The Runes of the Earth by Stephen R. DonaldsonMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Those who have read the first two series may be familiar with the anti-hero Thomas Covenant. He was my favorite protagonist to hate. All through the first 3 books his Unbelief was entirely unacceptable to me. I hated him and loved Stephen R. Donaldson for creating such an absolutely amazing character. One whom I ached to see accept his role and do what he needed to do.
With this book author:Stephen R. Donaldson has returned to The Land with another cast of characters that are just as rich. Stave in this book was for me like Covenant in the first series. I hated his denial and refusal and ached to see him accept what none of the Haruchai would.
Linden Avery returns as the Chosen, but this time it is her use of Power and her internal conflict that we must empathize with. Unlike Covenant and his conflict of Unbelief Linden has the conflict of two powers and whether she can accomplish good by evil means. An age old question. The conflict was not as resonant with me as was Covenant's but it is there. I look forward to the completion of this series and another journey with the Unbeliever.
Both of you who have read my blog know that internal consistency is one of my personal favorites when it comes to fiction. Authors who plan well develop their internal consistency by foreshadowing and writing in clues for what will be revealed more fully in later books. Other authors, including in this case Stephen R. Donaldson, take advantage of elements left unexplored in previous books or expand references to include more complete ideas. Stephen R. Donaldson did this when the Demondim begin using the power of the Illearth Stone against Linden Avery and her company. This seemed inconsistent, but Donaldson slowly revealed that what was going on was entirely consistent with the previous books and with the current books in a manner that was both unique and unexpected and entirely satisfying.
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