The One Tree: The Second Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, Book 2

The idea that disembodied Ravers can float or fly into bees, rats and super eels is really absurd. Even in fantasy magical beings and adversaries should have limits so that they need to use some kind of strategy to succeed. The idea that a "possessed" eel could persuade a swarm of eels to engage in radically abnormal behavior is stupid. The idea of multiple simultaneous eel possessions is even dumber. It's all dumb. Sorry.The Elohim on the other hand makes pretty good reading. The idea that they are Earth Power incarnate is great. The description of their enchanted, hidden world is marvelous. And the best part is that the Elohim don't keep any eels. Vain is an incredibly unusual character, completely unlike anything I've seen before. The various giants are well written characters with enough diversity to bring them to life and give them personality. Things pick up dramatically in Bhrathairain and the story becomes quite exciting.In typical mad fashion Covenant is filled with guilt for having 'killed' magically made, mindless, evil demons, "“Hundreds of them,” he groaned." “They didn’t have a chance.” Enough said. Linden is a super guilt tripper too but no one beats the champ Covenant!Stephen Donaldson is basically a fabulous fantasy author with vivid, unique ideas who apparently never suffered the inconvenience of running into an editor. Wounded Land like the preceding Covenant books is rife with strange archaic and obtuse words. Free floating Ravers abound like gnats in a swamp. And similes clutter the book like weeds in an abandoned garden. It's a real shame because the heart of the story is quite wonderful. I've even grown to tolerate the most dysfunctional and neurotic protagonists in literary history. But the other baggage is starting to drag it all down for me. I even had to skim the ridiculous eel stuff because I just couldn't tolerate the absurdity of it. That's something I rarely do in a book.Near the end of the book Covenant says, “I’m sick of guilt.” Yes, yes, yes! I'm sick of your guilt too! Get some psychiatric help when you get back home again.Even though these books were written decades ago they are new for me so I'm hoping the next book will be better. At his best Donaldson is great. At his worst... not so much.

This one ranks right up there with The Illearth War, the second book of the first trilogy. Thomas Covenant and his companions sail deep into the Sunbirth Sea on a quest for the One Tree, from which Covenant hopes to fashion a new Staff of Law. Much of the novel (perhaps half) takes place aboard the huge Giantship Starfare's Gem. During this time the major characters have nothing to do but walk around on the boat or help with chores, so the pace of the book is clearly slower than that of the others in the series. Aside from a couple moments of excitement, Donaldson spends the bulk of the ocean sequences in developing the characters. We learn a lot more about Linden and she begins to understand her capabilities. Some of the Giants acquire distinct personalities as we spend days with them at sea. Vain is more perplexing than ever before, especially as we see how he interacts with Findail (a new character in the series). It becomes evident that these two will play some major role in the sequel "White Gold Wielder".The story heats up in the second half, when Starfare's Gem is forced to make landfall at a fascinating but sinister port town called Bhrathairain. Here a plot unfolds to get Covenant to give up his white gold ring. We also encounter a deadly Sandgorgon, which I'm hoping will make a re-appearance in the sequel. This part of the story was my favorite. Also, the climactic events that occur at the objective of the party's quest are exciting and revealing. We learn why Lord Foul tainted Covenant with venom and get hints of the awesome might of the creature that formed the Earth.The One Tree also has the most deaths of major characters so far in the series. So there are several tragic moments in the novel, which in my opinion gives it an element of realism and poignancy that the other novels lacked. This combined with the very good character development during the ocean sequences and the moving backstory related by the Elohim make The One Tree the deepest of the novels in the series up to this point.

All sci-fi readers should dead this series it has more depth than all of Tolkien’s books what they lack Donaldson has

"The One Tree," is book two of three books about the second chronicles of Thomas Covenant, the Unbeliever. I began reading both first and second chronicles (6 books) with I was about 18 and I can't seem to stop. I will reread them every 4 to 5 years; it's almost like they are calling me. I have bought these 6 books about 5 times because I keep wearing them out. Soft covers are only good for about 4 or 5 reads and the bindings begin to brake down. The story line is a fantasy somewhat like "The Lord of the Rings." Another plus with these books by Stephen Donaldson is the Steven is a very talented English Major. By that I mean read these books with a Webster's Dictionary close by. You will be surprised as to the expanse of your own diction... If you enjoyed "The Hobbit" or the "Lord of the Rings," you will love this collection. But be foreworn, every 4-years you may have this irresistible urge and desire to reread the six over and over and over...Enjoy!

Still reading this even so long after it’s release.These books get better and better.Please give it time and read it

The Ur-Lord, white magic weilder, Thomas Covenant? Paralyzed by social anxiety and treated as a pariah in his hometown due to his teensy weensy problem w/ leprosy. He trips, gets konked out, and awakens in a palce called 'The Land. Meets a Giant, a bunch of other folk, and is revered by the populace as the second coming of Berek Halfhand, who also had a white gold ring, Therewas no white gold in the land so its magic, wild magic as a matter of fact! That means he cant control it. Great book series, very strange doings in the good ol' land, lemme tell ya! Oh yeah, theres also this bad guy called Lord Foul, yer basic amorphous evil dude that would like it if everybody would consign their souls over to him.

Yet another gripping "can't put it down" epic for Thomas Covenant. Beautifully written so that you are fully immersed in the plot. The company of giants being as real for the reader as any normal experience. The echo of past events from the real world playing out as revenge in the Land is so natural to the plot that you'd be forgiven to miss them. The writer clearly understands human nature both at rest and under extreme pressure to be able to show us thoughts and feelings as witnessed through different characters.If you have enjoyed the first chronicles, then you will also thoroughly enjoy this first book from the second chronicles. If you haven't read the first chronicles yet, make sure your not doing anything time critical when you start. These books keep you captivated.

Well packed.Good value.Fast service.

Love this series

Move over lord of the rings ... this series has it all plus... read it when it first came out and recently decided to reread... still awesome after all these years

The book was just as I required and I was very pleased with the order