The awesomeness of this book almost makes up for the tortuousness of the first book, and part of the 2nd book. Donaldson is an expert at writing about suffering. Every character in these books suffers from start to almost finish. A couple get lucky and make it to the end still alive, heavily scarred. I've seen this kind of plot structure in story arcs in comic books. Just completely beat the hell out of the heroes, make it seem like there's absolutely no way the good guys can win, and then they do. Except that Donaldson makes it so painful, that in the end you don't know if they really did win, considering how broken and damaged they are now. And unlike comic books, these heroes don't come back.

I guess, it's kind of original in fantasy novels, so I appreciate that, just not sure I want to read more of it. I hated Covenant almost the entire time. When one of his companions was someone who he had wronged and they loved him, I was delighted by thinking that he would suffer for it. Then I realized that he loves suffering and was always looking for a reason to be even more negative, so that ruined it for me.

BUT this still got 4 stars. What I loved, corrupted giants, friendly giants, ancient artifacts of power, huge sieges of ancient strongholds, lots and lots of magic, the deep history of the land, and of course, finally some good news for the good guys. About that good news, a couple people have talked about the "victory chapter". I loved it, but it seems like the key to it was "the oath of peace", which always seemed kind of lame to me. Like, "our whole world is being destroyed and everyone is being killed, but we better be nice and make sure we don't hurt the bad guys too much, unless we absolutely have to." Again, it almost became like a superhero trope, "we don't kill villains". ( )

Mixed feelings abound about this last in the initial trilogy for Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever - some think this was the best of the first three books, others the worst. I suppose I'm somewhere in the middle. I still found it a good book, but feel as though Donaldson's narrative wanes throughout the book, until the last hundred pages or so. It must be hard to sustain a narrative over so many pages and continue to bring something new to the story, and I felt the strain of it through the middle. Nonetheless, I still think that Donaldson's world-building and creativity are above the field, as so many of these adventure McGuffins are so much Tolkein detritus. I won't get into the story, as so many of you already know that Covenant doesn't believe but does, as he accidentally succeeds in saving a world he can't place in either his mind or in another dimension of reality.

Recommended!!!!
4 bones!!!! ( )

The best book of the trilogy, for sure. I liked this series OK, but it certainly does feel dated. Covenant is an interesting character, though. I am still planning to read the next trilogy, and I'm curious about whether Donaldson's writing style changes over the years. ( )

Forced myself to finish all three as they were insanely popular at the time (late 1970s) but seriously disliked everything about them and unloaded them at a used bookstore soon after. ( )

The best book of the trilogy, for sure. I liked this series OK, but it certainly does feel dated. Covenant is an interesting character, though. I am still planning to read the next trilogy, and I'm curious about whether Donaldson's writing style changes over the years. ( )

After a long period of waiting for something to happen, I finally find myself liking a book in this trilogy. It took until the middle of the book, granted, but then I flew right through it. The pace picked up, the characters gained interest. It was good, but I'm sad that it was so long coming. However, saying that, I must emphasize again that Donaldson's style is a much vaguer, slower-paced style than I prefer to start with, so those who like that type of writing style will have probably liked this book from the beginning.

Donaldson leaves a lot unexplained, right from the beginning. A great deal of the start of the book leaves the reader following Covenant around in a short of delusional stupor, and later the reader will see glimpses into certain perspectives that are truly irrelevant to the story - or, if they are relevant, Donaldson did not clearly explain how.

I made a note to myself after about the first hundred pages pending an incident: "Given any sort of logic, we'd never see Triock again, but even though many of Donaldson's side-exploits seem to be pointless and end in people dying, people don't seem to die. But they still seem pointless." A little harsh, perhaps, but it remains true. It's said that "if you don't see the corpse, they are not dead," and that prove true of several characters in the trilogy, so many that it was becoming predictable, and a bit disappointing. I think perhaps that the point was that Covenant's ghosts were coming back to haunt him, but I'm not certain.

Ultimately, I didn't love the trilogy, but nor can I say I hated it. Much of my opinion on the book, I am consciously aware, has to do with my preference in books, and not the shortcomings of the writer. He has many fans, and has them for a reason. ( )

Great ending of the first trilogy of Thomas Covenant. There has been a good build up to this book. The great part about this series is the characters and how they change through all the events of the 3 books. It really shines in this last book as the characters have to come to terms with who they are and how to preserve the future. Stephen Donaldson's philosophy really shows in this book too. I don't think it would have been so clear without the first 2 books building to it. So while the storyline is not wholly original, the characters, ending, prose, and the message really make this one of the best fantasy series I have read. ( )

http://speculiction.blogspot.co.uk/2014/06/review-of-power-that-preserves-by.htm... ( )

This is as good as Donaldson gets, this volume three of the dreary tale of Thomas Convenant. i don't care for Covenant, and have never been able to read Donaldson again with the exception of the first volume of his next trilogy, because I hoped it would be better.
It wasn't. ( )

best of the trilogy, with some nice descriptions of the terrain in the Land. a somewhat ingenious combination of the Fellowship of the Ring with Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress, the series is marred by an inability to resolve the extreme inconsistencies of the main character's central tenets in any believable fashion. ( )

The final book in The chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever. Covenant must come to terms with "the Land" and how he feels before everyone he knows is doomed. His final confrontation with Lord Foul will have farther reaching consequences than he knows. One of the best trilogys I have ever read, it stays with you long after with questions about what makes a hero, and how even the most horrid person can be redeemed. ( )

The final part of the first Thomas Covenant trilogy, in which he completes his mission in the Land.

It was only really in this volume that I finally got the sense of an epic fantasy Stephen Donaldson was presumably after. The story is gripping and kept me turning the pages. I will probably reconsider and think about adding the 2nd trilogy to my wish list or even the TBR pile. ( )

A fantasy classic, and just as good as the first two books. See the review of the paperback edition for a full review. ( )

An interesting premise, but Donaldson's word-craft, though improved drastically from the initial Lord Foul's Bane, still remains not quite up to the task of giving the story its proper treatment. The notable overuse of certain favourite words is particularly irritating; if I never encounter "inchoate" and "preternatural" again, I will die a happy man. ( )

Spurred on by having the first two books of his Last Chronicles of Thomas Covenant on my shelf and knowing that the third and final should be out soon, I embarked on re-reading the first two trilogies, or Chronicles. Rather than review them separately, I thought I would treat each Chronicle as a whole, as I cannot concieve of not finishing any of the Chronicles once they grab hold of you. Although many disparage Stephen Donaldson’s writing, I don’t have any problem with it and like that I sometimes have to grab the dictionary to understand a work he has used. In fact, that is one of the joys of reading him as I like to be challenged with vocabulary while I read.

The Land itself is an incredible creation that for me is one of the greatest joys of reading his Chronicles and an incredible achievement for Donaldson, on par with the creation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth. The land and its inhabitants are alive with health and sentience; manifested in EarthPower. The people of the land can sense the right and wrong in rock, tree, water, and fire, as well as in themselves. When their earth-sense lets them down or where despite and evil creep into the land, it has some defenses of its own. This earth-sense is something that resonates deep in my soul and in that part of me that treasures our earth. I wish I had a little more EarthSense. He has also peopled The Land with many strange and interesting inhabitants, good and bad: the giants, the Ranyhyn, Forestals, the Bloodguard, Elohim, Sand Gorgons, Merewives, Ravers, Ur-Viles and the like.

Were the books as good as I remember from reading them in my college days 20+ years ago? Suprisingly, yes. Although I still like the genre and read it occasionally, I have moved on from those times when this was my primary source of literary escape. But I found that the books have held up very well in the time since my last read. I would highly recommend them to readers interested in one of the early masters of the genre.

In The Power That Preserves, the first Chronicles come to an amazing climax. Another seven years have passed in the land when Covenant is summoned in their need. Again there is war in The Land and the Lord’s are hard-pressed by Lord Foul’s armies while Covenant tries to go it alone against the Despiser. This is a fitting and well-written end to the trilogy that ties together many of the loose ends from the first two books. In my opinion, it can stand alone. I’m not sure if Donaldson already had plans for the Second Chronicles at the time of this writing or not. ( )

Covenant returns to The Land one more time in this last book of the first trilogy. This time, the tolkienoid element is partially diluted with a lewisian (C. S., that is) element: Lord Foul has the Staff of Law and has imprisoned the ghost of Covenant's daughter, Elena. Foul's dominion causes the land to face a perpetual winter.

Oh, if only Aslan would come... I mean, Thomas Covenant. Entering the land after witnessing a girl getting bitten by a rattlesnake, he tries to detach himself from the Land, which he's still not fully convinced is not a dream, and returns to the real world to save the girl. However, he soon is poisoned after sucking out the venom, and back to the Land he goes.

Here, he teams up with the last uncorrupted Giant, Saltheart Foamfollower, and the two must save the Land, Elena's ghost, and relieve Foul of the Staff of Law.

Donaldson, by far, is the best of the tolkienoid authors. His works lovingly borrow from the fantasy tomes that came before his. Although the major artifact of his fantasy world is a white gold ring, this right of wild magic, is less like the One Ring than other authors' artifacts of power (say, a sword, or a stone that eventually becomes a pommel). If you're anything like me, you'll find his fantasy world to be much less annoying than Brooks' and Eddings'.

I recommend this series to all of you who like epic fantasy, and want something better than McDonalds, but not quite Smith & Wollensky. ( )

The end of the first trilogy.

Thomas can't come to terms with the death of his daughter who never existed. Ignoring the peril of his leprosy his physical condition deteriorates until he can barely keep himself upright. When he stumbles across a girl bitten by a rattlesnake it is all he can do to try and save her. Unfortunetly the Land calls for him but he his able to reject all their increased suffering in order to save her. When he finally succombs to the Land's call he is not in Revelstone where he expected to be, but back at Mithal Stonedown in the depths of Lord Foul's extended winter. His dying state and the breaking of the natural Law in the last book have enabled him to be summoned by lesser powers, Triock and the Giant Saltheart Foamfollower. Covenant quickly learns that the end is nigh for the Land, Winter has extended deep into spring and he cannot regain his previous health. With anger at Elena's and the Land's troubles still frothing in his breast he treks across the Land once more to bring Foul's Creche down around his ears. As if Anger was ever an answer for Despite. But Covenant learns this.

Meanwhile we watch the remaining army batter at Revelstone's gates, and the increasingly dire straights the desperate defenders of the land are put to, whilst staving of the despair that is so dangerous to them. As with the previous books these episodes in some way spoil the essential dilemma - is Thomas brave or a coward, does the land exist or not? When the narrative focuses on Lord Mhoram's despair then it is all too easy to believe the Land is real, something that Covenant never admits.

Much much darker than the previous two books, although less violence without the Land's healing abilities Covenant's leprosy intrudes more, as does his feelings about it, the penetrating cold also leaches from the pages. In general it is Covenant's weakness and dependance that is the overriding darkness to the book, especially the many pages he spends getting no further than Roamsedge. His companions are of no greater cheer either, and Ravers are especially depressing.

However it is a worthy ending to the trilogy, loose ends are firmly tied off, there are satisfyingly calmactic final battles, and while Thomas is never going to get a "happy ending" he does manage to come to terms with some issues.

If you've even vaguely enjoyed the first two books, read it! ( )

All that starts bad ends bad. This book gives the poor protagonist several seconds of hope and renewal and then it dutifully snatches them away.
A painful ending to a painful trilogy. Very strong stuff but I simply couldn't take it. ( )

The third book in Donaldson's incredibly epic trilogy. This is one of the best fantasy trilogies ever, though it is not typical sword and sorcery. ( )

Had to read because it is part of a series. Hero is still annoying. ( )

decent enough, a satisfying conclusion ( )

dust jacket art by Wyeth, S. C.

CHRONICLES OF THOMAS COVENANT

See Lord Foul's Bane.

For a commentary on the prose style please see Nick Lowe, http://news.ansible.co.uk/plotdev.html , on "clench racing"