De macht die behoudt

The last book in the first trilogy about Thomas Covenant the unbeliever.

Once again, the book starts in Thomas' world, initiating, again, the process of self-loathing and self-pity. I had committed to finishing this first trilogy, but by 40% of the book, I'd had enough. Fortunately, it improved slightly. The Mhoram storyline and the battle for Revelstone were well-written and engaging. In the TC storyline, there was some development through events involving Lena and Elena. Unfortunately, the book did not maintain this level towards the end. The conclusion, once again, was messy. Out of nowhere, a new kind of being is introduced. I couldn't shake the impression that its only purpose was to advance the plot. In the overarching story, they served no real function. Donaldson does bring it full circle at the end, providing the reader with a bit of satisfaction.

My biggest issue with this trilogy is not the dark story or the unpleasant protagonist. I'm accustomed to that. My problem is mainly with Donaldson's writing style. Endless inner monologues, too close, when a more distant tone could have been more powerful. More is not always better.

Within the fantasy genre, these are important books as they represent a clear departure from Tolkien-esque fantasy. Many significant fantasy writers have drawn inspiration from this series. That's why they are worth reading, but they provided me with less enjoyment than I had hoped.

In my opinion, this last one is worth 2.5 stars.

A note on the Dutch translation. Although I read the first 2 books in English I decided to give the Dutch translation a chance for this one. It did not help in the enjoyment. The translation was old-fashioned, bombastic (even more then the original text) and it used a lot of the same words over and over again, while different words were used in the original text. TC was constantly “woedend” while Donaldson did not write the same word over and over again. I am not sure how much it influenced my judgment, but I will not re-read this one in English to find out.