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The Barnes & Noble Review
In 1977, Stephen R. Donaldson began his bestselling Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever saga with the publication of Lord Foul's Bane. After two wildly popular trilogies (which have sold more than 6 million copies worldwide), Donaldson -- much to the dismay of his fans -- ended the series in 1983. Now he returns to where it all started in The Runes of the Earth, the first book in a projected quartet that will make up the Last Chronicles of Thomas Covenant.
The story picks up approximately a decade after the tragic death of Thomas Covenant, an ill-fated writer afflicted with a strange form of leprosy, who had been transported to an alternate universe called the Land -- where an epic battle for the realm's soul was being waged. Linden Avery, Covenant's companion who briefly traveled with him to the Land, is now working at a psychiatric hospital taking care of mentally disturbed patients who include Covenant's ex-wife, Joan, who has a "lost mind." When Covenant's son Roger enters the hospital and demands the immediate release of his mother, a violent confrontation ensues. A few hours later, after he has forcefully removed his mother from the hospital and kidnapped Linden's adopted son, the police -- and Linden -- track Roger to his father's old residence. In the midst of a powerful thunderstorm, shots are fired, and…Linden finds herself back in the Land, where Lord Foul has not only allied with Roger but also has control of her son!
Breakneck-paced, richly described, and replete with intriguing plot twists, this long-awaited return to the Land will enthrall fans of Donaldson's previous Covenants novels. Paul Goat Allen
Publishers Weekly
Six fantasy novels featuring Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever appeared between 1977 and 1983, but Donaldson shows that his epic series still has the power to surprise in this richly imagined start of a final quartet. Covenant died at the end of White Gold Wielder (1983), and at this novel's outset so does his lover, Linden Avery, in a violent confrontation with Joan and Roger Covenant as they kidnap her son, Jeremiah. Linden awakens once again in the Land, where she finds Lord Foul scheming to escape the Arch of Time with the help of Joan and Roger while using Jeremiah as a pawn. The 10 years since Linden's last visit have been centuries by Land time, and in that interval Anele, with whom she teams, has lost the Staff of Law, plunging the world into chaos. Linden's only hope for saving the Land and reclaiming Jeremiah is to gather a crew from the Land's numerous races and surf a caesure, or time rift, to retrieve the Staff. Nevertheless, she can't shake her fear that all this has been plotted by Foul as part of his malignant design. Donaldson's saga has transformed tremendously since initial volumes offered startlingly original antiheroic fantasy resonating with echoes of both Tolkien and Philip K. Dick, but the engaging humanity of his characters still compels attention. A new generation of readers may find this episode's midstream plunge into the saga bracing, while fans of Covenant's past chronicles will welcome a return to the Land. Agent, Howard Morhaim. (Oct. 13) Forecast: Despite the long gap since the last in the series, this one should hit many bestseller lists. The Michael Whelan dust jacket is going to have a lot of fantasy fans drooling. Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.
Library Journal
Thomas Covenant, the leper who crossed the barrier between this world and that of the Land, gave his life to save his newfound world. Linden Avery, a healer of mind and body, accompanied him into the Land and inherited his stewardship of it. When Covenant's son, Roger, suddenly appears many years after his father's death and seeks to claim his inheritance and custody of his insane mother, Avery senses the presence of a familiar evil, the machinations of Lord Foul. Twenty years after ending his second Thomas Covenant trilogy, Donaldson resurfaces with a final trilogy that is intended to bring together all the threads of the previous books. Familiar and beloved characters from the Land mix with new heroes and villains in a reawakening of a classic fantasy saga. Most libraries will want this title for their collection. Buy multiple copies. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 6/1/04.] Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.
