Rate this book

The Last Dark (2013)

by Stephen R. Donaldson(Favorite Author)

4.03 of 5 Votes: 2

ISBN

0399159207 (ISBN13: 9780399159206)

languge

English

genre

Fantasy

publisher

Putnam

series

The Last Chronicles of Thomas Covenant

review 1: For most who have read all the other novels in the series, regardless of the reviews we have to read the last one!Having been a huge fan of the first and second trilogies I read them at least three times or more. When the third trilogy came out I found them less detailed, not nearly as immersible as the first two yet still interesting.I was waiting with baited breath for the last and final novel of the series. Unfortunately it was extremely disappointing. The first half of the book was mainly about Linden's son, Jeremiah. Although the party traveled throughout the first half of the book they never once met up with any other characters, as if there was no one else left in the Land. Finally they meet up with a few more giants and Haruchai but there were absolutely no ne... morew interesting characters as seen in previous books of the series. In short, it was more of a shallow drama of boring feelings and mechanical actions rather than an epic end to a great Science Fiction series.I had to drag myself through the endless repetition of banter between giants (Donaldson ran out of ideas for Giant Names - Baf Scatterwit?), the same drawn out description of Covenant making his travel ring of fire - over and over again, looking for clean water and finding it between each circle of travel, resting, eating, etc. I found myself saying out loud on numerous occasions, "blah, blah, blah" and subsequently searching for quotations so I could sift through the unnecessary and sleep inducing diamondraught-like idle chatter.Instead of delving into the mind of Jeremiah it was just a surface scan of a spoiled teenager.After the wedding I felt like I was dragging a ball and chain through a book akin to a shallow daytime drama. It was superficial and almost stomach churning for Sci Fi fans.Clearly Donaldson did not put his inherent artistic imagination into this last novel. Either that or he has become much gentler as he has aged. In reading through it's as if he lost interest in this saga and just churned out an unnecessarily long and boorish recap of people's memories with fancy phrases and no finite ending. I was left with many questions, sheer frustration and the vision of the imperfect hero, Thomas Covenant, walking through eternity carrying the Dark Lord inside of him everywhere he goes. Ugh.
review 2: Oof! Big book, but well written, and as always a blend of fantasy and personal choices.I've always enjoyed these book as much for the inner dialogues and conflicts of the characters as for any amount of fantasy world creation. Donaldson maybe overdoes the romanticisation of certain characters, while the conclusion is a little brief, allowing one no real time to savour the resolution as much as the long journey to it, however it takes nothing away from the achievement and my overall enjoyment of this series that began thirty years ago with my local mobile library van!! less

Download links for: The Last Dark

Advertising