The Runes of the Earth

It gets better on a second read after completing the series.

First review

I don't quite know why I waited so long to read this. I've read the first chronicles twice and the second thrice. I love those books so much. So why did I wait?

At first I was simply unwilling to start another series before they were finished. I've done that before and it's a pain. Are you listening GRRM? Then I kind of fell out of reading much other than in audiobook format, which AFAIK this first final chronicle is only available abridged. Why do they even do that?

But a recent reread of the second chronicles got me into the final chronicles, at last!

I enjoyed the opening scenes, but when we got to the Land I was a little unsure. It felt like more of the same and a little contrived, but as the story unfolded I got drawn right back in and having to use the dictionary again to look up words whose meaning I had forgotten from the other chronicles.

I read the last quarter in one sitting - that's where it really ramps up into a cracking finale.

I'm going to keep going this time and hope that the story continues at this pace. Inchoate, cymar, argent, puissance and all!

It took a while to get into this book, but it was worth it. I had trouble dealing with Linden's single-minded introspection at first, but as the story unfolded, it fit. This is similar to how I felt about the beginning of the series. I am enjoying how Donaldson is weaving past, present and future stories together. It forces me to think so I can follow all of the threads of the story. He's also filling in some of the history of the Land.