help to “lift up” Avery in this story, the Haruchai’s growing mistrust of Avery provides a countertrend that adds dramatic tension to the proceedings.

Another strength of the book is the burgeoning romance between Covenant and Avery. This relationship does not read like a typical romance, and some reviewers do not think much of this plotline. However, to my mind, Donaldson manages to capture just how precious this relationship is to these two loners, and how fraught with emotional risk. It rings authentic when Linden muses that Covenant has “taught her to treasure the danger of being human.” Covenant, who spends much of the book incapacitated for one reason or another, manages other accomplishments as well. Though this is "Linden's book," Covenant still is utilized in various ways to enrich the story and facilitate Linden’s growth.

The One Tree is a “transition” book that sets the stage for the final book in the trilogy. Much remains to be resolved. Even so, the story of the quest for the One Tree is impressive in its own right. Some of the episodes on Starfare’s Gem are extremely memorable-I particularly like the chapter on the Nicor of the Deep-as were the stops at Elemesnedene and Bhrathairrealm. The section of the book dealing with Brathairrealm almost formed a novella within the novel. Setbacks suffered by the quest lay bare the threat facing the ring wielding Thomas Covenant and the fantasy world he traverses because of his venom infection. And though the quest doesn’t go according to plan, there is still much that comes to fruition. In addition to learning to trust and share by opening her heart in love to Covenant, Linden really comes into her own in this book in other ways as well, developing much greater efficacy and overcoming various mental blocks. And another character wins a great and unexpected triumph for his people near the end of the book.

This book is psychologically very rich, even by Donaldson’s lofty standards. The One Tree is a real gem.
The idea that disembodied Ravers can float or fly into bees, rats and super eels is really absurd. Even in fantasy magical beings and adversaries should have limits so that they need to use some kind of strategy to succeed. The idea that a "possessed" eel could persuade a swarm of eels to engage in radically abnormal behavior is stupid. The idea of multiple simultaneous eel possessions is even dumber. It's all dumb. Sorry.

The Elohim on the other hand makes pretty good reading. The idea that they are Earth Power incarnate is great. The description of their enchanted, hidden world is marvelous. And the best part is that the Elohim don't keep any eels. Vain is an incredibly unusual character, completely unlike anything I've seen before. The various giants are well written characters with enough diversity to bring them to life and give them personality. Things pick up dramatically in Bhrathairain and the story becomes quite exciting.

In typical mad fashion Covenant is filled with guilt for having 'killed' magically made, mindless, evil demons, "“Hundreds of them,” he groaned." “They didn’t have a chance.” Enough said. Linden is a super guilt tripper too but no one beats the champ Covenant!

Stephen Donaldson is basically a fabulous fantasy author with vivid, unique ideas who apparently never suffered the inconvenience of running into an editor. Wounded Land like the preceding Covenant books is rife with strange archaic and obtuse words. Free floating Ravers abound like gnats in a swamp. And similes clutter the book like weeds in an abandoned garden. It's a real shame because the heart of the story is quite wonderful. I've even grown to tolerate the most dysfunctional and neurotic protagonists in literary history. But the other baggage is starting to drag it all down for me. I even had to skim the ridiculous eel stuff because I just couldn't tolerate the absurdity of it. That's something I rarely do in a book.

Near the end of the book Covenant says, “I’m sick of guilt.” Yes, yes, yes! I'm sick of your guilt too! Get some psychiatric help when you get back home again.

Even though these books were written decades ago they are new for me so I'm hoping the next book will be better. At his best Donaldson is great. At his worst... not so much.