Illearth War: Amazon.ca: Stephen Donaldson: Books

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'Something entirely out of the ordinary ! you'll want to go straight through Lord Foul's Bane, The Illearth War and The Power that Preserves at one sitting' The Times 'The Thomas Covenant saga is a remarkable acheivement which will certainly find a place on the small list of all true classics' Washington Post 'A feast for epic fantasy addicts' Publishers Weekly --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Book Description

The second volume in the epic Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever.
Thomas Covenant found himself once again summoned to the Land. The Council of Lords needed him to move against Foul the Despiser who held the Illearth Stone, ancient source of evil power. But although Thomas Covenant held the legendary ring, he didn't know how to use its strength, and risked losing everything.... --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

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First Sentence
BY the time Thomas Covenant reached his house the burden of what had happened to him had already become intolerable. Read the first page

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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt

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Customer Reviews

45 Reviews

5 star:		(34)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

Average Customer Review

4.5 out of 5 stars (45 customer reviews)

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5.0 out of 5 stars and they thought they were in trouble before, April 22 2003

By

jan erik storeb� (norway) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Illearth War: The Cronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever (Mass Market Paperback)

this plot can be divided into two: 1) the general war between the "nice" and the "bad" (where D. shows that he can also describe tactics and war) 2) Covenant's travel (it's written more or less from his point of view. there is a quest for a solution to defeat the enemy). sound unoriginal, doesn't it? well, it's not. D has a way of writing, a way of developing a plot, a psychological angle, and particulaly a way of describing and building up the event, that makes his books refreshing and very original.

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5.0 out of 5 stars captivating high fantasy, April 10 2003

By

"two27762" (Easton, PA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Illearth War: The Cronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever (Mass Market Paperback)

This is a phenomenal book. Full of action, dialogue, as well as inner monologue. This is heavy reading and not for the faint of heart. Well worth the effort.

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5.0 out of 5 stars Difficult to top, Mar 19 2003

By

Ritesh Laud (Houston, TX USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Illearth War: The Cronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever (Mass Market Paperback)

I've read better fantasy but The Illearth War is five-star material nonetheless. This is the sequel to Lord Foul's Bane, in which Thomas Covenant first discovered the Land and assisted in the recovery of an important magical artifact. This time around he again gets transported from the "real world" to the Land but while Covenant is only a few weeks older, 40 years have passed in the Land and the struggle against Lord Foul has become desperate. Foul is about to march against the Lords, who simply aren't prepared for what's coming!

The novel is slow to get going and most of the highlights come in the second half. The first half provides a lot of backstory and character development. We meet the important woman Elena, who develops a close relationship with Covenant (for good reason too, as you'll learn to your surprise later in the novel). Hile Troy, a military tactician who claims to also be from Covenant's world, leads the war effort and plays an even more central role in this book than Covenant. Lord Mhoram is a leading character this time around. Trell, the former loving gravelingas of Mithil Stonedown, is now a tragic and unpredictable character. The mysterious creature Amok holds a key to ancient and terrible power.

The second half of the book is where the action really hits. Donaldson gives us three simultaneous plot lines to follow; each is exciting and keeps you turning the pages. My favorite plot line was the mission to Seareach but all three are excellent! Just as in the last book, scenes of battle and gore are depicted admirably. Settings are described in lavish detail but the prose never gets exceedingly verbose unlike some other fantasy out there (*cough* Wheel of Time *cough*). The ending ties things up nicely, yet leaves the big picture unresolved and hence leads perfectly into the sequel.

Though still bitter from his experience as a leper, Covenant seems to have lightened up a bit. In fact in a couple parts of the book he actually feels genuinely happy, albeit briefly. Unfortunately, as in Lord Foul's Bane, most of the other characters aren't too unique and their personalities tend to be uniformly strong and heroic. Troy is an interesting one though.

Overall, top notch fantasy and certainly not to be missed after reading Lord Foul's Bane!

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Most recent customer reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars The war for the Land begins.
"The Illearth War", book 2 in the Thomas Covenant series is nothing but a maserpiece. Covenant the Unbeliever is again summoned to the Land to help the people survive... Read more

Published on Feb 18 2003 by D. Pachal

5.0 out of 5 stars Probably the best in the series
4 1/2 stars.

Having reread Lord of the Rings in anticipation of the films last year, I recently also paid a visit to another fantasy series that I enjoyed while in middle... Read more

Published on Jan 2 2003 by M

5.0 out of 5 stars The Illearth is NOW
The Illearth War, by Stephen R. Donaldson is the second installment of the 1st chronicle of the book of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever. Either you'll love these books or not. Read more

Published on Dec 9 2002 by Rafik

5.0 out of 5 stars Back in the Land Again
We come again the continuing saga and epic of the Unbeliever, Covenant. When he awakens to find himself back in what he believes to be "reality," he finds that his leprosy is far... Read more

Published on Sep 22 2002 by Gregory Nyman

5.0 out of 5 stars Second in a wonderous series
I'll keep this simple. If you haven't read the first book in this trilogy, "Lord Foul's Bane," then you should look at the reviews for it and decide if you would like to... Read more

Published on July 29 2002 by coraythan

5.0 out of 5 stars The best non Tolkien fantasy series I have ever read
I just finished reading the lord of the rings series, I was expecting a let down on my next read. It was quite the contary, you should find out for yourself how wonderful these... Read more

Published on Feb 14 2002 by Corey21J

4.0 out of 5 stars Short-lived victory
O how I rejoiced when the ur-lord finally did something right at the conclusion of Lord Foul's Bane!! And the wonder of circumstance upon awakening from this 'dream'. Read more

Published on Dec 7 2001 by Mike Winter

5.0 out of 5 stars Of course you'll read this
If you've read Book One then you'll read this, no brainer. If you haven't go back and buy it; very thought-provoking, moving fantasy series.