Against all things ending

Finally, several months after receiving Stephen R. Donaldson’s Against All Things Ending, I’ve read it. I had to read, and chose to review, the first two books in The Last Chronicles of Thomas Covenant: The Runes of the Earth and Fatal Revenant.

But having done so, it’s a little hard to decide

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what to say about this third book. It’s more of the same, isn’t it? It doesn’t help that it’s the third book of the tetrology. This means pretty much all the plot elements have been set in motion and pretty much none of them get resolved. It’s 570-ish pages of connective stuff.

I noted that the first book seemed to have rather little happening and a lot of reacting to what was happening, and that rather more action occurred in the second book. Book three seems to me to fall in between, though of course that’s subjective. Certainly our heroes get themselves into and out of several perilous situations. Yet a lot of pages are devoted to talking, feeling, and thinking about those situations. It feels ponderous, and it feels like some of the momentum of book two is dissipated in book three.

To do a little spoiling — not too much, especially for those who’ve read the first two books — at the end of The Runes of the Earth Thomas Covenant and Jeremiah Avery turn up, but in Fatal Revenant we learn Thomas is a fake and Jeremiah is under another creature’s control. At the end of Fatal Revenant Thomas Covenant turns up again. For real? Yes, for real, it turns out, and he’s a central figure along with Linden Avery throughout Against All Things Ending. Linden has brought him back from the dead — but broken, and in bringing him back she’s set the end of the world in motion. Not good, especially considering what else they have to deal with: Jeremiah and his controlling croyel, Roger Covenant and his cavewights, the Sandgorgons, the skest, Joan Covenant, the mad Elohim Kastenessen, She Who Must Not Be Named, Lord Foul himself — have I left anyone out? Probably. Donaldson has piled on enough bad guys for four or five epic fantasies.

I spoke of the Harrow in my review of the second book: “[he] seemingly pops up out of nowhere and for no evident reason other than that Donaldson seems to have decided Linden didn’t have enough problems to deal with. I get the feeling Donaldson has a pivotal part for the Harrow in mind, but so far he seems more an ad hoc additional bad guy.” The Harrow does indeed play a major role in the first portion of Fatal Revenant... then he gets tossed away. “Is that it?” was my reaction; “Is that all you brought this character into the story to do?” The Harrow is one of several characters we meet of the people known as the Insequent, people comparable in power and to the Elohim but curiously unknown in the Land — unmentioned in the previous two trilogies. As of the end of the third book we have started to get a picture of the Insequent, but only started, and I have no clear idea how really they fit into the big picture. A big, nagging loose end, so far.

I guess the emerging theme here is Linden’s growing sense of inadequacy against all she faces, and her guilt over the losses suffered along the way. That’s probably an altogether too-simplified condensation of thousands of words of Linden’s self-examination but it’ll do. “Can good be accomplished by evil means?” is a question repeatedly asked here, and a final answer has yet to be made.

The first three books came out at intervals of about three years, so I guess it’ll be 2013 or so before we get the conclusion. I’ll plan on reading it, but I guess my expectations won’t be very high; from what I’ve seen so far, this series is likely to fall well short of Donaldson’s best.

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I can't complete this review yet, but I was very impressed with this book. Its not light reading, but not as heavy and dark as some of the previous ones either.

"Against All Things Ending" is the third book in the Last Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, with one more to follow. It is not for the vocabulary-challenged, as Donaldson uses many words like "puissance" and "surquedry" that require a dictionary, the ability to infer from context, or just a highly

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advanced grasp of vocabulary. That said, the language is a plus rather than a minus in my opinion.

If you aren't put off by the big words, I recommend that you start the Chronicles from the beginning, however this review will cover only this volume. Donaldson picks up right where the last one left off, with Linden Avery having resurrected Covenant from death and awakened the Worm of the World's End. The nature of his fate had left Covenant almost a god-like being, the Guardian of the Arch of Time, but his resurrection into a mortal body leaves him a shell of what he once was, as his new form cannot possibly hold all that power. The entire book runs on themes like this, of being broken, and the power of guilt, and the struggle to keep going on even with no hope. I found the philosophies behind the story extremely powerful. We lost several characters, many of them major, and were introduced to yet another Insequent, who as a race I personally find fascinating.

Donaldson has woven a captivating new chapter in the tale of Thomas Covenant. I was enthralled the entire way through, although Linden's self-loathing did get a little old after a while, and with this book ending on yet another cliffhanger, I'm extremely eager to see what happens in the next, whether the Worm will indeed destroy the Land or our heroes will find some way to save the world, or at least themselves. The reason for the title of the next book, "The Last Dark," is made abundantly clear in the last paragraph, which only leaves one wanting more.

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As so the story rumbles onwards in Donaldson's unique longwinded and verbose style that yet somehow contrives to remain exciting and enthralling at the same time. This is the 9th installment of Thomas Covenant who died back in book 6, and the penultimate book of his adventures. It is not in anyway

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readable as a standalone, and at very least the two preceding books of this quadrology should be read first. Ideally you'd want to read those book immediately before embarking on this tome. I didn't, having last read them at the time of the publication of the 2nd book at least 18 months ago, and initially I found matters somewhat confusing before I caught up sufficiently with events.

Thomas has been re-incarnated by a passionate Linden, who has contrived to bestir the Worm At The End of The World in the process. All powerful and intelligent entities in the Land are aghast at this Desecration which will bring down the Arch of Time, freeing Despite form his Eons of imprisonment. Linden believes Thomas is the only person with enough power to oppose Despite, despite (ha) Thomas' continual protestations to the contrary, and her own evident powerful deeds. Meanwhile her son remains lost to her, Thomas' son Roger continues to bedevil them (lusting after the white gold as a chance to make himself immortal) and their various other nemeses' are still around. Thomas doesn't cope well with re-incarnation after being a dis-embodied spirit adrift int eh Arch of Time, he isn't built to remember eons of history, and keeps drifting into reminiscences rather than dealing with the crisis at the present moment. In terms of new directions now that Linden has dealt with the immediate threat to the land (as she sees it) her sole goal is to redeem her son, and to that end she eventually accepts the Harrow's bargain and surrenders both the White Gold and the Staff of Law to him. Hr transfers the party to the Lost Deep, first home of the Viles...

This unfortunately didn't quite grab me as much as some of Donaldson's works have done. I'm still not convinced about the existence of this entire adduct to the original series, and this books feels far too much like a filler. Some events have to take place before the grand finale and showdown, but I'm not sure that 1000pages are necessary for them. We are again being introduced to new characters/abilities that should have been present in the earlier books but weren't. Little inconsistencies like this matter to me, and detract from the grandeur the series is trying to establish. Equally having Covenant remember occasional useful bits of information from his Time in the Arch seemed far too contrived as a plot resolution.

I don't normally have an issue with Donaldson's expansive vocabulary, he knows a lot of words, and generally the meaning is clear even if I can't be bothered to look up the precise infections imparted by the specific words he uses. However he seemed to be writing particularly obscurely this time out, with a higher than usual preponderance of really exotic adjectives.

All that said, this is still a good book with poetical descriptions of beguiling characters, deepset motivations and personal courage. It is nowhere near as dark in imagery as some of Donaldson's work and enjoyable throughout. It just isn't as good as some of his other works. Can't wait two years? for the last and concluding episode to be published though.

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Second half reads better than the first, but gripping none-the-less.

I hate to read a book at the end of a series when I have not anything before. With that said, I will not be reading this book anytime soon, but I do want to give me review of Stephen Donaldson's writing and previous works and give you an idea of what to expect.

Stephen Donaldson is the master of the

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anti-hero. Starting with _Lord Foul's Bane_, Thomas Covenant is a textbook anti-hero. He hates people, his life, himself, and nothing is going to change that. Stephenson creates a world designed to battle this self-hatred. The fight against Convenant and the Land is quite a treat. This is a theme in all of his Chronicles books and carries this theme very well.

Few authors can keep the quality of his writing up with a series of this size, Feist and Martin come to mind, but Donaldson has done it and done it well.

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This one picks up right after the last book, it is done in typical donaldson fashion and is one of the better reads in the series. It is slow at first but don't worry it will pick up.

This, the third book in "The Last Chronicles of Thomas Covenant" was the best read of the story arc. Detailing the "adventures" of Linden Avery and her quest to recover her son Jeremiah, who is under possession of a/the croyel. This book screams with a mother's yearnings to reclaim her lost son and

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the lengths she is willing to go to recover her progeny. In the previous book Linden has called Covenent from the Arch of Time and thus committed a desecration (most of those seem to involve bringing the dead back to live) and has awakened the Worm of World's End. This volume relates the events that lead towards the destruction of the land.

There are elohim, Insequent, giants, ravers, haruchai and any number of now familiar entities of the land, all with their own agendas. They all seem to make an appearance in this book, with many sacrifices, twists and turns. Through it all Covenent is beset with memory loss and lapses of cognitive ability due to his experiences in the Arch. The final quarter or so of the book relates his own journey to meet his ex-wife Joan (who has been causing time-rips called caesures due to the influences of another raver). The book can be quite brutal at times, however the action pulls the reader through those moments. Linden's anguish and despair are quite evident and pulls one into the book like a drug as the Worm begins to feed.

I received this copy as part of the LT Early Reader program - if you haven't signed up you should. I can't wait for the final volume.

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Its a slow but deep read. I enjoyed it as a reader of the Series. All the back story at the beginning diffentately helped me get back up to speed. Awesome story, but so was not expecting the cliff-hanger at the end. I guess I missed there was another book to follow.

A must buy for Donaldson fans!

I have loved the Thomas Covenant series for years, and have re-read the first two trilogies twice. This last set, though, and most particularly this book, are making me re-think buying the last book.

The author has always enjoyed a rather formal style to his writing, but this one starts off reading

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like puzzling through a "word a day" calendar. I like to think, having been an avid reader my whole life, that I've got a very good vocabulary. But when you don't understand a word, even in context, it's a bit hard to appreciate the writer's point. That's my biggest complaint.

After the first 100 pages or so, the heavy vocabulary lightened up a bit so that more of the story could be enjoyed. But even then, there was a bit too much of inside Linden Avery's head - self-doubt, recrimination, revenge, rage, hopelessness, helplessness, despair, anguish - you start to feel like "ok, you feel emotionally wrung-out - get over it and do something." I hate it when you start to really just dislike the main character(s).

Overall, I'm disappointed. I read for enjoyment, and when I have to work this hard at trying to enjoy a book, I tend to feel like time was wasted. I read it to the end out of fealty to the rest of the series, but I honestly doubt I care enough to see how it all turns out. Which makes me sad - the Land and its People are (were) beloved.

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Very disappointed. I loved the first series, liked the second series, and was enjoying this final series, at least to the extent that it promised to wrap up any loose ends left from the first two series. I struggled with the fact that the pace was so slow. In lieu of an actual plot, the first half

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of the book is stuck inside the head of one of the main characters. While I get the idea of having flawed characters (one of the main appeals of the earlier series, actually), Linden Avery seems irredeemably pathetic. And the vocabulary in this installment was just too much of a mountain for me to climb. I usually look forward to Donaldson's books as a way to add words like bifurcate and surquedy to my vocabulary; but this book seemed like the author was determined to write using a list of the 150 least used words in the English language. In writing this volume, Donaldson was probably going for a poetic, epic struggle of hope against all the odds, but it was beyond my (admittedly) limited intellectual powers to convert it into an enjoyable read.

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This is one of the more frustrating books I've read in a while. I have said this before, and it sadly remains true, but I always have high expectations for popular series. I have no idea how people read this book and enjoy it. It is frustratingly slow. The small amounts of action are separated by

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obnoxious and abusive dialogue between these dull characters. The book circles around the female lead that is the most frustrating character I have met in a while. The other characters almost seem as place holders, and are seemingly hardily acknowledged besides their actions to follow these annoying heroes. Sadly I became so frustrated with this book I did not bother to finish the last 50 pages, as I saw there was no way it could redeem itself. Spare yourself the trouble and don’t bother unless you are already a fan.

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What would Stephen Donaldson do without a thesaurus? Don’t misunderstand me; I’m all for improving my vocabulary. But something is seriously wrong when I’m picking up a dictionary nearly as much as I am a novel. Donaldson’s latest epic, “Against All Things Ending,” is the third entry in

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his series, “The Last Chronicles of Thomas Covenant.” I absolutely loved the first two trilogies of the Chronicles; this final series, and this volume in particular however, were somewhat lacking. The book was filled with tedious descriptions and emotions that seemed to go on and on; I thought I’d scream if I had to read one more passage about Linden Avery’s introspective struggle between helping others and obtaining revenge. While the book does explain some of the series’ earlier mysteries, it also leaves many new ones unexplained; explanations that will all need to be packed into the final volume. To summarize, the book was too long and drawn out without enough action to keep it interesting. Only recommended to the true devotees “The Land.”

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Stephen Donaldson's Chronicles of Thomas Covenant is a masterpiece from book 1 up to and including this book, the ninth in the series and the next to the last book in the Last Chronicles of Thomas Covenant. Donaldson uses complex character development and deep explorations of human motivation to

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weave an intricate tale of bigger than life heroes and flawed anti-heroes who must combine their efforts to save the precious Land. His fantasy realm, The Land, rivals that of Tolkien's Middle Earth, and his characterizations are reminiscent of Stephen King. Ultimately the tales of Thomas Covenant and Linden Avery are epic stories of good versus evil, but Donaldson's heroes are flawed human beings who must strive to overcome evil, not by superpowers or by might, or even right, but simply by trusting who they have been created to be - imperfect, flawed beings who want to be more and want the world to be a better place. They must overcome evil by overcoming their own flaws and shortcomings. Time and again they rise to the challenge. But as we discover in each of the first two trilogies, evil never disappears for long or is completely defeated. This time Covenant and Linden Avery face an apocalyptic event and yet again, accompanied by the last heroes of the Land, they must find a way to overcome their imperfections, their own desires, and their own shortcomings to rise to the need of the world, the Land, and ultimately their own reality as well. This is a wonderfully adventurous journey, but is not a simple read. Donaldson's characters are complex, and he spends a considerable number of pages exploring their motivations and character flaws. This is part of what makes his books so memorable. His characters come to life under his narration and the Land takes shape as we journey with the Humbled, the Giants, the Ramen and Stowndowners toward either the ultimate doom or their final salvation. It is an epic journey.

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The final chapter in the, unfortunately, overlong story of Thomas Covenant, The Unbeliever.

The story seems to fall apart somewhere during this final trilogy. I still haven't finished this last volume, but I owed a review for the book, so I felt I should go ahead and at least get one started. I

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will finish this review after I finish the book.

The continuing saga of good vs evil with one of the oddest heroes to ever come along. Of course he died in the last trilogy. But his son and ex-wife get his lover from the second trilogy and themselves plunged back into the alternate reality where Linden Avery finds a way to bring him back into that reality. And the great evil continues to try to find a way to release himself through the destruction of time and all realities.

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This book did not disappoint. As it's been quite some time since I read the last few books in the series, it took a little while to get back into the rhythm of Donaldson's prose and word-usage (so many unfamiliar or rarely used words!), but once started, I was quickly drawn in and transported into

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the story.

Linden has set in motion dire events in the Land, and the consequences are apocalyptic. Thomas Covenant is alive...and he does not have the answers Linden craves.

If you've made it this far in Donaldson's epic...you'll want to know what happens to Linden & Covenant...and fate of the Land.

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The Saga of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever continues with "Against All Things Ending. The book begins with Linden Avery's continued search for her lost son. In desperation she invokes the magic in Covenant's white gold ring (given to her at the end of book six) to bring Thomas Covenant back to life

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so that he made aide her in her search for her son. Covenant has long been apart of the Arch of Time since his death during a battle with Lord Foul, and his resurrection sees his illness renewed and his mind fractured so he is of little help to Linden. However, in resurrecting Covenant she has also woken the Worm of the World's End. An act which will end all time and the existence of all in the Land. Lord Foul applauds this act as he seeks to free himself from the Creator and the shackles of time. But he needs Jeremiah's magic as well as the destruction of the Land.

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Another wonderful book in the continuing saga of Thomas Covenant. Its amazing to think that this series has been going so long. In this book the end is in sight at last, things are beginning to be resolved. If you have enjoyed the other books in the series you will certainly enjoy these.

Reviews led me to believe this would be the low point of the Last Chronicles. In terms of pacing that may be the case since relatively little is accomplished, but at least there's fewer nuisance problems. Reactions to events are proportional to their significance, and tight scrapes are evaded

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through logical but pleasantly unforeseen means albeit costly (finally). Linden is relieved of carrying the entire story, and at last we're (mostly) done with the prior two volumes-worth of questions, questions, questions. The worst remaining nuisance is the "list paragraphs": a too-frequent listing of all the companions' reactions to something as if in frozen tableau, or of what they're each doing to get ready for the next meal, journey, battle, etc. We're talking about a lot of companions here.

For the first 100 pages everyone is rooted to the spot and the fifth chapter could just be deleted, but it wasn't all bad since a lot of interesting people are present. The real problem is that for the majority of the book the party is pretty aimless and doesn't know what to do next. This is frustrating because the list of their opponents is huge and it seemed like nothing was being scratched off. I know conclusions need a wow factor, but why reserve all the good stuff and make the reader plod through the middle books to get there (and why have two of them)? Characters feeling sorry for themselves are largely to blame, but you saw that coming unless this is the first Covenant book you've read.

I gripe a lot but I'm still giving these books four stars. In my rating scale that means I at least get the level of entertainment I expect (if not what I hoped.) Why I feel that way might not bear close scrutiny, so I'll keep my distance. I have several bones to pick with how the story is being told, but a key aspect done right is that the author remains true to his characters and his world. I guess that's what's most important to me.

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One of the best in the entire Thomas Covenant series! While there was a lot of changes in pacing, it was all vital to the overall story. Obviously, since this is book 3 of the final series and book 9 overall, it wouldn't make much sense to someone without reading the previous volumes first. If you

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want a challenging read, try tackling the series! It will be well worth your time!

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Why oh why did I start reading this series? Nostalgia from reading the first two Covenant series when I was a kid, perhaps? Or maybe I enjoyed Donaldson's Gap series so much, I figured what could go wrong?

Where is the editor for these books? You'd think after reading the same thing, again and

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again, page after page, a good editor might suggest to Mr. Donaldson that he could cut a bit of the tedium and tighten things up. Nope.

I don't think I've come across a more annoying pair of protagonists that Linden Avery and Thomas Covenant. The self pity. The constant whining. I really felt sorry for their companions to have to suffer like that. Pretty much all of the other characters in the book are more interesting and more likable than these two. And that includes the horses.

First hundred pages, we're just standing around in a glade. Talking. Linden either asking stupid questions, or completely forgetting to ask the obviously critical ones. Have you ever wanted to reach through a book and shake some sense into someone? I have, now that I've read this book.

Worst thing is, there might actually be an interesting story buried in this mess. It's hard to find, but I think it is there, somewhere, suffocating under the rotten writing.

And please, please, someone take the thesaurus away from Mr. Donaldson. I've never come across an author who so perversely enjoys using archaic or overly complicated language. Most of the unusual English words are not known to my Merriam-Webster dictionary (and I am far too lazy to go into the other room and look these things up in my copy of the OED).

I guess I'm just a sucker. Having received the 4th (and FINAL!) book is this series from the Early Reviewers program, I feel obligated to finish this series thing up. Afterwards, I have a feeling I'll not be reading any more Donaldson. Life is too short.

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I labored to get through his last one and 20 pages into this one, having read all of his Covenants since I first found them in 1978, I am still wondering if he talks this way in everyday life. Less than 200 words into this book, he throws out a word I do not remember ever seeing. I might have, as

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it had to do with tectonic plates, but come on, Mr. Donaldson, I miss the freshness and pace of your first three books. Pretty much everything since then (in the Covenant series) has been wading through molasses. I'll update this when I finish.

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Tempted by finding the last book in the last trilogy in the Oxfam shop I decided to skip to the end of the series. Years ago I got left behind when it all got too big for me rising to a trilogy of trilogies. Usefully this starts with a synopsis of everything so far. I realise I read the first 6

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books and it astonishes me how vividly I remember a lot of it from 30 years ago. The names ring like old friends - giant Saltheart Foamfollower and all the rest.

The plot moves pretty slowly - after 100 pages one person has picked up 2 items and given them to a second person. A third person has picked up a third item. However the internal passions and communications are dense and exciting as ever.

The big blow is that the book finishes with the message "The story concludes in book 4 The Last Dark' which is not even published yet..... maybe next decade.....

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Tempted by finding the last book in the last trilogy in the Oxfam shop I decided to skip to the end of the series. Years ago I got left behind when it all got too big for me rising to a trilogy of trilogies. Usefully this starts with a synopsis of everything so far. I realise I read the first 6

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books and it astonishes me how vividly I remember a lot of it from 30 years ago. The names ring like old friends - giant Saltheart Foamfollower and all the rest.

The plot moves pretty slowly - after 100 pages one person has picked up 2 items and given them to a second person. A third person has picked up a third item. However the internal passions and communications are dense and exciting as ever.

The big blow is that the book finishes with the message "The story concludes in book 4 The Last Dark' which is not even published yet..... maybe next decade.....

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