Gradual Interview
(answers from August 2009, as of Apr 30 2026, 2:44:18 AM)
www.StephenRDonaldson.com
© 2004 by Stephen R.Donaldson

Charles W. Adams

I had a minor epiphany when rereading FR a second time.  Until recently, I had always interpreted "Save or damn the earth" as choice with mutually exclusive options.  But I came to an alternate interpretation...  that Covenant's "victories" could be viewed (at least by me) as having saved the earth and at the same time having "damned" it, in that he refused to even make the attempt to completely defeat Foul (he concluded in the first series that it couldn't be done).  In doing so, he assured the earth that Foul could live to despise another day (and that you could write sequels, thank goodness).

When you came up with the concept of "one word of truth or treachery", did your personal interpretation include the saving or damning being exclusive?  Or did your own interpretation include for Covenant's victories saving AND damning the earth simultaneously with that "one word"? 

I feel like I'm repeating myself endlessly when I say that "paradox" is--trying to vary the description here--the wool from which the whole of "The Chronicles" is woven.  "Save AND damn" is a concept worth considering in this context (as is "damn AND save":  remember the assertion attributed to Covenant early in TWL).  But I wouldn't encourage you to ignore the literal text *as written*:  "save OR damn".  Surely it's clear that the protagonists of this story have always lived on a knife-edge that could cut either way.

(08/11/2009)

Stephen Phillips

Hello Stephen!  As I am breathlessly awaiting AATE, I am passing the time by rereading and rereading ROTD and FR.  I have a question for you, if you don't mind:  When Damelon discovers the Power of Command, what was his command?  Did he partake, or just discover it and leave it alone?  

I know you don't like answering these types of questions because you don't want to inadvertently answer something that causes a conflict in the canon.  So if you want to defer, I understand, or if you want to wait a while and let your subconscious work it, that's cool too.  Any author who puts some much of himself out here for the fans can't go wrong by me (even if some of the emails you get state otherwise ;)

Thanks,
Stephen

It's true that I "don't want to inadvertently answer something that causes a conflict in the canon."  But it's also true that I don't want to get trapped in the potentially endless task of *expanding* the canon beyond the actual text.  (I only create what I need, he said yet again.)  For both reasons, I have no real answer for you.  However, just as a matter of speculation or personal opinion, I'm inclined to think that Damelon was wise enough *not* to use the Power of Command.  I also can't imagine what he might have used the Command *for*.

(08/11/2009)

Lou Andzik

Greeting Stephen.

I have been a Chronicles fan since the begining, and patiently await the last two books. (although I pray the age thing doesn't creep upon us both) My question is after the the last book is published, will you, or have you considered the possibility of a full compendium 
that details all or many aspects of the Land. Fonstad's "The Atlas of the Land" was nice, but a compendium compiled by the author would lay to rest many assumtions, presumtions and conjectures by the fanbase. 

(Plus it could be a good exercise for the mind and other personal gains)

Respectfully submitted.

I'm sorry.  I have no intention of creating such a compendium.  Just about the *last* thing I want to do in life is spend my "declining years" as the Curator of the Covenant Museum.  (Plus there's the whole I-only-create-what-I-need issue.)  Please accept my regrets.

That said:  other people have occasionally expressed interest in compiling such a compendium (presumably with my oversight).  I'm not inherently opposed to the idea:  in practice, it would probably depend on just how much "oversight" I was asked to provide.  But I doubt that a compendium will ever be compiled or published, if for no other reason than because "The Atlas of the Land" was a *dismal* failure in the marketplace.  Ballantine couldn't give it away on street corners.  I take this to mean two things.  1) My readership is "deep" rather than "broad".  When people like what I do, they like it a LOT--but the number of people who like it at all is comparatively small.  2) The people who *do* like what I do value their freedom to imagine as they wish.  Compendiums, like atlasses (sp?--I'm too tired to look it up right now), militate against that freedom.

(08/15/2009)

Robert K Murnick

Hello Sir.  Just curious here.  When do you (generally) GI?  Morning?  Afternoon?  Evening?  2:37AM?  Whenever the impulse hits you?  When you need a break from writing?  Thank you.  Looking forward to that first AATE .pdf....and the second....and the book....

That depends a) on when I have some free time that isn't suitable (too short, too interrupted, too whatever) for more creative work, and b) on when I have the energy to think.  Occasionally I have the time but not the energy.  More rarely, I have the energy but not the time.  However, this I can say safely:  I never work on the GI--or on any form of writing--at night.  I'm not a night person.  By suppertime, my brain has already shut down.

(08/15/2009)

jerry mcfarland

Good morning. I'm making a vain attempt to look after my interests. Having invested so much emotionally into your writings - I have all 21 purchased upon release in first editions - I eagerly await the conclusion of TC. 

IF, or SHOULD the economy crash and the publishing world go bust before publication of the last two books, would you seriously consider making them available on disc? What's it called... pdf file or something? 

I would gladly pay you top dollar w/o qualms. Even a rough draft! 

This writer of this message did not intend it to be made public.  However, I'm presuming upon his good will because I think there's a point of general interest here.

So this is the scenario:  the economy crashes (worse than it already has), the publishing world goes bust, BUT the internet still works, and I'm still able to feed myself and my family somehow (without exhausting myself in manual labor <rueful smile>).

As I've said before, I don't write for money, I write for love.  (Of course, I *need* money.  I sell my books to publishers for money.  But I write the stories because the ideas compel me, not because money compels me.)  In addition, having come this far, I'm positively *desperate* to experience the rest of the story--which I do by writing the rest of the story.  So in our scenario, the answer is yes:  I wouldn't hesitate to make the books available; and .pdf seems like a reasonable way to go.

If we lose the internet, all bets are off.  (How could I even make it known that the books were available?)  For that reason, "on disc" is probably out of the question.

(08/22/2009)

Christian Bonn

I thought Mark Helprin's new book, "Digital Barbarism" might be of interest to you (see link).  Thematically consistent with some of your comments in the GI.  

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124804423491263485.html

I found this fascinating, and I'm posting it as a matter of general interest.  I suppose it's natural that I agree with Helprin absolutely.  And I suppose it's also natural that I'm shocked to learn so MANY people believe authors should not be allowed to own their own work.  Still....  In my view, anything that weakens copyright protections takes us farther down the road of censorship and fascism.  And I think it's particularly interesting that some people use words like "freedom" to defend their attempts to extirpate individual rights and liberties.

Just my opinion, of course.

(08/30/2009)

Steve

Dear Stephen,

As I told you in my last question - I love your writings!! (And thank you for responding to it!)

I just finished re-reading the 1st and 2nd Chronicles and am now about 1/2 through ROTE again.  My question has to do with your use of 'adult language'. I mean no criticism in my asking, only curiosity, but I noticed that in the 1st and 2nd Chronicles there is an almost total lack of 'vulgar' terms, where-as I now also notice that such words are quite common in ROTE. Was this a change in your writing style that served a distinct purpose or is it perhaps unintentional? Again, I am absolutely in love with the worlds you have created and I would change nothing about your books. This one difference between your previous writings and your current releases just struck me for some reason so I thought I'd ask you about it.

Thanks so much for your time and notice!!

Steve

This subject has come up before (although in considerably more judgmental terms).  The change you've noticed is, of course, both real and intentional.  By way of explanation, let me just say that a) the beginning of "The Last Chronicles" spends a lot more time in the "real" world than any of the other chronicles, b) the "real" world is arguably a more "vulgar" place than the Land, and c) the characters Linden has to deal with (I'm thinking specifically of Barton Lytton, but Roger Covenant is another good example) are by nature and preference "vulgar" people.  In my view, those sections of the story would be UNrealistic if I had written them in any other way.  And Linden's "vulgar" responses, while not natural to her, make sense to me because...well, because that's probably how I would respond if I were in her situation.

(08/30/2009)