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Title: White Gold Wielder (The Second Chronicles of Thomas Covenant | Book 3) |
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Review of White Gold Wielder (The Second Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, Book 3)
- Thomas Covenant knew that despite his failure on the Isle of The One Tree, he had to return to the Land and fight. After a long and arduous journey, fighting all the way, he readies himself for the final showdown with Lord Foul, the Despiser, and begins to understand things he had only just wondered about before....
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Comments for White Gold Wielder (The Second Chronicles of Thomas Covenant | Book 3)
- Posted on 2008-04-21
Not Free SF Reader
We have that sinking feeling.
Having made it out alive of the complete balls up that was the sinking of the One Tree, the main problem still remains, and it is worsening.
The Clave have gone overboard with the whole human sacrifice to the Sunbane thing, chucking whole towns into the pot.
So, what do your fantasy heroes do with what seems to be an overwhelming force opposing them?
Yep, attack, and hope whacky magic and a few monsters etc. can squeak them through.
3.5 out of 5
Score: 4
- Posted on 2007-09-05
Well executed, but missing something...
Having read all of the first six Convenant books in a relatively short ammount of time, I will say that I came away enjoying the saga. White Gold Wielder, for it's part, provides a very good cross-section of the series as a whole. Donaldson's strengths are present in full force. Unfortunately, so are the weaknesses.
I'll mention the strengths first. Foremost is the character development. Thomas Covenant is a character unlike any other in modern fantasy, and Linden Avery is extremely well developed as his foil and complement. Alternating between their respective points-of-view, Donaldson effectively creates reader sympathy and empathy for their sometimes conflicting motives while at the same time advancing their shared cause.
Donaldson's other strength is world building. After the first five novels, "The Land" and it's encompassing world at large are fairly completely developed, so in WGW, Donaldson is able to use his setting as another character to drive the plot and draw the reader in, much as he did in the early part of the first trilogy when Covenant was many times too unlikeable to be engaging. Covenant does not revert to his dispicable past, far from it, but as his future becomes more and more bleak, the future of the land provides the story with hope of a happy ending.
Now, for the negatives. The biggest problem is that the whole thing is just so dark. Like the Despiser, Donaldson assails his characters with blow after blow, failure after failure. That's not a bad thing in and of itself, but in this instance, the darkness is not often enough tempered with moments of light. In spite of everything, we've grown to like Covenant and Linden, and their uninterupted plight is draining. Without giving anything away, while the climax ties up nearly all of the loose ends (not all though), it occurs too close to the end of the book to allow the characters and the reader to soak in the consequences of the saga.
The other problem I'd list as a negative is the overall pacing of the Second Chronicles. The events at the end of The One Tree and the beginning of White Gold wielder render much of the middle book meaningless. The story as a whole could have been more effectively told as two longer books while not leaving out anything significant to the main plot. I spent much of the sixth book waiting for the fifth book to be endowed with some significance, and it just never came.
Despite it's flaws though, White Gold Wielder is a good read and an acceptable conclusion to the Second Chronicles, even though it falls short of matching the level of the previous trilogy. Viewed for what it is, it's a very good book, but as a fan of the series and the genre, it's hard to overlook what the book is not.
Score: 3
- Posted on 2007-07-22
Very Poor Ending to a Very Depressing Series
I was really disappointed with this final book of the series for two reasons. First of all this book was really slow. This book was nearly as slow as the first book in the series. I hadn't expected this since the previous book(The One Tree) was pretty fast paced and packed with action. Secondly the ending was really disappointing. Possibly one of the worst endings to a series, I have ever read.
In this book we see the same recurring theme whenever Covenant and Linden have been together. They constantly question their own motives, they question their pasts, they question each other, and they question everyone around them. The difference in this book is that we see it over and over again. Just when it seems that they have finally resolved their issues and we are finally going to be able to move on, the whole cycle starts all over again.........self doubt, doubt of each other, doubt of those around them. This whole tiresome debate really slows this book down. It is like Donaldson needed something to fill the pages before the ending and this was all he could come up with. It is really tiresome to see the same issues debated over and over without ever seeing a solution or resolution.
The ending was a real let down for me. We have had to suffer through 6 books of drudgery, death, and sacrifice where time and again the forces of evil have prevailed and countless noble characters were killed. Now things can finally be made right at the ending of the book, but that is not the ending we get.
WARNING SPOILERS FOLLOW: Instead in the end, Foul lives to rise another day, and two of the three Ravers who have been personally responsible for so much of the death and destruction in the series, walk away with not as much as a hand slap. Linden may have restored the Land, but we never really know if her efforts were effective. Covenant never really learns how to control his power (he just becomes a lightening rod for Foul), Covenant and Linden are separated, and Covenant dies a brutal death. Overall this was a really depressing ending for a very depressing series.
Score: 2
- Posted on 2006-07-29
Titanic ending for the second chronicles!
Amazing! Absolutely the best book of both trilogies and one of the best of all fantasy literature! With a major change of character for both Thomas Covenant and Linden Avery, the second chronicles go down with a bang...and a cliff-hanger.
After the Starfare's Gem's awful failure at the Island of the One Tree, Linden convinces Covenant to return to the Land and put out the Banefire, the Sunbane's main source of energy. That might even reduce the horrendous power of the Sunbane. After harsh travels back to the Land, the crew finally reaches Revelstone, home of the Clave and the Banefire. There, after a great battle against Gibbon-Raver, Covenant FINALLY knows how to call on, and control, the tremendous power of the white gold. He is truly ready to take on Foul in an ultimate confrontation.
From start to finish, it is nothing short of action and surprises. At the end of White Gold Wielder, you will be shocked...if you read it. I was so ecstatic and heartbroken at the end because of major character changes and redemption. Totally satisfying.
Score: 5
- Posted on 2005-05-24
It can't be better
Despite the crushing failure at the Isle of the One Tree, Covenant and Linden realize that they have no choice but to go on fighting the nefarious plots of Lord Foul. They decide to return to The Land and attempt to extinguish the Banefire hoping that this will slow the desecration of the Sunbane. The minions of Lord Foul are poised to oppose them every step of the way. They also know that even if they slow down the Sunbane, they still must eventually find a way to stop Lord Foul himself.
Donaldson brings the trilogy to a brilliant conclusion in this volume. Linden finally comes to terms with the "ghosts" of her past and realizes that she is not inherently evil despite having made mistakes in the past. Covenant achieves an inner peace after he finally accepts what he must do to defeat Lord Foul. The triumph of two flawed human beings over the "devil incarnate" provides an interesting premise for Donaldson to explore the frailties of human nature. I finally began to like Covenant in this volume and I actually began to empathize with him. Although we expect Covenant and Linden to win in the end, the ending was inventive and engaging and not at all what I expected.
There is a rumor that Donaldson may write the Third Chronicles of Thomas Covenant. I, for one, am avidly awaiting their publication.
Score: 5