Product Description

Fatal Revenant, Book Two of "The Last Chronicles of Thomas Covenant," begins where The Runes of the Earth ended: Linden Avery watches from a balcony while Thomas Covenant and her adopted son, Jeremiah, ride desperately toward Revelstone. But their reunion has vast consequences which she could not have foreseen. Soon she is betrayed by the people whom she most needs to trust. Transported deep into the Land's past, she is forced to confront mysterious strangers, legendary heroes, and ancient evils, and to stand alone against the malevolence of the Despiser's minions. Abandoned in Garroting Deep, the most bloodthirsty of the Land's long-dead forests, she reaches a fearsome decision: she determines to reshape reality in an attempt to end the Despiser's evil and her son's suffering. However, her purpose requires her to find Loric's krill, a weapon abandoned among the Hills of Andelain millennia ago. And she needs the aid of friends and allies who will turn against her if she reveals her intent. Attacked by enemies old and new, and harried by strange beings with ambiguous agendas, she strives toward Andelain. But the ravenous skurj are rising, and all of her actions appear to serve her worst foes.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #7293 in Books
• Published on: 2008-10-09
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 896 pages

Gideon Kibblewhite, DEATHRAY
"Donaldson's Land is still a beautiful and marvelously complex place full of strange peoples. It really does compare, as indeed it's supposed to, with Tolkien's Middle Earth. There are many vivid moments to savour."

Review
"Donaldson's Land is still a beautiful and marvelously complex place full of strange peoples. It really does compare, as indeed it's supposed to, with Tolkien's Middle Earth. There are many vivid moments to savour." (Gideon Kibblewhite DEATHRAY )

"Fatal Revenant is eventful and original." (Barabara Davies STARBURST )

"This is Donaldson back to his scintillating best. A journey well worth taking." (WATERSTONES.COM )

"Fatal Revenant is for aficionados who crave high fantasy tales with depth and substance." (PAT's FANTASY HOTLIST )

"There simply are not enough stars to award this book. It is not a lightweight, fluff piece, but an intense, mentally stimulating, and utterly satisfying read. Questions that have abided since Lord Foul's Bane are clarified, characters develop, and old themes echo from the prior series. It breaks my heart to finish a story like this." (THE ETERNAL NIGHT )

WATERSTONES.COM
"This is Donaldson back to his scintillating best. A journey well worth taking."

Customer Reviews

Fine sequel!
I was eager to read the second volume of The Last Chronicles of Thomas Covenant. Though a vast introduction, The Runes of the Earth, with its cliffhanger ending, left fans begging for more. Hence, I couldn't wait to return to the Land once more, and see where Fatal Revenant would take this tale.

The sequel begins right where The Runes of the Earth ended. But if you are hoping for a happy reunion between Linden and Thomas Covenant and her son Jeremiah, you are obviously not familiar with Stephen R. Donaldson's work. Revelations are made that will break Linden's heart, and she must find the strength within herself to persevere.

As was the case with the previous trilogies in the Covenant saga, Donaldson's narrative conjures up vivid and magical images. Vast in scope and vision, Fatal Revenant answers many questions that were raised by its predecessor. Indeed, secrets about Kastenessen, the Durance, the skurj, the Giants, the Haruchai, Kevin's Dirt, the Elohim, Roger Covenant, the Demondim, the ur-viles, the Waynhim, and more are revealed. Add to that a journey back into time, the introduction of the Insequent -- a cabal of powerful wizards who oppose the Elohim, a showdown beneath Melenkurion Skyweir, and a lot more, and you have a very satisfying reading experience in front of you!

I truly enjoyed the manner with which the author brought Fatal Revenant to a close, even though it is more or less anti-climatic and yet another cliffhanger. I expect some readers to find this off-putting, but I thought it was apropos to end it in such a fashion.

As always, my main complaint remains that the dialogues often don't ring true. When a vulgar villager uses a vocabulary which would put an English major to shame, something's not right. So expect terms such as condign, sooth, benison, puissant/puissance, oblique/obliquely, etc, to pepper throughout the chapters of this novel.

Given the author's career, I was expecting a bit more character growth in this second volume. And yet, other than where Stave is concerned, there is not much growth to speak of. Still, since Linden and her companions find themselves into dire straits at every turn, this might explain why. . .

One facet of this novel which could have been better is the pace. Donaldson's Covenant books have never been known for their fast-paced narrative, but various portions of Fatal Revenant are sluggish and break the overall rhythm of the story.

Nevertheless, fans of the Thomas Covenant saga should love this new installment. As a matter of fact, you may pre-order this one without fear that it won't live up to your expectations.

The press release claims that the addition of a synopsis of all previous Covenant books at the start of this one makes Fatal Revenant the perfect jumping-on point for new readers, who will supposedly find the story easily accessible. This, I must say, is the biggest lie I've heard in quite a while. The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant are a highly imaginative saga that resounds with depth and complexity. As such, it is impossible to jump in at this point without reading the first two trilogy, not if you want to appreciate this tale for what it is -- one of the classics of the genre.

Fatal Revenant is for aficionados who crave high fantasy tales with depth and substance.

Nadir of despair
"Hellfire!" said Thomas Covenant.
"What is it?" asked Linden Avery percipiently.
"I've got to pad out the Final Chronicles of myself to four volumes and I only have enough material to fill two," moaned Thomas with a needless flare of theurgic vocabulary.
"What about a pointless voyage to the One Tree? It worked before..." suggested Linden with a further repetition of percipence.
"Yeah, but that was really boring, remember? Why don't we go back in time? That way Donaldson doesn't need to invent anything new and can rehash all his old themes."
"Yes, but even then what will only fill half the book," moaned Linden. "Do you really think he can pad out the rest with trip to Andelain?"
"Only if we introduce an entirely new race who would have seemed to influence over 10,000 years of history of the Land without anyone commenting on them in the last 7 books," Thomas commented with yet another burst of percipience. "We don't have to worry about any decent characterisation, as the current characters are merely two-dimensional foils for your constant whining anyway. If we chuck in a load of new words dredged from the furthest corners of the thesaurus and repeat them ad nauseum then it may fool people into thinking this is a good book." Thomas sat back, pleased at his idea.
"But," worried Linden, "won't over 800 pages of this rubbish send the readers plunging into despair? Especially as Esmer and Anele/Elena spelt backwards have deux ex machina written all over them, meaning that whatever we do nothing will be resolved until the final part of book 4? Surely that will be a victory for Lord Foul the Despiser?
"Ha ha ha ha ha...." laughed Thomas (or was he?) theurgically percipiently interminably....

Wonderful
There is always the peril when revisiting a classic series, the threat that it won't match up to its predecessors. Well, I have to say that this volume in the final series is wonderful and overcomes that threat in threat in spades Gripping and a real development of the characters. And also some very thrilling episodes.

This could teach the writers of some of those endless fantasy series how to make a story move forward and deepen instead of languishing in a morass.

If you love the Covenant books, you won't be disappointed with this one.