Lord Foul's Bane

The father of Stephen Donaldson was a medical missionary in India, where he worked extensively with leprosy patients. This undoubtedly served as inspiration for the character of Thomas Covenant. Thomas, the hero, or anti-hero if you will, is a writer with leprosy. Because of this, his wife left him, and he became an outcast. Survival is his key word.

Covenant finds himself in a fantasy world, where he is seen as the chosen one. He himself is convinced that everything is a dream or hallucination and chooses not to believe his new reality, hence his self-chosen title “unbeliever.”

The first two chapters are excellent. Thomas Covenant could easily be a character from Stephen King. A troubled writer, an outcast, strong character traits, vivid descriptions of the local setting. A very captivating opening.

Then the fantasy part begins. The way Thomas ends up in another world reminded me a lot of the Dark Tower.

Next, there's a first introduction to Lord Foul, which was a big monologue about how evil he is. Almost literally with an evil laugh at the end. Very caricatural. I couldn't reconcile this with the strong opening.

Now a fairly classic fantasy story unfolds, with the difference that Thomas is absolutely not a hero and not likable at all. Donaldson explores questions about reality and mortality, which is interesting in itself. But I didn't find the story itself and the quest very interesting. As the book progressed, it became a bit annoying. After 400 pages of self-pity, it gets old.

Nevertheless, this book is interesting within the fantasy genre. They say that this trilogy is the basis for the current grim dark fantasy genre. And I understand that label. Because of this and the strong opening, it's still a 3-star rating.