Runes of the Earth

The Runes of the Earth by Stephen R. Donaldson


My 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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Hogwart's Year One: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

This book was also published under the title Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone for the U.K. audience. Apparently the U.S. audience was simply not sophisticated enough to wrap their heads around the idea of a Philosopher's Stone.

The elements of foreshadowing in this were the frequent and obvious references to Harry's scar. From the moment we meet Harry his scar is his distinguishing mark. This scar was the first indication that there was a connection between Harry and Voldemort the evil sorcerer who must not be named. When Hagrid describes to him that he has been marked there is foreshadowing. Hagrid tells him: That was no ordinary cut. It wasn't even ordinary for a curse. Harry was the first and only to survive Voldemort's killing curse. The scar on Harry's forehead becomes the first foreshadowing of what is to come.