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Online StoreThe Power That Preserves by Stephen Donaldson
Lord Foul grows stronger and Thomas Covenant is once again summoned to the Land by the Lords of Revelstone in their time of need. The Power That Preserves is the third and final book of the trilogy named The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever.
It is unlikely that many will read The Power That Preserves having not read Lord Foul's Bane and the Illearth War. If this is the case then you will be well aquainted with the anti-hero Thomas Covenant and have been there with him while he suffered. Covenant is not an easy character to like and you may have spent a lot of time during the first two books wanting to slap him. However, he grows on you and you really do hope that he can save the Land and be cured at the same time.
This novel brings to an end the trilogy and does that very well. Loose ends are tied up and we are able to discover what becomes of characters like Lena, Elena and Triock. It is a suffering Land that meets Covenant when he return seven years after the events of The Illearth War. The giants have been destroyed, an unnaural winter covers the Land, Mithil Stonedown is more what it once was and Lord Foul's minions are wreaking death and destruction wherever they go.
This is a deep, sophisticated novel written in a very complex, yet beautiful way. The characters are well formed with Covenant and Lord Mhoram really standing out. The Power That Preserves should be read only after Lord Foul's Bane and The Illearth War to avoid complete and utter confusion.
That Power That Preserves brings to an end a trilogy that was very important for the fantasy genre. It was perhaps the most complex work since J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings and marked a new era for a new wave of fantasy authors.
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John from Cumbria
I thought that the series on the whole was great but was dissapointed by the ending. It really didn't work for me and I was left feeling slightly let down and for this reason did not go on to read the second chronicles. To expand a bit, the ending felt rushed and I got the impression that the author himself was not sure how to end it. Also, I did find the narrative a battle but one that was worth fighting as the descriptions of the land and some of the characters introduced were nothing short of excellent.
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