makraemer's review against another edition
3.0
I loved the first two trilogies, and, although I enjoyed being taken back to this world and these characters, these last set of books do not hold up to what came before. I also found the final sequence of events to be underwhelming and anti-climatic.
eahaynes's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
hotsake's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
There are 3 POVs in this book, One I enjoyed, One that I flip-flopped with, and one I didn't care about until the end. Thomas Covenant was the highlight of this emotionally charged volume. Linden Avery is a bit more balanced here even though I'm still not a fan. The story is what you'd expect but done in a way that I was not expecting even after reading the previous 9 books. I don't know what it is about Donaldson's writing but he can get me emotional even when he is not writing about anything intense, just the build-up alone is enough. As with every book in the series, there are parts where I wanted to pull my hair and scream at the characters in frustration but these issues are minor in comparison to the joy and emotion that this final book gave me.
elkneedshelp's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
idlewilder's review against another edition
3.0
A brilliant last few chapters, but an overall disappointing book, in a very uneven series.
metaphorosis's review against another edition
4.0
4 stars, Metaphorosis Reviews
Summary
Thomas Covenant is back, with Linden Avery and her son, and just as tormented as ever, and supported by Giants and Haruchai that are just as stolid as ever. But now the Worm at World's End is loose, and it's coming for the Land.
Review
I’ve been reading the Thomas Covenant series for decades now – since not too many years after I first learned to love SFF, and the first Covenant books played a part in that love. I was considerably less enamored of the third ‘trilogy’ of the series than the first two, and the last book, Against All Things Ending really tried my patience. I suppose that’s part of why it’s taken me so long to get around to reading this capstone. I’m happy to say that the ending is much stronger, or my time away has made it so.
It’s been interesting to read Donaldson’s The Last Dark right after the first book in Daniel Abraham’s Kithamar trilogy. The latter, I began to dread picking up; it just didn’t appeal to me. The former, though twice the length, I stayed excited about all the way through – eager to go back to the world and characters every time, like you should be with a good book. It’s interesting in part because, though they’re both good, Abraham is probably the better writer – especially given Donaldson’s insistence on using esoteric terms that display his erudition (or, as others would say, showing off with big words). I love an esoteric word, and use some myself, but Donaldson takes it too far. It’s especially irksome, because he doesn’t always use them quite right. Mostly, but … if you’re going to go for the vocabulary prize, you have to do it properly. In any case, while Abraham is the better writer, Donaldson is a much better storyteller. Sure, his characters are anguished and dramatic, but I care about them.
Admittedly, this long book, while it went quickly, is too long. It drags in the last third as the characters deal with their perpetual angst, and the ending is on the thin side not only for a book this big, but for a series this big. It’s too easy a wrapup, and not only are some elements unexplained, some other key elements just don’t show up. The brief epilogue is not only structurally but emotionally an anticlimax. While the bulk of the book is a fitting end to the saga, the ending is a disappointment.
All that notwithstanding, why is this series not being made into a TV series? I’d think a complicated, problematic mostly anti-hero would work well.
Summary
Thomas Covenant is back, with Linden Avery and her son, and just as tormented as ever, and supported by Giants and Haruchai that are just as stolid as ever. But now the Worm at World's End is loose, and it's coming for the Land.
Review
I’ve been reading the Thomas Covenant series for decades now – since not too many years after I first learned to love SFF, and the first Covenant books played a part in that love. I was considerably less enamored of the third ‘trilogy’ of the series than the first two, and the last book, Against All Things Ending really tried my patience. I suppose that’s part of why it’s taken me so long to get around to reading this capstone. I’m happy to say that the ending is much stronger, or my time away has made it so.
It’s been interesting to read Donaldson’s The Last Dark right after the first book in Daniel Abraham’s Kithamar trilogy. The latter, I began to dread picking up; it just didn’t appeal to me. The former, though twice the length, I stayed excited about all the way through – eager to go back to the world and characters every time, like you should be with a good book. It’s interesting in part because, though they’re both good, Abraham is probably the better writer – especially given Donaldson’s insistence on using esoteric terms that display his erudition (or, as others would say, showing off with big words). I love an esoteric word, and use some myself, but Donaldson takes it too far. It’s especially irksome, because he doesn’t always use them quite right. Mostly, but … if you’re going to go for the vocabulary prize, you have to do it properly. In any case, while Abraham is the better writer, Donaldson is a much better storyteller. Sure, his characters are anguished and dramatic, but I care about them.
Admittedly, this long book, while it went quickly, is too long. It drags in the last third as the characters deal with their perpetual angst, and the ending is on the thin side not only for a book this big, but for a series this big. It’s too easy a wrapup, and not only are some elements unexplained, some other key elements just don’t show up. The brief epilogue is not only structurally but emotionally an anticlimax. While the bulk of the book is a fitting end to the saga, the ending is a disappointment.
All that notwithstanding, why is this series not being made into a TV series? I’d think a complicated, problematic mostly anti-hero would work well.
souljaleonn's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
camscampbell's review against another edition
4.0
The idea of writing a review of the most important series of books I've read is rather daunting, so I'll just knock something out quickly to get over the scope of the thing.
I don't know what it was about the last chronicles that kept me from reading it for so long. I've read the first and second chronicles multiple times over the years, starting around 1991-ish when I was 20. My wedding band is white gold. My blog is at sunbane.com. I'm a fan.
So why did I only just finish the last chronicles today? Dunno.
And it took me a Long Time. I started reading the first of the last in October 2015. Partly that's because I'm more of an audiobook guy and still can't get any TC chronicles in the UK, so it meant reading with my eyes. I don't do that so much now.
Anyway, the book. Yeah. Damn. It's good. Yes there are sloggy bits and purple prose galore. And SRD hasn't reigned in his flowery vocab at all, has he? Maybe it's condign. I dunno. This is why I'm enjoying Stormlight Archive so much - heavy hitting fantasy and no dictionary required. And yes, towards the end of this book I did have to look up mansuetude again. The Chrome spell checker here doesn't care much for it either; it has a red squiggle.
And some of the names of the giants really took me out the book, as if I were reading a SNL parody.
But vocab and silly names aside, I say YES to this book and to the whole series. Sure, the final scene was a bit samey, but with enough of a punch to make me choke up a bit. In fact there were a few chokey-uppy moments. I found the ending 100% satisfying.
And now I'm done, I feel like going back to the first of the last again and rereading them all. Maybe the One Tree as well, just to get the whole Elohim bit and the story of Kastenessen as told by Findail the Appointed on Starfare's Gem.
I'm reading with my eyes a lot more these days and some of the history sections were rather dense. But they add so much to the first and second chronicles, particularly the whole Theomach storyline and the backstory of the Viles and the Demondim and the Colossus of the Fall.
I don't know what it was about the last chronicles that kept me from reading it for so long. I've read the first and second chronicles multiple times over the years, starting around 1991-ish when I was 20. My wedding band is white gold. My blog is at sunbane.com. I'm a fan.
So why did I only just finish the last chronicles today? Dunno.
And it took me a Long Time. I started reading the first of the last in October 2015. Partly that's because I'm more of an audiobook guy and still can't get any TC chronicles in the UK, so it meant reading with my eyes. I don't do that so much now.
Anyway, the book. Yeah. Damn. It's good. Yes there are sloggy bits and purple prose galore. And SRD hasn't reigned in his flowery vocab at all, has he? Maybe it's condign. I dunno. This is why I'm enjoying Stormlight Archive so much - heavy hitting fantasy and no dictionary required. And yes, towards the end of this book I did have to look up mansuetude again. The Chrome spell checker here doesn't care much for it either; it has a red squiggle.
And some of the names of the giants really took me out the book, as if I were reading a SNL parody.
But vocab and silly names aside, I say YES to this book and to the whole series. Sure, the final scene was a bit samey, but with enough of a punch to make me choke up a bit. In fact there were a few chokey-uppy moments. I found the ending 100% satisfying.
And now I'm done, I feel like going back to the first of the last again and rereading them all. Maybe the One Tree as well, just to get the whole Elohim bit and the story of Kastenessen as told by Findail the Appointed on Starfare's Gem.
I'm reading with my eyes a lot more these days and some of the history sections were rather dense. But they add so much to the first and second chronicles, particularly the whole Theomach storyline and the backstory of the Viles and the Demondim and the Colossus of the Fall.
murderfox's review against another edition
2.0
Well, it wasn't as bad as the Donkey Kong finale of the Dark Tower series, but was definitely up there with Lost, and Battlestar Galactica.
In fact, it reminds me very much of Lost (the plot), where you think such intricacies, clues, and complexity abound, until the finale, where you realise this shit was being made up as things went on, and the only way to end it would require more than one betraying cheat:
God in the machine, glossoverphillia, pseudo-meta-abstract explanations, and a quazi-poetic style to create the illusion that there is ambiguity to interpret.
The replaceability element did not just encompass the Land, and protagonists, but also Covenant's family. He kills his wife, and loses his son, but that's convenient for the 3 major protagonists' happy ending.
Deus Ex Machina galore... I mean, the Kasty scene at the Elohim refugee camp... Mad giant appears out of nowhere to delay matters, until Covenant himself appears conveniently to scare Kasty, who then decides to give love a chance with his bros.
Then Linden appears suddenly to heal the dying, with Mathir, to feed the hungry.
5 minutes later, there's a wedding, implied sex (isn't Covenant impotent again??), kissing, and general love... someone forgot about the giant's caamora?
Let's skip forward, sudden sailor giants arrive in the nick of time to turn the tide.
Let's skip forward yet again, 200 masters arrive in the nick of time to turn the tide.
Once more, She-Who-Was-Never-Really-Named, whom Linden had done *something* for (maybe it was a hearty hug), decides, in the nick of time to cut Foul's ass down to Covenant bite-size.
But wait, oh shit... the world is still ending... nudge nudge, wink wink, feel good, don't worry, team TLJ has an idea... fade to blur, blur out, and we're in the aftermath of their success...umm?
You have questions? The In(con)sequent? Ranyhan relationship with Horrim? The creator? yada yada yada?
Shut up and feel good - you got a happy ending.
Not good enough? Well, perhaps revisit all the allegorical hurtloam in this The Last Lark, The Final Chronicle of Thomas Convenient, until you can invent something that with sooth your betrayal.
Some excerpts:
"My fate is writ in water", I will pee on the walls she seemed to say.
"Roger -", there's still Jeremiah he meant to say.
"Well that totally sucks", I love you he seemed to mean.
In fact, it reminds me very much of Lost (the plot), where you think such intricacies, clues, and complexity abound, until the finale, where you realise this shit was being made up as things went on, and the only way to end it would require more than one betraying cheat:
God in the machine, glossoverphillia, pseudo-meta-abstract explanations, and a quazi-poetic style to create the illusion that there is ambiguity to interpret.
Spoiler
The replaceability element did not just encompass the Land, and protagonists, but also Covenant's family. He kills his wife, and loses his son, but that's convenient for the 3 major protagonists' happy ending.
Deus Ex Machina galore... I mean, the Kasty scene at the Elohim refugee camp... Mad giant appears out of nowhere to delay matters, until Covenant himself appears conveniently to scare Kasty, who then decides to give love a chance with his bros.
Then Linden appears suddenly to heal the dying, with Mathir, to feed the hungry.
5 minutes later, there's a wedding, implied sex (isn't Covenant impotent again??), kissing, and general love... someone forgot about the giant's caamora?
Let's skip forward, sudden sailor giants arrive in the nick of time to turn the tide.
Let's skip forward yet again, 200 masters arrive in the nick of time to turn the tide.
Once more, She-Who-Was-Never-Really-Named, whom Linden had done *something* for (maybe it was a hearty hug), decides, in the nick of time to cut Foul's ass down to Covenant bite-size.
But wait, oh shit... the world is still ending... nudge nudge, wink wink, feel good, don't worry, team TLJ has an idea... fade to blur, blur out, and we're in the aftermath of their success...umm?
You have questions? The In(con)sequent? Ranyhan relationship with Horrim? The creator? yada yada yada?
Shut up and feel good - you got a happy ending.
Not good enough? Well, perhaps revisit all the allegorical hurtloam in this The Last Lark, The Final Chronicle of Thomas Convenient, until you can invent something that with sooth your betrayal.
Some excerpts:
"My fate is writ in water", I will pee on the walls she seemed to say.
"Roger -", there's still Jeremiah he meant to say.
"Well that totally sucks", I love you he seemed to mean.