The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever

I was originally told about these books, at least the first and second chronicles, by a colleague I used to work with. He had read the books a few years earlier and recommended that I should read them. Several months later I received a catalogue from the book club I had recently joined and while looking through it came across a double omnibus edition of what I mistakenly thought were these books, as by that time I had forgotten the name of the author and most of the plot details. Those books were 'The Belgariad', which are listed elsewhere on the site.

I eventually bought these books later that year, just a few weeks before Christmas when doing a bit of late-night shopping in one of the local towns, where shops were staying open till about 9:00 pm, which at the time was a novelty. To my delight I found the local bookshop was one of these, so I wandered inside and started to scan the Science-Fiction and Fantasy shelves and that is when I saw all the books for the first two Chronicles, so bought them without a second's hesitation.

The first Chronicles I found interesting but not very well-paced, so they took a while to read, however, the second Chronicles were very engaging and I read those in about half the time it took to read the books of the First Chronicles.

I had bought the first three books of the Last Chronicles, in hardback format, and had read the first two, which I did find to be more like the original Chronicles in that they were a little slow-paced when I sold up my home and emigrated to Thailand. Unfortunately, I didn't get the chance to read the third book before this upheaval and along with most of my other books, I gifted it to the local Heart Foundation charity shop. Since then I have managed to acquire an ebook version of the third novel, which is now on my TBR list, which I hope to add the fourth book to in due course.

Lord Foul's Bane: The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever: Book 01

He called himself Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever because he dared not believe in the strange alternate world in which he suddenly found himself.

Yet the Land tempted him. He had been sick; now he seemed better than ever before. Through no fault of his own, he had been outcast, unclean, a pariah. Now he was regarded as a reincarnation of the Land's greatest hero--Berek Halfhand--armed with the mystic power of White Gold.

That power alone could protect the Lords of the Land from the ancient evil of Despiser, Lord Foul. Only...Covenant had no idea of how the power could be used!

Format

Paperback

Date Acquired

25th December 1985

Retail Cost

£2.50

Number of Pages

446

Year Read

1986

The Illearth War: The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever: Book 02

After scant days in his "real" world, Thomas Covenant found himself again summoned to the Land. There forty bitter years had passed, while Lord Foul, immortal enemy of the Land, moved to fulfil his prophecy of doom.

The Council of Lords found their spells useless, now that Foul the Despiser held the Illearth Stone, ancient source of evil power, High Lord Elena turned in desperation to Covenant and the legendary white hold magic of his ring. And nobody knew how to use the white hold--least of all, Thomas Covenant.

Format

Paperback

Date Acquired

25th December 1985

Retail Cost

£2.50

Number of Pages

480

Year Read

1986

The Power That Preserves: The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever: Book 03

Twice before Thomas Covenant had been summoned to the strange otherworld where magic worked. Twice before he had been forced to join with the Lords of Revelstone in their war against Lord Foul, the ancient enemy of the Land.

Now he was back--to a Land ravaged by the armies of Lord Foul. The Lords were besieged and helpless. No place was safe, and Foul's victory seemed certain. Only Covenant could avert it. Desperately and without hope, he set out to confront the might of the Enemy. Along with him travelled a Giant, a Bloodguard, and the madwoman he had wronged. And in Foul's Creche, Lord Foul grew in power with each new defeat for the Land. . . .

Format

Paperback

Date Acquired

25th December 1985

Retail Cost

£2.50

Number of Pages

447

Year Read

1986

The Wounded Land: The Second Chronicles of Thomas Covenant: Book 01

Four thousand years have passed since Covenant first freed the Land from the devastating grip of Lord Foul and his minions. But he is back, and Thomas Covenant returns unwillingly to a Land ravaged by four thousand years of Lord Foul's pestilence.

Under the evil Sunbane, the people of the Land submit to cruel sacrifices; the rulers of Revelstone are corrupt, the fields and forests laid waste; the healing Earth-power impotent.

Accompanied by a woman from his own world, Covenant begins a new quest to save the Land from the forces that have all but destroyed it.

Format

Paperback

Date Acquired

25th December 1985

Retail Cost

£2.50

Number of Pages

512

Year Read

1986

The One Tree: The Second Chronicles of Thomas Covenant: Book 02

Thomas Covenant and Linden Avery flee from the land, and embark with the Giants on a desperate search for The One Tree, the powerful life-force whose branches alone can re-make the staff of Law.

They leave the Sunbane-ravaged shores they know for a new world where awesome creatures attack them at sea - and strangely powerful new races both welcome and threaten them on Land.

Lord Foul sends his Ravers to harry Covenant and all who help him. Before them lies the prize that can vanquish the Sunbane - or wreak the devastation that Lord Foul seeks...

Format

Paperback

Date Acquired

25th December 1985

Retail Cost

£2.50

Number of Pages

479

Year Read

1986

White Gold Wielder: The Second Chronicles of Thomas Covenant: Book 03

After bitter defeat on the Isle of the One Tree, Thomas Covenant, Linden Avery and the Giants of the Search take ship again. Across the frozen oceans, they return to the Land, now perilously close to destruction from the ravages of the Sunbane.

Drawn inexorably towards the caverns deep below Mount Thunder, Covenant and Linden Avery prepare to meet their bitterest foe. Even the white gold they carry may not serve against Lord Foul's powers. For once the wild magic is released, the Arch of Time will crack, and Lord Foul's conquest of the land will be assured...

Format

Paperback

Date Acquired

25th December 1985

Retail Cost

£2.50

Number of Pages

509

Year Read

1986

The Runes of the Earth: The Last Chronicles of Thomas Covenant: Book 01

With the publication of THE CHRONICLES OF THOMAS COVENANT THE UNBELIEVER, Donaldson took the world of fantasy publishing by storm, and created a true phenomenon: an epic fantasy instant bestseller that has gone on to sell millions.

The 'hero', Thomas Covenant, is mysteriously struck down with a disease believed eradicated; he is abandoned by his wife and young son and becomes a pariah. Alone and despairing, Covenant falls - and is drawn into a mysterious new world, where gentle people work magic and the earth itself brings healing. He is welcomed as the reincarnation of a legendary saviour, but Covenant refuses to believe; he's convinced he's having delusions. At the end of the sixth book, as Covenant battles to save the world, he is killed - in both worlds - as Dr Linden Avery, his horrified companion, looks on.

Now comes the book every fantasy reader has been waiting for. It's ten years later, and Linden Avery thought she would never see the Land, or Covenant, her beloved, again. But Lord Foul has stolen her adopted son, and is unmaking the very laws of nature.

And though she believes Covenant dead, he keeps sending Linden messages: 'Find me', and 'Don't trust me'. The Land is in turmoil, and Lord Foul has plans for them all . . .

Format

Hardback

Date Acquired

25th December 2004

Retail Cost

£18.99

Number of Pages

593

Year Read

2006

Fatal Revenant: The Last Chronicles of Thomas Covenant: Book 02

Linden Avery, who loved Thomas Covenant when they traveled together to the Land ten years ago, returns to this magical realm in search of her son, Jeremiah. There, not only does she find her son has been healed of the tragic mental condition that kept him mute and unresponsive for years, but she also finds Thomas Covenant himself, impossibly alive and frighteningly intent on carrying out a dark and dangerous plan. Yet when Linden hears Covenant's voice in her dreams, crying "Linden, find me," she's forced to consider whether the man she's traveling with is the same Thomas Covenant she loved and adored, or whether he's been twisted into something dark and far more sinister.

Format

Hardback

Date Acquired

25th December 2007

Retail Cost

£18.99

Number of Pages

789

Year Read

2014

Against All Things Ending: The Last Chronicles of Thomas Covenant: Book 03

Thomas Covenant is alive again, restored to his mortal body by the unimaginable combined force of his own white gold ring, Linden Avery's Staff of Law, and the ancient dagger called High Loric's krill. His resurrection is Linden's defiant act of love, despite warnings from mortals and immortals that unleashing this much power would destroy the world. She brought his spirit back from its prison in the Arch of Time and revived his slain body so that Covenant lies whole on the cool grass, and the world seems at peace. But the truth is inescapable: The thunderclap of power has awakened the Worm of the World's End, and all of them, and the Land itself, are forfeit to its devouring. If they have any chance to save the Land, it will come from unlikely sources—including the mysterious boy Jeremiah, Linden's adopted son, whose secrets are only beginning to come to light.

Format

Hardback

Date Acquired

25th December 2010

Retail Cost

£18.99

Number of Pages

784

Year Read

Unread

Against All Things Ending: The Last Chronicles of Thomas Covenant: Book 03

Desperate for help to find her adopted son, Jeremiah, Linden Avery has resurrected Thomas Covenant in a cataclysmic exertion of Earthpower and wild magic. But the consequences of her efforts are more terrible than she could have imagined.

Sorcery on that scale has awakened the Worm of the World's End: the ultimate end of all Time, and therefore of all life, has been set in motion. And on a more personal level, the results are no less extreme. The stress of reincarnation so many centuries after his death has fractured Covenant's mind. He cannot tell Linden where to find her son. And his leprosy has renewed its grip on him, inexorably killing his nerves. The Ranyhyn had tried to warn her.

Now, plunged to depths of desperation and despair for which she is entirely unprepared, Linden seeks radical responses to the dilemmas she has created. Searching for Jeremiah, and accompanied only by a few friends and allies - some of them unwilling - she takes chances that threaten her sanity, forcing her to confront the Land's most fearsome secrets. Dreadful futures hinge on all of her choices, and she and her companions are driven beyond the limits of their endurance.

Yet she still walks paths laid out for her by the Despiser, and his forces are ready ...

Format

Mobi

Date Acquired

9th May 2021

Retail Cost

£12.99

Number of Pages

1001

Year Read

2022