Lord Foul’s Bane really was . . A review of Lord Foul’s Bane
Review of Lord Foul’s Bane– The Chronicles of Thomas the Unbeliever Book 1
by Stephen R. Donaldson
Content warning- this review of Lord Foul’s Bane includes references not suitable for young audiences.
I really, really wanted to like Lord Fouls’ Bane, mainly because Donaldson’s prose was so very pretty at times. And a ten-book series? Who wouldn’t love that?
I even stuck through the rape scene in the opening chapters, hoping the book would eventually redeem itself- make that terrible experience fulfill some purpose.
But sadly, no. Three fourths of the way through the book I realized my error. There would be no redemption.
Oh, to be fair- Donaldson may, in fact, be planning to redeem his protagonist, or at least the story. I’ll never know. I’m unable to read on.
The good-
THE PROSE-As I mentioned above, the prose was rich, deep, sometimes evocative.
THE WORLD- Is well-imagined- big, highly creative, fitting for a story of epic scope.
SOME CHARACTERS- Drew me to them. Were likeable.
THE BATTLE- Between good and evil- a perfect stage for a great, rambling epic story.
The bad-
THE PROSE- Although sometimes a joy, often tried a little too hard. And sometimes words were used too creatively for their own good- I’ll not get into it here but do a web search for “Thomas Covenant +clench”.
THE WRITING- I realize this was written in 1977, but The Elements of Style has been around much longer than that- so age is not really a fair excuse for all the telling and head-hopping going on in this book.
THE CHARACTERS- Some were likable. At moments. The main protagonist was not one of them.
He was not even a strong anti-hero (and we really don’t need more anti-heros do we? Give me a real hero). I was unable to cheer for him or cry for him. In the end I couldn’t even urge the protagonist to go on any longer, but found myself urging the author, instead, to do something with what had the makings of a great story- but he let me down, too.
THE WORLD- Although creative, features a bit too much earth-worship. Too much for my taste, and too much for the good of the story- it seemed a bit forced, an axe the author wanted to grind.
THE STORY- Seemed to wander, go nowhere. I kept yawning. Probably because I was unable to really care about any of the characters, most of whom were cardboard cutouts.
THE BATTLE- between good and evil had potential to be one of great scope. Instead the author gave us milk-toast, sniveling villains which he then further destroyed by showing them to us in the opening scenes- as campy, predictable portrayals of demons with little power, encouraging the reader neither to fear nor to enmity.
Furthermore- the theology is flawed and reduced the scope of what could have been a great battle. These evil entities were minuscule, and then were portrayed as EQUALS to the creator god. If the god of all creation is that small, how could there ever be an awe-inspiring final battle? Your god inspires no awe.
So- my search for great Christian epic fantasy– or in this case non-Christian fantasy which Christians might enjoy- continues. Unrequited.
J. A. Webb