Book Review: The Power that Preserves (The First Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever #3)

 Does morality matter to each of us, at an individual level? Or does morality only matter if our beliefs in (and about) this world are real and true?

As I turned to the last page of The Power that Preserves, the final book to The First Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever, I walked away, feeling inspired to further explore this dynamic question. Most importantly, I just can't believe that despite a troublesome start at book 1, book 2 and 3 managed to turn around and grabbed my interest. I am so glad I persevered with this series after the first book, and read the entire trilogy. Today, I would like to review The Power that Preserves, this book provides a satisfying conclusion, to this very unique fantasy epic.

Synopsis:

Thomas Covenant has been twice summoned to the fantastic world of the Land, to aid the Lords at Revelstone, and combating the tyranny of Lord Foul, who is the physical incarnation of Despise.

However, Thomas Covenant found it hard to believe his experience at the Land was real. As a result, Covenant was reluctant to aid the Lords in their quest. Furthermore, Covenant's unbelief behaves as a double edged blade, cutting both ways. While his unbelief occasionally thwarted Lord Foul's advance, but his unbelief, leading to inaction, also harmed many people who came across his path in the Land.

Now, Covenant has been summoned to the Land for the third time. Upon his arrival, he found 7 bitter years has passed in the Land. During these 7 years, Lord Foul has mastered the power of Illearth Stone, and had become even more powerful through some mysterious, devious means. With his great power, Lord Foul brought an ever-lasting, harsh winter upon the Land, murdering this once fantastic world and its populace with blood chilling claws of icing death. Covenant is the Land's last hope to stop Lord Foul, he must discover, the power to preserve.

However, Lord Foul is the incarnation of Despise. What power can defeat Despise?

What I think about this book:

While The Power that Preserves provides a satisfying conclusion to this trilogy, but it is not a flawless book. I found the pace of the book uneven, and I felt this book would have been just as good, if it was shortened by 50 pages. This is because Stephen Donaldson's writing style is verbose, and the use of vocabulary in this book (and this series in general) is overly expansive. My opinion is, while this type of writing style does weave an atmosphere of intelligibility around this book, but after a while, a reader may find, that deciphering Donaldson's writings prove to be a nuisance than a stimulating exercise.

Having said this, I must say, that the style of writing in this book (and book 2) is still more approachable, in comparison to Lord Foul's Bane, the first installment in this series. However, Donaldson's verbose, flowery writing style hinders the pace of the story at several places, making this book (and the series in general) hard to sit through.

Despite its flaws, I did enjoy reading this book, because I think this book (and the series in general) is probably one of the most interesting creations in the genre of fantasy literature. While this is a story about good versus evil, but in the eye of the storm, it takes its readers on a journey to explore the boundaries of human morality. The protagonist in this series, is Thomas Covenant, a 20^th century American author who contracted leprosy at the height of his career and personal life. From there, as a leper, Covenant was shunned and rejected by the society and his family, attached with labels such as outcast and unclean. Then one day he was transported to a fantastic world called the Land, where he was forcibly thrown into a quest to combat an evil overlord. But Covenant's problem was that he did not believe his experience was real, hence calling himself “Thomas Covenant, the unbeliever”. Therefore, just as Covenant struggled with his mounting bitterness and self contempt from his life as a leper, he was also uncertain whether if he should bear the moral responsibilities for his actions (or lack of actions) in what he perceived to be a dream world, making him a reluctant anti-hero. i.e. Covenant was told he had the power to save the Land, but he did not know what that power was, and he lacked the conviction to try to save the Land. As a result, in the previous 2 books, Covenant inevitably hurt many people in the Land because he was reluctant to do anything.

In The Power that Preserves, Covenant was summoned to the Land for the 3^rd time. This time, Covenant bore witness to the fruits of his past doings in the land. Lord Foul, the incarnation of Despise, was gradually killing the Land and its people, because Covenant did nothing to help in the past. This is an interesting parallel between Covenant's leprosy which was gradually killing him (bodily and emotionally), and the Land being gradually killed by an evil entity which physically represents despise. Covenant was tormented by the sights of the suffering people due to the inactions of his past, and he was loosing himself just as the Land was lost. In this book, Covenant finally came to the realization, that he had to stand at the eye of the paradox between his unbelief and moral responsibilities, to discover the power that would preserve his very own nature, as well as the Land even if it was not real, because it mattered to him.

In my opinion, this premise made this book (and the series) worth reading for. The final showdown between Thomas Covenant and Lord Foul (AKA Despise) was probably one of the most captivating showdowns in the history of fantasy literature. It revolved around a question that everyone should be able to relate to: How does one defeat despise?

I think The Power that Preserves ended the journey of Thomas Covenant in a grand fashion. Despite the fact I did not appreciate Donaldson's writing style, but I do feel inspired to further explore and expand (or even alter) my current view on human morality. I would like to share here, that personally, as I closed The Power that Preserves, I walked away with a new found understanding, that I should act morally NOT on the grounds that my existing beliefs in (and about) this world are real or true. Instead, I should act morally regardless of any ground, because if I don't, then I cannot be.

Thank you for reading this review.

Book Review: The Illearth War by Stephen Donaldson (The First Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever #2)

  Does morality only apply to a world that we believe is real?

Stephen Donaldson (perhaps unintentionally) provoked his readers to explore this question, in Lord Foul's Bane, the first book to The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever. I thought Lord Foul's Bane had an interesting story, but I found it very difficult to read, because Donaldson's writing style was verbose and overly flowery. Yet, I decided to continue with reading this series, because the premise behind the story intrigued me. Furthermore, Donaldson named his fictional hero, Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever. With a name like that (and what it may imply), I thought this series must contain some aspects of significance, for it to have achieved such a wholesome reputation.

At this point, I am happy to report, that I like the second book of this series, titled The Illearth War, ALOT more than Lord Foul's Bane. Today, I would like to provide a review for The Illearth War. If you have read Lord Foul's Bane but is uncertain if you would like to continue with reading this series, then feel free to read on. I hope my review will provide some useful information for your decision making.

Synopsis:

In Lord Foul's Bane, Thomas Covenant, an American man inflicted the dire disease of leprosy, was transported to a fantastic world known as the Land. He helped the Lords to retrieve the Staff of Law, an instrument to combat the evil Lord Foul. Upon the completion of the quest, Thomas Covenant woke up, and found himself returned to the “real” world. Covenant doubted the genuineness of his experience from the Land, he thought of it as an unreality, spawned from the depth of his tormented consciousness. Yet, he could not shake away those vivid memories from his mind. Nor can he ignore the overwhelming sense of responsibility and connections which he felt towards the people from the Land.

It has been a month since Covenant returned to the “real” world, Covenant has resumed his life as a leper. One night, Covenant once again found himself summoned to the Land for the second time. Upon his arrival, Covenant discovered that, 40 years has passed in the Land. During which, Lord Foul has gained possession of the Illearth stone, a source of ancient power. With this power in hand, Lord Foul marches unopposed, towards fulfilling the prophecy of doom. In their moments of helplessness, the Lords turned to Covenant once again for hope. However, Covenant lacks conviction, because he still does not believe his experience is a reality. Furthermore, Covenant is filled with self loathing and bitterness from his life as a leper. As a result, Covenant remains to be a wild card in the upcoming struggles against Lord Foul.

Will Covenant bring salvation to the Land? Or will he doom it for eternity?

What I think about this book:

In my opinion, The Illearth War is a much, much better book than Lord Foul's Bane. Perhaps I am getting used to Donaldson's writing style, but I found this book a lot easier to read than its predecessor. Whatever the reason may be, but the language in The Illearth War is not as verbose and pretentious as the one found in Lord Foul's Bane, and this book is more readable than the one before it.

This book is also structured differently compared to the previous installment, because the story in this book is narrated in the style of POV characters. The introduction of POV narration is a welcoming change, because it sheds new lights on the various characters who appeared in this book. Therefore, instead of constantly reading about Thomas Covenant's self loathing and bitterness as a leper, readers get to see the story from the perspectives of other characters in this book. More specifically, it is really interesting to see how other characters in the story viewed Thomas Covenant, i.e. how they marveled at the extent of Covenant's emotional wounds, therefore they are sympathetic towards Covenant although he continued to act like a jerk throughout the entire book.

The most intriguing aspect of this book, is the introduction of a new character called Hiles Troy, he is a major POV character in this book. In the story, Troy is like Covenant, who also (allegedly) came to the Land from the “real” world. Troy is an interesting character, because in many ways, he is what Covenant should have been, a courageous hero possessing convictions and certainty. Unlike Covenant, Troy is very sure about his beliefs, and he is unafraid of using available resources and powers for the benefit of his existing course. However, (without spoiling the story) it is for this reason that Troy is not, and can never be in the role that Thomas Covenant was meant to be in.

Thomas Covenant still occupies the spotlight in this book. I think Donaldson did an excellent job at portraying the character of Covenant. This time around, he is still the selfish, pathetic and bitter man who cowers in fear at the onset of every challenge. Yet, while I read this book, whenever I became frustrated at Covenant and despised him, I was also reminded that Covenant was a leper who tried to survive his ordeal. In fact, at several occasions, I was stunned by the extent of Covenant's emotional wounds. The wounds which he sustained from being branded as unclean, the wounds from being shunned by the people in the “real” world because he was a leper. Furthermore, Donaldson setup the plot quite well, so readers would eventually, at the moment of its revelation, grasp why Covenant's unbelief, despite being a doubled edged blade earlier in the story, is central to the story arc of this series.

At this point, I speculate the next book will probably contain the theme of power versus corruption. Meanwhile, I found The Illearth War to be a major improvement over its predecessor. I am glad that despite a somewhat frustrating experience with the first book, I hanged on and continued to read this series. I still spotted some problems found in the first book appearing in this book, such as the use of flowery language. Perhaps this is just Donaldson's default writing style, but compared to the first book, this book is more readable. Some readers may dislike this whole series, because Covenant is such a useless, whiny and pathetic creature. If this is you, then I suppose you would probably dislike this book as well. However, for those who found aspects of intrigues, in the premises behind the character of Thomas Covenant, may found this book to be an enjoyable read. As for me, I am looking forward to reading the third book, which is the final installment to The First Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever, titled, The Power that Preserves.

Thank you for reading this book review. Until the next time, happy reading!

Book Review: Lord Foul's Bane by Stephen Donaldson (The First Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever #1)

Does the human morality still apply in the virtual worlds, such as dreams?

In 1978, author Stephen Donaldson explored this fascinating, philosophical question, when he debut with a novel called Lord Foul's Bane. This is the first book to an epic, 10 books fantasy series, following the adventures of a man called Thomas Covenant, and his quests in a strange world called the Land.

The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever, is very well known in the genre of fantasy fictions. It is reputed for its extensive use of uncommon vocabulary, and the interesting portrayal of anti-heroism. I added this series to my “to-read” list 2 years ago, I bought the first 3 books (i.e. The First Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever) from ebay. it has been sitting on my bookshelf for months. Finally, I ventured into this series last week. Today, I would like to provide a book review for Lord Foul's Bane, the first book to this series.

Synopsis:

Thomas Covenant was a best-selling author, he had a wife and a son. Everything was going well in his life, when Ill-fortune struck, and he was inflicted with the dire disease of leprosy. Even in the 20^th century America, Covenant found himself labeled as unclean, his wife took their son and left him, while the community treated him as an outcast. Although his life hit an all-time low, Covenant was determined to battle leprosy and survive for as long as he can.

One day, a police car ran into Covenant, and he swooned, fading into unconsciousness. Covenant woke up in a foreign, and strange world known as the Land. The people here thought he was a hero with untapped powers, whose coming to the Land was foretold in an ancient prophecy, to free the Land from the claws the tyrant, Lord Foul. Covenant had no choice but to embark on this quest. However, he did not believe his experience was a reality. Instead, Covenant suspected he was in a dream, a very convincing, realistic dream.

Calling himself by the title “Unbeliever”, Thomas Covenant embarked a quest to foil Lord Foul's devious plans. The question remains whether if Covenant's unbelief will save, or doom the Land for eternity?

What I think about this book:

I have mixed feelings about this book.

First of all, I thought the ideas and conceptions behind the character of Thomas Covenant, is very interesting. Never in the world of fantasy fictions, have I ever encountered a hero as useless and lame as Thomas Covenant, and that made this book fascinating. Although the general plot in this book follows the traditional fantasy trope (i.e. a quest to rescue a powerful artifact from the clutch of an evil overlord), yet what sets Covenant apart from other “goodie-goodie” type fantasy heroes such as Aragorn, or Harry Potter, is Covenant's unbelief. Throughout this book, Thomas Covenant remained a skeptic, he thought he was in a dream. Therefore, in this book, as a man embittered by his experience as a leper, Covenant constantly wrestled with moral uncertainties of his actions, running into crises of virtue, in what he believed, was a dream world. The result is, as the story unfolds, Covenant's unbelief often led to unpredictable and interesting outcomes. This means, despite being a lame hero, who lacked any form conviction or brevity, Thomas Covenant is indeed, a unique hero (or specifically, an anti-hero), whose unbelief served both as a strength and a weakness. I was fascinated by the character of Thomas Covenant, and the waves of philosophical questions marching behind this story.

Having said this, I must say, for me, Donaldson's writing style killed much joys in my reading of this book. I thought the language used in this book, is both unwieldy and flowery. Donaldson seem to have this strange tendency to jam as many uncommon words into one sentence as possible. Perhaps to some people, employing this type of linguistic style, is deemed as having reached the art of writing at its highest form. However, some readers (myself included) can be frustrated by this form of writing style, while it make the book hard to read, it also retards the pace of the book, stretching the plot to a line of perpetual boredom. The result? The book felt slow, overly long, and I skimmed through at least a third of the book.

As I turned to the last page of Lord Foul's Bane, I felt relieved that it was over (and that's not necessarily a compliment). I thought it was an interesting book hindered by a pretentious style of writing. The character of Thomas Covenant certainly provoked interesting questions about morality. This character, is both fascinating and unique. However, because Donaldson told the story of Thomas Covenant in such unwieldy language, the book lose its luster. In the meantime, it is commonly agreed that Lord Foul's Bane, being the first book to the series, is also the weakest book in the series. As I found the character interesting, so I will venture to read the 2^nd book in the series, titled “The Illearth War”.

Thank you for reading this review. Until the next time, happy reading!

Book Review: Small gods by Terry Pratchett (Discworld #13)

“ Only a mile away from the shepherd and his flock was a goatherd and his herd. The merest accident of microgeography had meant that the first man to hear the voice of Om, and who gave Om his view of humans, was a shepherd and not a goatherd. They have quite different ways of looking at the world, and the whole of history might have been different.

For sheep are stupid, and have to be driven. But goats are intelligent, and need to be led.”

                                        -Terry Pratchett, Small gods

For the most parts of my career as a reader, I have always been some sort of a “proto-fan” for Terry Pratchett's Discworld series. That is, I've heard of what Discworld is about, I knew it exists, and without reading it, I already knew I would like it. Discworld is a comedic fantasy series, often poking fun at things in our society using satires. The stories are set in a fantastic world, flat as a disc, supported on the backs of four elephants standing on a giant, space turtle who, swims across space. I thought this idea was grand when I heard it for the first time, it was love at the first sight! This sort of things are right up my alley, and immediately, I knew that I was going to be a fan for it.

My experience with Discworld franchise is limited to the TV adaptations for “Going Postal”, and “Hogfather”, and I liked both of them. However, I have never read any Discworld novels, mainly because the amount of books in this series, add up to a jaw-dropping number of 40 books! I simply didn't know where or how to start. But I always wanted to read these books. After doing some extensive research, in collaboration with Dr. Google, I sheepily acquired a handful of Discworld novels, subsequently arrived at the decision that Small gods, would be my entry to the eccentric yet fantastic world of Discworld. Small gods is a satirical portrayal of organized religion (in particular, Christianity) and politics, and I love this book! While reading this book, I laughed so hard and loud in a manner, that I suspect my neighbors were probably wondering if it was time for them to call the men in white coats. Today, I would like to provide a review for this book.

Synopsis:

Religion is a serious business.

Even on Discworld, a flat, circular world carried by the Star Turtle A'tuin, religion is as serious a business as it is anywhere else in the universe. On Discworld, many religions exist, competing against each other to have its influence and presence felt. At this point in time, our story takes us to an empire called Omnia, a theocratic kingdom who believed in a monotheistic religion, worshiping the one and true God, Om. The time has come again for Om to manifest himself in the world. However, this time, Om found himself manifested in the form of a small tortoise, stripped of all of his power. This is a most unexpected result! Under these drastic circumstances, Om knew he needed a disciple. This is when brother Brutha, a young novice from the temple of Om, came into the play..

What I think about this book:

I love this book! This book is full of humors and satires, and very well written. This book was poking fun at a variety of aspects in the human society; from religion, philosophy, to politics. Terry Pratchett made sharp and crisp observations about these things, then dressed them up in the colorful cloth of parodies, inviting his readers to unwrap and think about these issues for themselves, in a light-hearted, humorous manner. The characters in this book, from heroes to villains, are vividly portrayed and unforgettable. I especially enjoyed reading the interactions between Om and Brutha, and watched Brutha gradually develop from an unthinking novice in a religious order, into a wise and compassionate sage.

This book explored some thought-provoking themes. For example, (without spoiling the story), one aspect of the story questions religious individuals, that between the actual God of their religion, and the structure/theology/doctrine/worldview they established for their religion, which one is the true basis for their belief? Hence, should this God be surprised, when He found out, that just as silence stole into the heart of a moonless night, His followers has ceased to believe in Him, but are now believing in the system that promotes the religion instead?

This question touched me deeply, because my personal experience showed me that, most times, organized religion is often busy playing the role of a gatekeeper, separating the “true believers” from the “non-believers” (or fake believers) by enforcing a narrow-minded certainty and division, based on a non-negotiable, systematic dictatorship over one's theology/doctrine, or worldview.

This book, also suggested an alternative perspective on how to look at humanity. i.e. one of my favorite quotes from the book is this: “Just because you can explain it doesn’t mean it’s not still a miracle”. I believe the book is suggesting that there is awesomeness, and something miraculous about the things that occur in daily lives. Allow me to explain: A lot of the times, some people (such as moi) have the tendency to find amazement ONLY in things that we are unable to understand. While taking for granted, failing to notice, that miracles are in fact, all around us. For example, comparing to the rest of the (known) universe, it is indeed miraculous for humans to build street lamps and sewerage system on earth, while we could have just sat around and did no such thing! I mean, where else in our solar system, would you find a group of corporeal creatures, transforming metals, glasses and concrete into street lamps and sewerage system, to serve a purpose? Among the things in our dark and cold solar system, humans can give meanings to things that don't necessarily have meanings, isn't that miraculous and special? This book widened the way I look at things, and broadened my perspective. It made me appreciate humanity in a whole different, positive way that was previously absent from my religious worldview.

Overall, I deeply enjoyed Small gods. It has a thought-provoking and humorous story, set in a fantastic and imaginative world, filled with eccentric and funny characters who are absolutely unforgettable. Most importantly, I am so glad that I have now, been initiated into the universe of Discworld. I look forward to reading other Discworld novels in the near future. In the meantime, I would recommend this book to those who like comedy, fantasy, and satires, also to those who like thinky books that explore religion, philosophy and politics in humorous and creative ways.

Book Review: Misery by Stephen King

Misery is a psychological horror novel, written by Stephen King. He published this book in 1987, and the book was adapted into a movie in 1990. Misery is often considered as one of Stephen King's best books. When I was 11 years old, I watched the movie adaptation of Misery on VHS. Although I can't remember the details about the movie, but I can still recall the movie kept me on the edge of my seat for 2 hours. It was one of the most terrifying movies I have ever seen in my life. However, until recently, I have never read Misery the novel. Today, I would like to review this book.

Synopsis:

Do you have fans? A lot of famous people do. As for me, I am an ordinary person, and I don't think I have any fan (not that I am aware of). But I'd speculate meeting someone who claims to be your number one fan, could be a flattering and positive experience. Well, that is, unless you are Paul Sheldon, whose experience of meeting his number one fan was anything but positive.

Paul Sheldon writes historical romances. Through his Misery series, Paul became an international best-selling author. But in secret, Paul despised his own creation, especially Misery Chastain, the protagonist in the Misery series. In the fifth Misery novel, Paul killed off the protagonist in the book, hoping that he could close off the series, so he can move on and write something different.

Paul had a car accident while he was driving to Los Angeles. When he regained his consciousness, he found himself with broken legs, and lying in the house of Anne Wilkes, who rescued Paul from the wreckage. Anne also told Paul that she is his “number one fan”. Soon, Paul discovered that Anne is crazy and mentally unstable. He was in reality, imprisoned by Anne. Then Paul found out, that there are worse things than death, especially when he was under the “care” provided by Anne Wilkes, his most loyal and number one fan...

What I think about the book:

I used to think Misery the movie was terrifying. Now I think Misery the novel is petrifying. This is to say that I think the novel is scarier than the movie. As a psychological horror novel, Misery successfully terrified its readers, not with acts of violence and gores (though the book is gory), but because the story made its readers “understand”, that the antagonist, Anne Wilke, is a truly disturbing individual, someone to be feared. This understanding surrounds the protagonist in a sense of real danger, weaving a constant suspense into the entire book. The result is a page-turner! i.e. When I was reading this book, I never knew what to expect in the next page. I was terrified, I didn't want to know what was going to happen, but I just had to to know.

This book is very simple. In this instance, simplicity is a strength rather than a weakness. For the most of the book, there are only 2 characters, Paul and Anne. But the book never bored me. Instead, this simplicity allowed the story to focus on the fascinating interactions between the protagonist and the antagonist. This allowed the readers to explore the minds of the characters in depth, making them vivid and impressionable. In fact, while reading this book, I started feeling sorry for the antagonist, Anne Wilkes. This is because from reading the interactions between Paul and Anne, I saw the true depth of Anne's insanity. I was deeply disturbed by Anne, but I also felt a sense of sympathy towards her. In vice versa, while I thought what happened to Paul Sheldon (the protagonist) was horrible, but there were times when I was annoyed by Paul because he could be very arrogant on occasions. The book also depicted an interesting portrayal of Stockholm Syndrome.

Stephen King wrote many horror novels; Carrie, Pet Sematary, IT, Salem's Lot etc.. Most of them terrorized readers with waves of supernatural horrors. After I read this book, I can see why Misery is often considered as one of Stephen King's best horror novels. This book does not terrorize readers with supernatural entities such as ghosts and monsters. Instead, Misery slices and drives horror into readers' minds, with a knife of spine-chilling realism. Its serrated edge, is coated with our profound fear for human insanity.

I highly recommend this book to those who enjoy horror/thriller, or to those who are just looking to read a good book. This book will not disappoint.