Lord Foul's Bane (book one of three)
I was thrown off by the story starting in the modern mundane world for the first two chapters. As a plot device, it was very well done in that it gave you a real feel for the hero (anti-hero) and where he was coming from. Covenant is so resistant to his fate, so afraid of loosing his bitterly constructed defenses that he does his heroic ( and villainous) deeds because he HAS to... not at all because he wants to.
Here is a man coming from the cruel and painful normal world who is thrust into a beautiful, ideal world. This wondrous would is troubled and he helps only in spite of himself. His main goal is to make it back to the world that treats him so badly still in one piece with his sanity intact. He suddenly finds himself in a much better place, but he rejects it because he is so used to having to be tough and fight to survive. It is a far cry from the humble, tragic heroes struggling against a controlling Orwellian dystopia or the proud, honor-bound fantasy heroes following their fate.
p331 a funeral song.
Death reaps the beauty of the world - bundles old crops to hasten new.
Be still heart: hold peace.
Growing is better than decay: I hear the blade that severs life from life.
Be still, peace: hold heart.
Death is passing on- the making way of life and time for life.
Hate dying and killing, not death.
Be still, heart: make no expostulation.
Hold peace and grief and be still.
I could have sworn I made a post after finishing the Illearth War (book two), but it sure does not appear to be here..
The Power That Preserves (book three)
Mr. Covenant is more resigned to his interaction with The Land and has more control over things overall. He is still a jerk, but on his third trip he is softened a bit. He knows what to expect from The Land and the people therein.. which makes is a bit predictable for the reader as well. The same formula kinda looses some steam the third time around. There is still some epic awesomeness - kick ass battle scenes.. a siege.. crossing a river of lava.. slaying creepy not-main-villain-but-still-bad-guy. Old characters come back and play out their tragedies. Others suffer and die (much to Covenant's dismay) so that he can accomplish what he needs to. He sorely hates that there is all of this blood on his hands, but there is nothing he can do about it. This all contributes to Covenant's spiral of self loathing and I really did end up pitying him in the end.
p272
Dreams roiled in his unconsciousness giving him no consolation. Again and again he relived the double-fisted blow with which he had stabbed Pitten. But now he dealt that fierce blow to other hearts - Llaura, Manethrall Rue, Elena, Joan, the woman who had been killed protecting him at the battle of Soaring Woodhelven - why had he never asked anyone her name? In dreams he slew them all. They lay around him with gleams of light shining keenly out of their wounds like notes in an alien melody. The song tugged at him, urged - but before he could hear it, another figure hove across his vision, listing like a crippled frigate. The man was dressed in misery and violence. He had blood on his hands and love of murder in his eyes but Covenant could not make out his face. Again he raised the knife, again he drove it with all his might into that vulnerable breast. Only then did he see that the man was himself.
p334
The turbulent wind seemed to snatch the sound to pieces, tatter it instantly. In a place where echoes were common, his call disappeared without resonance or answer; the wind tore it away as if to undo his purpose, make him unheard. Nevertheless he summoned his trust, pried himself up the hillside to stand waiting on the vantage of the test. A suspense like the either / or of despair filled him, but he faced the western mountains as if he know neither distrust nor fear.
No comments:
Post a Comment