Gradual Interview
(answers from July 2005, as of Apr 30 2026, 2:45:50 AM)
www.StephenRDonaldson.com
© 2004 by Stephen R.Donaldson

Marc-Antoine Parent

<heart-baring salute>
My respects, Mr. Donaldson. I hope the last chronicles lead you where you want to go as a writer; the first two chronicles certainly got me where I wanted to go as a reader, and precious few books did that.
I read the gradual interview with much fascination, wondering which question I would ask, being granted this wonderful opportunity. Here is:
One thing that has always been very uncomfortable to me as I read the chronicles (and half of Mordant so far) is the amount of planning that main characters engage in... King Joyce is actually making a mocking display of it through the importance he gives to hopscotch; (A parenthesis on hopscotch: In French, it is jeu de dames, i.e. game of ladies. Amusing allusion to much that happens in the book, to this reader. The dame actually refers to the stacked piece that can move backwards, being feminine and powerful much like the chess queen.)

But in many cases I just cannot believe in the intricacy and fragility of people's plans. Let me give you a concrete example: Pietten's key role in the Ranyhyn's betrayal would have be brought to nought had Foamfollower given the hurtloam to him instead of the Cavewight. Did Foul know that Foamfollower would do this? I am quite convinced that is not the case in general, or he would not bother to beset a snare with another snare. In other words, Foul must have had a plan B... Or look at the whole complexity of the quest: How much of its details were foreseen by Mhoram and Foamfollower's ghosts? Another example is Foul threatening that a raver will ravish Linden unless Covenant relinquishes the ring. When Foul initially summons Covenant to the Land, I am quite convinced that Linden was not part of his plan. So how did he expect to convince Covenant of giving him his ring of his own free will, which he states quite soon after the summoning if memory serves me well? In this case, we know he had a plan A, which was despair through venom, but that plan itself was fraught with uncertainty. What if Covenant had failed to obtain Sunder's help and had been exposed to the sunbane? Or what if he had simply forgotten to put on his shoes that first morning?

This sparks a minor sub-question: What happens to white gold and wild magic if Foul miscalculates and gets Covenant killed somewhere? This is surely not equivalent to Covenant choosing to give him the ring. But that is not the question that matters.

My main question to you, the writer, is: Are you usually aware of the character's plan B? (or plan A as the case may be.) I assume that the plans do not rest fully on prophecy, as you repeatedly emphasize free will; so I assume that, like at hopscotch, the players (the characters) think through many alternatives. Did you often go through these alternatives mentally yourself, or only map out the one that happens in the story?

Another subquestion, if you do know, and I will stop: I am actually curious about the Elohim's plan A... Findail obviously knows what awaits him, and did not relish it; and he goes along because it is a balance of risk between him and the Quest. What else could he have done against the Sunbane if the Quest had failed? There is the notion that being made into a staff is the price of failure for him. How could success have come about?

Thank you again. 
Your stories are a great gift, which we are all too eager to honour.

<sigh>  This question keeps coming up in various forms.  And I keep making the same points.  The apparently intricate and even implausible planning (in the GAP books and "Mordant's Need" as well as in "Covenant") doesn't require prescience; or the ability to control as well as foresee distant events; or any other impossible combination of qualities or developments.  I call it "open-ended plotting," and all it requires is imagination, some insight into character, and a willingness to rely on many gambits (and possibilities) instead of just one.

But first we should distinguish between the first Covenant trilogy and the other stories.  There events revolve primarily around brute force, and are in consequence comparatively simple.  Lord Foul doesn't *need* Pietten to grow up and betray the Ranyhyn, Covenant, etc.  The poor guy is really just an exercise in gratuitous malice.  All Lord Foul *needs* is enough muscle to exterminate the Lords--and enough understanding of Covenant to grasp (and exascerbate) his vulnerability to the destructive effects of despair.

Matters are of course much more complex in "The Second Chronicles."  There Lord Foul has, in essence, given up any form of direct action:  now he's all about manipulation.  But his plans are nowhere near as fragile as you suppose.  Really, the only way he can possibly fail is by misjudging Covenant's character--or Linden's.  Just a couple of examples.  1) So what if Covenant gets exposed to the Sunbane?  So much the better.  What's going to restrain a monstrous and completely insane white gold wielder from smashing the Arch?  2) So what if Covenant gets killed during the Quest?  Linden just takes the ring, and the beat goes on.  And if they both get killed, someone else takes the ring.  (We all know from reading LOTR that such powers always end up in *someone's* hands.)  Admittedly that would make Lord Foul's position a bit messier.  But he'll just go to work on whoever ends up with the ring--and the Sunbane will continue--and he's no worse off than he was before.

Of *course* I'm aware of all the possibilities that Lord Foul (and others like him) are juggling.  I work very hard to make sure that the only way he can possibly lose is by committing errors in his evaluation of character.  In other words, Lord Foul only loses because people like Covenant and Linden rise above the weaknesses that he sees in them.

As for Findail and the Elohim Plan A:  they haven't shown much sign that they even care about the Sunbane; so why should they bother to have a plan?  (And if they ever decided that they did care about the Sunbane, they would simply Appoint one among them to stop the Clave and the Banefire:  as simple and perilous a task as preserving the dying sentience of the One Forest.)  No, Findail and the Elohim Plan A are all about white gold.  Their Plan A is that Linden has the ring.  In that case, they see nothing to concern them.  They only have a problem because *Covenant* has the ring.  And he's full of venom, which makes him--among other dangers--a good candidate to rouse the Worm.

My point--which I hope I can stop making--is that all of these plans (Lord Foul's, King Joyse's, Master Eremis', Holt Fasner's, and Warden Dios', not to mention those of Covenant's Dead) aren't fragile at all.  They're practically inevitable--IF the characters of the primary players have been accurately judged.

(07/01/2005)

Marc

Dear, Stephen,
This is a statement rather than question. I was only just born when you first published the Covenant Chronicles, so i have frantically reading them since i discovered them a couple of years ago. I was delighted when i got a proof copy of 'The Runes of the Earth' from the bookshop where i work part-time. I just wanted to thank you for an amazing book; it was sensational and has left me in total anticipation for the next book.

OK, I'll have a go at a couple of questions too; how do you begin to conceive of a world like you portray in your covenant works?

Secondly, if you are ever in the UK how would you feel about coming to the University of Warwick to give a talk (or lead a discussion) about the social ideas behind the books (sorry as a sociologist, I’m constantly noticing the wonderful depiction of social life and interactions you express in works?

Once again your works truly are inspirational, and pose questions that are intensely important about a social or human conditional.

Lastly (i promise i will stop after this point), i loved the GAP series: what a stroke of genius.

Regards, 

Marc

Well, if I could explain how the human imagination works, I would be a *whole* lot wiser than I am right now.  <grin>  As for the practical details behind the conception of the "Covenant" world, they've already been described at some length earlier in this interview (and elsewhere).

On those occasions when I'm "out in public" (e.g. in the UK), I'm happy to talk about my work.  But I don't see it in sociological terms, so I might have to do a fair amount of squirming.  As I keep saying, I'm not a polemicist (in other words, I'm not trying to convince anyone of anything), I'm a storyteller.  And much--if not all--of the content of any story is in the eye of the beholder.  I simply try to put all of my resources at the disposal of the story I happen to be telling.  After that it's up to the reader.

(07/01/2005)

Lou Sytsma

Hello Stephen.

After reading ROTE and your most recent interview in Locus, I eagerly await the next instalment.  In the Locus interview, you emphasized the power of the relationship that exists between a parent and their child.  Given how the first book ends, probably the best cliffhanger since The Empire Strikes Back by the way, you have laid very fertile ground as to how Linden will react when she begins to interact with these two people.

The drama of handling dual responses should be rich indeed.  This is probably spoiler territory and I am hoping the wording of my question will allow you to answer in a circular manner.  

The dynamics of hurting someone who has lost everything by giving them back something broken has been explored in the previous Chronicles.  Does the variation of giving something back fixed, that was originally broken, hold any interest for you?

Continued thanks for your writings past, present, and future.

If I may ask this respectfully:  what would be the *point* of "giving something back fixed"?  I mean the storytelling point:  what would be left for the writer to write about?

I realize that many major religions are predicated on the idea that God (or some other external force) is going to fix things for us.  All we have to do is have faith.  But I can't see how that makes sense.  If we aren't responsible for the content of our own lives, why do we bother to live at all?

On the other hand, *believing* that someone else is going to fix things for us can give rise to any number of storytelling possibilities.

(07/01/2005)

Daniel Björkman

Dear Mr Donaldson...

Well, first off (and somewhat unoriginally, I admit) thank you for your books. I especially love the "Mordant's Need" ones - I can identify only all too well with Terisa's sense of not existing, and reading about her overcoming her limitations has been very encouraging for me.

As for the questions you have, most graciously, offered to answer...

1) I very much enjoyed your short story "What Makes Us Human", but I'm confused about something. At one point, the characters ask themselves the question in the title - what it is that they have that machines don't have, that they might be able to use against them. Eventually, they formulate a plan that proves successful - but I don't see how it has anything to do with the philosophical question. As far as I can tell, they win because they know more about their own technology and resources than the machines do.

Judging from the amount of things that have been made clear to me by reading this interview, I'm guessing that there's something brilliant here that I'm just too thick to see. (*looks sheepish*) Please clue me in?

2) Is Mordant about the same size as Alend/Cadwal? I've always kind of pictured it as a kind of spot on the map surrounded by these two giant empires, (*smiles*) but Mordant does seem to be able to maintain an army of more or less the same size as Alend's (and as Cadwal's "native" army, without the mercenaries).

Sincerely,

Daniel Björkman

(Note to general readers of the GI:  No, I'm not dead.  <grin>  Life has just been very complicated recently.)

1) Perhaps I should have been more clear in "What Makes Us Human".  (We always leave out the things that are obvious to us.)  I was referring to imagination and love:  the imagination which enables Temple and Gracias to use their technology in ways which the machines could not have anticipated; and the love (for their own kind as well as for each other) which empowers them to take really extreme risks.  I doubt that any kind of machine logic would have arrived at Temple's and Gracias' decisions and actions.

2) For the purposes of the story, Alend and Cadwal are both effectively bigger than Mordant.  By which I mean two things.  a) My own very rudimentary map of the region gave Alend no northern border and Cadwal no southern one because the story didn't need those details.  So there's no theoretical reason why those nations couldn't be comparatively vast.  b) I wanted Mordant to be physically vulnerable and strategically critical.  It is the buffer which prevents far worse wars from breaking out; the keystone of peace--assuming that King Joyse can preserve it intact.  Personally, I don't think of Mordant as *small*, but I do consider it smaller than its neighbors.

(07/16/2005)

Richard Medlin

Mr. Donaldson

     I'm reading Runes Of The Earth now but have read the first two trilogies 3 times. I have two questions actually. First, I read a previous question regarding references to the "burning of wood" in "The Illearth War" such as "coals of the fire" and "putting kindling on the fire." I also read your response indicating that there were some fires that consumed wood because not everyone had the lore to call up the earthpower in the wood and that it had to be prepared first. However, the "prepared wood" could be reused over and over and each Woodhelven village had a Hirebrand to prepare that wood. Also Stondowns used graveling for fire and light which was prepared by the Gravelingas and used by everyone in the Stonedown. It was also reusable. More importantly, In "The Wounded Land" pages 73 and 74, Covenant cursed "Hellfire" when he smelled smoke and saw wood being consumed in a fire in the home of Nassic, father of Sunder. At the top of page 74 you wrote "The people he had known here would never have voluntarily consumed wood for any purpose." There were many Hirebrands and Gravelingas who accompanied the army of Hile Troy and they were well prepared when they began thier march. So, I guess what I'm saying is that your previous explaination does not suffice and would you care to comment further? However, I love the story and consider it a minor inconsistancy.
     
Sincerely,

Richard Medlin
Pataskala, Ohio

What can I say?  I'm human, and sometimes things just don't work out as well as I wanted them to.  Taken by itself, the text of "The Illearth War" seems defensible:  the Lords' army is comparatively large, and will need a *lot* of fires for cooking, etc.; but the number of Hirebrands is comparatively small--and in any case how would an army in a forced march transport the amount of "prepared wood" that would be required?  Sadly, this logic is rather vehemently undermined by Covenant's attitude in "The Wounded Land."  <sigh>  Still, I ask you to give me credit for this one point:  Covenant was not present for the forced march in "The Illearth War."

(07/19/2005)

Ethan

Hello Mr. Donaldson,

I just finished reading the Second Chronicles tonight.  I have not even looked at Runes of the Earth at this moment, and I'm not aware of anything in that book.  I'm going to wait a bit to start it, so I can rest in psychological completion for a while.

The reason I am writing is that I can really only see one possible future for Lord Foul.  In the second Chronicles, he was not bested by superior power, he was defeated by his own greed and incomplete understanding of the wild magic.  Now, he is barred from reaching beyond the Arch of Time by Covenant's vigilance, trapped by his own exertion of power.  I don't think that even if he returns to mastery of the Land, he will be able to break the seal he made on himself.  

His expenditure at the end of White Gold Wielder forced the realization on him that his motives worked against him - he got what he was striving for and his own ends unmade him.  I think now that the only resolution available to him is for him to examine and rethink those motives, namely his despite of the Creator and his prison.  Or else his despite will continue to work against his self-interest.

Lord Foul seems not to be a force of pure evil, but rather a tragic figure when Covenent dispels his veil in Foul's Creche.  What was Lord Foul before he was imprisoned?  Is there any possibility that he might outlast his despite?

_________

Oh, I read the most recent of the Gradual Interview questions.  What do you think _would_ have been the right choice for Elena when she stood on her knife edge at the source of Earthpower?  What force native to the Land could have bested Lord Foul?  The Fire-Lions?  I thought reading that passage that she was caught at that point in her anger and lust beyond the possibility of a 'correct' choice.

I'm sorry to say such things because they sound so much like a cop-out <sigh>.  But.  Your analysis of Lord Foul's nature, position, and future options is something that I can only address when I've finished "The Last Chronicles."  Until then, such matters fall ineluctably into the category of RAFO.

Where Elena is concerned, however:  I'm inclined to agree with you.  By the time she reaches the EarthBlood, she has become (in part because of Covenant's underlying selfishness in his dealings with her) a person for whom no "correct" choice is possible.  It's like that old joke:  "You can't get there from here.  You have to go somewhere else and start."  (btw, it seems to me that much of life is like that.)  But if she could have started somewhere else (i.e. if she had been a different person), she might have considered her problem in terms of "protection" rather than "attack".  Perhaps the only valid use of Earthpower in her position would have been to strengthen beauty and Law against Despite rather than to weaken Law as an attack on Despite.  Certainly I don't think that any "force native to the Land could have bested Lord Foul."  (By the same logic, I don't believe that Lord Foul--unaided--is capable of breaking free of Time.)  That's one reason why beauty and truth are so precious:  they're fragile; and on a day-to-day basis unscrupulous despisers always have the advantage.  Just try arguing with a nihilist, and you'll see what I mean.  <grin>

(07/19/2005)

Pet Peeve

This question has been hidden since it is listed in the following categories:

Spoilers - The Runes of the Earth

To include this question in the downloaded file, you must change your preferences in the Options screen.  Go to www.StephenRDonaldson.com, click on "from the author" and then "Options."  The question can also be viewed online.

(07/19/2005)

Russ Byrd

Thanks for continuing the story about The Land ! 

In Runes, when Linden is considering whether to try to use her ring to heal a Ramen girl, she remembers that she did so once with a giant on the Starfare's Gem. Even though it says the giant was a he, I thought it was a female giant. 

Am I mistaken? Or, if it is a blooper do I win a free vacation to the land with all the aliantha I can eat?:>)

I was moved by the part in the book where Linden fixes herself some tea and spends time with her friends from the land.(Thinking about them) This struck close to home for me, as I have often done the same. OK, OK..in my case it was hot tea and sunflower seeds..but it was the 80's when I first read your books <G> I have read many books over the years, but few characters stay with me as much as the giants from your books have.

Anyway, thanks again!

Russ

OK, I'm not researching this.  If you want to, please feel free.  But as I recall, Linden was involved in healing more than one Giant aboard Starfare's Gem, one of each gender.

But guess what?  Even if you *are* mistaken, you *still* win a free vacation to the Land (gratuities not included).  You can pick up your prize whenever you want it.  Just close your eyes.  <grin>

(07/19/2005)

Michael Weinhardt

Hi Stephen,

My question is really a question for advice, so if it's been answered by you elsewhere, or here (I couldn't find anything), I'd be glad to follow a URL.

I've been writing technical articles for magazines for a few years now, and am currently working with another author on a techy book.

I love writing, I love creating a story and filling in the pieces and I can't not do it. Now, I'm considering turning my attention to creative writing, either fantasy or sci-fi (or whatever it turns out to be).

My question is, what are some useful [ways] to get started. By that, I mean, how do I gain the extra knowledge I need to construct a creative work eg approaches, considerations, character development etc etc.  Do I simply just write and see what happens?

I'm quite happy to do the last, but feel like some additional learning would by beneficial.

Peter F. Hamilton (sci-fi author guy) suggests the cutting of ones teeth on short stories, which doesn't seem like a bad idea.

Anyway, thanks for any thoughts you might have.

Cheers,
Michael

Dedicated readers of the GI--if any of them are left alive <grin>--can assure you that it contains lots of advice for writers.  I'm not going to repeat myself, except to say:

1) Trust your own excitement.  It's the only guide you have.

2) Never assume that what you wrote says what you meant.  Your reader's mind is different than yours, and that difference must be taken into account.

3) You can learn more by studying what you love to read and what you hate to read than from all the writing classes that have ever been taught and all the how-to books that have ever been written--put together.

P.S. Search the GI categories "Creative Process" and "Writing & Publishing Process."

(07/19/2005)

Mark G. Hewitt

When I first began reading your initial Covenant series, I was fascinated with Theology and Gestalt Psychology. As I completed the trilogy, I became convinced that you also are interested in these topics and ingeniously wove them together within your story.

Am I on to something here or simply isogeting?

For which agencies did your parents perform medical mission work?

Your work inspires me. Thank you.

My knee-jerk reaction to most theology is that there's less to it than meets the eye.  Doubtless I feel this way because I was badly over-exposed to self-righteous religiosity when I was young.  Nevertheless the rather driven theology of my parents is imprinted on my neurons, and there's no chance that I'll ever stop writing about it.

In contrast, I suffer from a life-long fascination with psychology; and I like to believe that over the course of my writing life my portrayal of character has been thereby enriched.

(And yes, I'm aware that at a certain point psychology becomes indistinguishable from theology--as well as from philosophy.  But we all have to start somewhere.  I choose to start with what happens to my characters--and why they care.)

My parents were Presbyterian.  Specifically United Presbyterian.

(07/22/2005)

Anthony Wilkinson

Dear Mr Donaldson,

As an aspiring writer and student (I have just recently finished a dissertation exploring the validity of critical and scholarly opinion of fantasy literature in which your work featured heavily) I have one comment and one question.

Firstly, I extend my rueful gratitude to you for inspiring me to become a writer. I'm grateful that your work, particlarly the Gap series, fanned the sparks, but If I'd have known what an all-consuming blaze it can be, I may have turned to law perhaps, or medicine. (something easier! LOL)

Secondly a question. How important to your conception of Covenant is it that he is American? I ask because it seems to me that in the Sceond Chronicles he loses his national specifity, becoming more an individual, untrammelled by clasdss or nationality. Is this in preparation for the universal support he becomes at the end of the second chronicles?

Regards,
Anthony

Actually, I've never been conscious of Covenant as an "American," and his specific nationality has never played a role in my thinking.  On some unconscious level, I suppose I've always assumed that he was a US citizen (so is Mick Axbrewder).  But I'm certainly not aware of giving him--or any of my characters--national characteristics.

Perhaps this is because I don't feel fully identified with any particular country myself.  Instead everywhere I go is just another occasion for culture-shock.  <sigh>  Going to India when I was four and returning when I was sixteen pretty much destroyed any personal sense of "homeland" that I might otherwise have felt.

Which may, in some baroque fashion, explain why absolutely everything I write is fantasy (even my mystery novels)--in the sense that I can hardly write at all unless I create physical reality almost from scratch.  (The exceptions are few, far between, and comparatively brief.  Haven Farm is closely based on the place where I lived when I wrote the first Covenant trilogy.  And the karate tournament in "The Man Who Fought Alone" matches actual tournaments that I've attended.)  In that specific sense, even the GAP novels are fantasy.  And all of my mystery novels take place in imaginary cities.

(07/22/2005)

Drew B

Thanks for the answer! I really enjoy reading the responses in the Gradual Interview-- it's a lot of fun to get "behind the scenes" with a writer whose work I've enjoyed for so long.
As a side note, Jack Chalker passed away recently. I make note of it because he was a "contemporary" of yours at DelRey, his Well World books having been launched around the same time as Lord Foul's Bane. It seems like there was a small group of truly remarkable writers who were launched by Judy-Lynn and Lester delRey at that time-- and it's sad that (so far as I know) at least one member of that group is no longer with us (apart from the delReys themselves, that is).

Both Lester and Judy-Lynn del Rey were good at recognizing talent.  Among a number of notable writers, they discovered Tim Powers--and rescued Patricia A. McKillip from obscurity.

(07/22/2005)

Dan From Brooklyn

Huzzah!  An opportunity to butt in.  

While I have had a lot of difficulty coming up with the right way of introducing myself and asking a question, I can do something better and provide an answer.

The audio recording of Lord Foul's Bane read by Terry Hayes Sales was created by the National Library Service for the Blind, part of the Library of Congress.  It was recorded for the sole distrubution to libraries; not for sale and falls within some provision of copyright law.  

I'm guessing that the person who found it online found the work of someone who converted the tapes to MP3 files for distribution.

My visually handicapped neighbor took a lot of advantage of this program, "reading" some 8 or 9 books a week.  From what I heard, they are very simple recordings: a reading of the text without sound effects or music.  But what was lost in audio production was more than well made up for in the lack of abridgement.

The Stephen R. Donaldson collection contains Mordant's Need and the first six books of The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant.  They can be found in the link below to the "prolific authors" section of science fiction and fantasy writers.  

http://www.loc.gov/nls/bibliographies/published/scifi/prolific.txt   

There you go, the Library of Congress not only thinks your prolific but has *classified* you as such.  Add that to your jacket bio without guilt.

With much respect, I remain your servant

Dan

I'm posting this because the information seems valuable (many readers have asked about audio versions of my books), and because I was completely unaware of it myself until now.  Thanks for letting me know!  I hope your research will benefit readers who want--or need--to "listen" to books.

(07/22/2005)

Peter B.

Stephen,

Thanks again for all your work. I've had the opportunity to share your Thomas Covenant series with several people recently and it's quite a joy to see them really getting into it. 

My question...You mentioned in the G.I. that your editor for Runes will not be working on the next Covenant novels. What are your thoughts about this? It would seem ideal to have the same editor through the whole series for consistency's sake.

Yes, it would have been ideal to have the same editor (Jennifer Hershey) for all of "The Last Chronicles."  In addition to the consistency issue, there's the fact that we already knew each other well:  we worked together on the whole of the GAP cycle.  But my new editor, Susan Allison, has an excellent reputation.  *And* she is the paperback editor for "Runes," so she has already dealt with that book in detail.  I see no reason to worry about the editorial future of the saga.

(07/23/2005)

Eric A Marks

I was a reader from the very beginning, really, and needed no help in picking up a book, rather than perusing the television. I loved the written word well before my 'peers'. I never fell in love with a charachter until I real "Lord Foul's Bane".Your first trilogy gave me a reason to delve deep into the work. Do you get this kind of reaction often? I really feel like you opened up a whole literary world to me. I can't thank you enough, Stephen. In the 20+ ensuing years, I have read thousands of books that I understood how to appreciate, and I cannot believe that would be true without the Unbeliever....

Thank you!  I don't say that enough.

If nothing else, the sheer scale of this gradual interview testifies to the fact that you are not alone:  a fact which always humbles, sometimes intimidates, and occasionally out-right terrifies me.  <grin>  I really have no idea how I got so lucky.

(07/24/2005)

Hazel

Hello,

I have thoroughly enjoyed all of your books, having only recently been introduced to them in the last few years.  I also really appreciate the time you take to maintain the Gradual Interview... I hope this quation hasn't been asked before....  Why are words like Haruchai and Elohim in Italics?  Why the extra emphasis on these words when others aren't?  Thanks for your time.

This, as I think I've observed before, is common English usage:  words in "foreign" languages are printed in italics.  The implication in the "Chronicles" is that words like Haruchai, Elohim, croyel, and even Grim (as in the na-Mhoram's Grim) are drawn from languages "foreign" to the Land.

And yes, I'm aware that the whole question of "foreign languages" can get us into some pretty turbulent waters, especially from a "world-building" perspective.  All I can say in my own defense is that I chose not to spend (waste?) narrative space dealing with the vast problems caused by a need for translations.  So for practical purposes, let's just say that "foreign" words tend to derive from "lost" languages; languages which were once used many millennia in the Land's--and the Earth's--past.

(07/24/2005)

Larry

How did you like Tom Baker in the BBC production of The Chronicles of Narnia (actually an adaptation of only three of the books if I recall correctly) as Puddle Glum? This series had a strangely "hippie" look to it that I liked. The Runes of the Earth was marvelous. Keep up the good work.

Tom Baker was a good Doctor and an excellent Puddleglum.  In "Dr Who," however, I actually preferred the earnestness of Jon Pertwee and Peter Davidson, and the crackpot flamboyance of Colin Baker.  Just my opinion.

(07/24/2005)

Willow  Ravenswood

Do your characters enter your dream life as well as your imagination? What meaning if any do you make of the 'mediumistic'  quality of your creative process? Do you believe these characters will die with you or maybe they have some autonomous reality in an imaginative realm you resonate to? Perhaps this sort of questioning is irrelevant to you and you are just happy to serve the process? Thank you for the time you take to respond to your readers queries.

I don't know what you mean by "the 'mediumistic' quality of [my] creative process."  I've certainly never dreamed about any of my characters.  In fact, the only (conscious) role that dreaming has ever played in my writing has been on those extremely rare occasions when I've dreamed the language I need to describe a particular event or scene.  Will my characters die with me?  Of course not.  They will only die when the last reader who remembers them dies.  (And even then one could argue that their influence lives on.)  Examples abound.  Shakespeare's Falstaff is certainly still alive.

(07/24/2005)

Maxim Vorst

Hy Stephen i'm from Holland. I am a great fan of you and all of your books not only the covenant series. All of them are masterpieces. I always read the untranslated versions, because the Dutch versions have not been translated very well. 
What pleases me most in your books is that every time i read them , I discover new things. I've read The first Chronicles of Thomas Covenant only about ten times so i probably can find some new things the next time.
I think that the covenant series are the best fantasy books ever written. Because they have more depth in the characters and the plot than any of the others, they are simply brilliant. 
And now my question.
Yesterday I received the first book of The Last Chronicles of Thomas Covenant. For the first time i saw your picture , which wasn't in any of the other books . The strangest thing was that you look much as I have imagined that Thomas Covenant looks like. Is it my imagination or do you resemble Thomas in more then one way. 

I'm afraid it's just your imagination.  I certainly never intended any physical resemblence between Covenant and myself--or consciously intended any other resemblence.  Please keep in mind that the picture in "The Runes of the Earth" was taken more than 20 years *after* I started work on "Lord Foul's Bane."  Back in those days I looked like I was still in high school.  <grin>

(07/24/2005)

Skeletal Grace

Dear Mr. Donaldson...

I'm another one of those people who have followed your writing career and I have thoroughly enjoyed most everything you have put out so far, the Gap-ology being my absolute favorite. I could write a book on how I love the way you develop characters and make them come alive before our very eyes.

If being your "biggest fan" gives me the temporary credentials I need to ask a somewhat blunt question, I will happily label me thus...

I have noticed a gradual, yet drastical, change in your written language from your first books to your last. Naturally, a change is to be expected as a writer matures and evolves with his writing over the years, but to me it almost seems like you are "showing off" in 'Runes', waving words in our faces I quite frankly have never encountered before (and I do consider my self fairly well versed in the English language).

I know of course that this is not an intentional "mockery" on your part, don't get me wrong, I am just curious to know whether you have considered how that "uber-eloquence" might potentially scare off the average reader who does not possess the high-end vocabulary required to sometimes get the overall context of a whole "Runes" paragraph? I can see how taking breaks to run to dictionary.com for every other page turned might make the actual reading a task more than a pleasure.

I guess what I'm saying is; the use of elegant words can be a thing of beauty, but it can also disrupt the flow of a story to the point where you feel you are unfortunately skipping more than you're actually enjoying.

I regret to say that I found "Runes" to suffer quite a bit from the Fancy English Syndrome. The Gap-series, for instance, was a very technical piece, yet I don't remember flinching at words like I just did ever so often while finishing the new part of the last chronicles.

I hope it is not because you feel that Fantasy writers don't get the "credit" they deserve from the "serious press" and you therefore feel the need to grow a mad scientist hair do, throw your hands to the sky while cackling: "Idiots, I'm going to show them all - BWAHAHAHA". 

We all know you can write, that's why we love your books so immensely, I just think it would be a shame if you concentrated so much on your love for the higher art of writing skillful sentences that it is done at the expense of the flow of your beautiful and engaging stories.

Maybe it is not a conscious thing on your part at all and I'm just talking out of my ass (it has been known to happen I am told) so if I in any way have offended you, I beg your pardon... it was not my intention. I was just making an observational inquiry.

Thank you for your time and thank you for the worlds you have created,

SG

Well, I'm completely flummoxed.  a) While I was writing "Runes," I was consciously trying to tone down my (over)use of what I'll call Fancy Words.  b) (and this is totally subjective) Apart from the word "scend," I can't think of a single Fancy Word in "Runes" which doesn't appear in at least one of the previous six "Covenant" books.  c) My editors objected with polite urgency to the presence of *any* Fancy Words, so I pruned out a fair number during the revision process.  d) In my own re-reading, I notice Fancy Words in "The Second Chronicles" far more than anywhere else, including "Runes".  As a result, you've left me with my mouth hanging open.

Elsewhere in this interview, I've written at length about the specific rhetoric of the "Covenant" books.  I'm not going to repeat all of my previous comments.  But I feel a need to emphasize a few points.  1) Words are the tools of thought--at least for a person as verbal as I am.  The more words I know--and use--the more things I can think about--and write about.  2) Words are an essential tool of world-building, and their flavor, their connotation as well as denotation, even their familiarity determine the nature of the reality (and even the characters) that can be constructed with them.  For example, writing about "the arrogance of the Elohim" is NOT the same as writing about "the surquedry of the Elohim," and that difference is crucial to what I'm trying to accomplish.  3) If you're at all inclined to believe that my use of Fancy Words is "mockery," "showing off," or any other manifestation of ego--and thank you for saying that you're not so inclined--then you should have stopped reading me a long time ago, because I'm clearly not worthy of your attention.

Does my use of Fancy Words have the potential to scare off readers?  He*l, EVERYTHING I DO in fiction has the potential to scare off readers.  Every story I tell, everything I do with character and event, is rife with possible alienation.  The "Gap-ology" mentioned above positively bristles with material that can either frighten or outrage readers.  It's what I do.  My use of Fancy Words is only one necessary element of the "Covenant" books.

(07/24/2005)

Patrick St-Denis

Dear Mr. Donaldson,
                  I just finished reading THE RUNES OF THE EARTH, and I absolutely loved it! It feels great to return to the Land!

I'm a book reviewer for my own website (www.fantasyhotlist.blogspot.com), for an independent magazine (Gryphonwood Press), as well as for another website (www.worldsoffantasy.net).

I've just added your novel's review on my website, and I thought that perhaps you'd like to read it. 

Again, congratulations for another fantastic book, and may all the others be as captivating.

All the best,

Patrick St-Denis

As I've explained before, I don't comment on reviews.  I'm posting this so that other readers of the GI can check out what you have to say if they're so inclined.

(07/25/2005)

Gene Marsh

Mr. Donaldson,

As an former English major (BA) fascinated by your work and your style, I have read most of your works and pursued other material in an attempt to "get into your mind".  Since I live near Kent State, I have had the opportunity to visit the library there and examine some of your documents there.  My questions:

- I believe you have a "breakthrough style", a distinctive one never used before.  Were you aware of this when you were writing (especially the TC books), and do you see the distinction now?

- Are there documents at Kent State (or elsewhere) that might help me understand how you came to this style - then moved forward with it?

I'm certainly not conscious of creating--or having--a "breakthrough style."  The influence of Joseph Conrad, Henry James, William Faulkner, George Meredith, Sir Walter Scott, and others (not to mention the King James Bible <grin>) is everywhere apparent to me.  To steal an apt phrase (which I would credit if I could remember who coined it), I'm always "standing on the shoulders of giants."

If you have way too much time on your hands, and are genuinely obsessive/compulsive (and I hasten to say that this is *not* an implied criticism:  I'm pretty ob/com myself), you might learn a lot about the evolution of my style from the Donaldson collection at the Kent State University Libraries.  At least one copy of every version, every rewrite, of every story I've ever published resides there.  With enough patience, you could, for example, pick up the very first draft of what later became "Lord Foul's Bane" and watch how it modulates toward its final form.

Although I can't imagine why anyone would bother....

(07/25/2005)

Gilbert

Mr. Donaldson,

I loved your books when I read them in high school -- but re-reading both chronicles last December in preparation for "Runes" allowed me to appreciate them much more. I remember when I first read them, I kept wanting Covenant to use the ring -- use it! Blast them! But now that I'm older and more mature and aware of the violence in the world, I have a much better understanding of his overwhelming reluctance and inability to use the ring.

Anyway, I've read through some of the gradual interview and saw a question early on about your intended title for the first book: Foul's Ritual. Was that the only title that was imposed? Were the others chosen by you? 

Also, I know how you have said multiple times that the stories choose you -- is it the same way with the titles for the Last Chronicles? Is there any chance the inspiration for the titles may change, or the path of the story may differently than you think right now?

Thanks very much. -- Gilbert

It's been a long time since I covered this is the GI.  I'll try to be brief.

Titles changed at the insistence of my editor:
"Lord Foul's Bane" (formerly "Foul's Ritual")
"The Man Who Killed His Brother" (formerly "City of Day/City of Night")
"Strange Dreams" (formerly "Unforgettable Stories")

Titles changed because my editor insisted on publishing "The Second Chronicles" as a trilogy instead of a tetralogy:  all of them (but the only one I can now remember is "Sunbane," which originally formed the first two thirds of "The Wounded Land").

In any case, as I recall, no titles were actually imposed on me (except for "Lord Foul's Bane," as I've said before).  My editors simply rejected my titles until I came up with ones they liked.

Since "The Second Chronicles" (and not counting "Strange Dreams"), I've chosen all of my titles without objection from my editors; I came up with the titles long before I wrote the books; and only once have I changed a title after it was "set" in my mind (and still this happened well before I wrote the book).  Curiously, the original title for "Forbidden Knowledge" was--drumroll, please--"Strange Dreams."  But I couldn't think of a good alternative to "Unforgettable Stories" until I realized that "Strange Dreams" was actually a lousy title for the second GAP book.  So I transferred that title to the anthology; and almost immediately "Forbidden Knowledge" suggested itself.

I don't foresee any problems with the titles in "The Last Chronicles."  And I'm certainly not going to change the general shape or purpose of the story at this late date.  Many details, however, are still being negotiated by my conscious and unconscious minds.

(07/25/2005)

Ian J

Hi Steve
Some say they can't stand the long wait for the next book in the Covenant series. On the contrary, I say that the thought of having another book to look forward to is infinately more preferable than the enormous void that will be created when you have finished your magnum opus.

I have a brief question: You mentioned in the GI that there was a 22-CD audio book available on Runes. I have just picked up from my local library a 6-CD abridged version of Runes which I am halfway through. The narrrator is Anton Lesser. I was looking through the GI for some reviews of this CD but can find no mention of it. Were you aware that this was available in the UK and, if you have heard it, do you have any comments on his delivery which I have to say I find rather stilted?

Yes, I'm aware of Orion's abridged audio version of "Runes" (on both CD and cassette).  And no, I haven't listened to any of it.  The whole idea of such abridgement gives me hives.

If you want the complete text on CD, it should still be available in the US (perhaps from Amazon.com).  It was released by Penguin Audio and read by Scott Brick:  decent work as far as I can tell, although he occasionally gives the sentences a different cadence than I would in his place.

(07/26/2005)

Morphy's ghost

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(07/26/2005)

Jason D. Wittman

Mr. Donaldson,

Thank you for answering my previous questions.  The question I have now is a bit less frivolous:  in your introduction to _Reave the Just and Other Tales_, you said that writing "By Any Other Name" helped you through the worst case of writer's block you had ever experienced.  I was wondering if you could elaborate more on what happened there.  I'm an SF writer myself, and I've been having, if not actual writer's block, a creative funk for several months now.  I was hoping you could shed a little more light on the subject.

Regards,

Jason

Hmm.  I know the answer, I just don't know how to explain it without getting bogged down in personal details that won't have anything to do with your situation (and that I don't want to discuss in any case).  So look at it this way:  "By Any Other Name" deals with a character who is victimized through no real fault of his own, who (in essence) diminishes himself by running away from the problem, and who is eventually drawn back to confront the problem by his own better nature.  Well, I started work on that story, froze up because I found writing it to be extraordinarily painful, couldn't write for six months, and finally returned to work when I realized that I was doing exactly what my protagonist started out to do:  I was diminishing myself by allowing my pain/fear/victimization to define and control me.  The story helped me understand myself better, and understanding myself better enabled me to finish the story.

In my personal experience--and this may have nothing whatever to do with you--a "creative funk" is almost always caused by running away from something (sometimes from an emotional problem, sometimes from a writing challenge, sometimes from a few of the more debilitating vagaries of life).

(07/26/2005)

Kathleen

Stephen; I truly enjoyed Runes and felt the need to reread the two Chronicles again.  This brought up a few questions which were answered in this interview. I have only one question that was not answered (that I could see) when I searched in the GI:
In The Wounded Land, when the three children place their right hands in the fire, the third child is indicated as a girl: "And the third waif followed in turn, surrendering her flesh to harm like lifeless tissue animated solely for immolation."
Jeremiah, the third and youngest, is a boy.  I was wondering if you thought about putting in something about Jeremiah's appearance resembling a little girl (skinny, long hair, sweet face) and Linden at first mistaking him as a "her"?

You're not the first to point this out; and it's a certified solid-gold Authorial Fu*kup.  In fact, of all the unarguable mistakes that I made in "Runes," I found this to be the most mortifying--because (he admitted, cringing) I actually checked my facts before I introduced Jeremiah, and I *still* got them wrong.

This is one of several internal consistency problems that should disappear when "Runes" comes out in paperback (or trade paperback).  I sent the corrections that I wanted to both my US and UK publishers months and months ago.

(07/27/2005)

Peter B.

Stephen,

As a librian for a small academic library in Minnesota one of many joys and privileges is ordering materials for our collection. Although non-fiction takes up much of our focus occassionally I can purchase fiction as well. Your books are on the top of my 'to get' list! Recently, Reave the Just and Other Tales came in. What a great feeling it is to share your work with others in our community! You've been an inspiration to me since I first read The Chronicles as a high school student in the early 80's. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for the worlds you've brought us, the characters I'll never forget, and the integrity you display in this gradual interview!

Okay, I'm done gushing now. On to my question. In Runes of the Earth I observed that the scope of the geography was somewhat limited. Will this expand in future installments of The Last Chronicles (and perhaps into other dimensions as well [grin])?

I used only "detail" maps for "Runes" because I was badly pressed for time and a full map of the Land wasn't strictly necessary for the story.  If nothing goes wrong, however, I intend to supply a full map with "Fatal Revenant."  Not of the whole Earth, I hasten to add:  just of the Land.

(07/27/2005)

BCS

Dear Mr. Donaldson,

First let me say that I have just started reading your Gap series and I find it very stimulating. I found the 1st and 2nd chronicles of Thomas Covenant very emotional and thought provoking.  Bravo for raising the bar again on story telling.
  My one question is what made you decide to go back to school to receive a doctorate in Literature?  As for me, the power of your writing soothes my day and is worth infinitely more than gold.  I have met many a pretentious hack hiding behind a Ph.D. in Literature and none measure up to you.  
Thank you for effort in writing such wonderful fiction that honest-to-God makes me think about it long after I read the material. 

Thanks for your good opinion.  I know a certain number of Ph.D.s who are "pretentious hacks."  But I also know many who are valuable thinkers and teachers.  I wouldn't be where I am today without them.

But I didn't "go back to school" for my Litt.D..  It's an honorary degree.  A recognition of achievement outside the academic halls.  To some people, this means that it doesn't really count because I didn't "earn" it in the usual way (school).  Fortunately others see the honor in a very different light.

(07/27/2005)

T Chamberlain

Mr. Donaldson,

I've finally convinced my sister that you are a "writers, writer" in the fact that you make no attempt to "dumb down" your stories or write them for the masses. I admit I keep a dictionary handy when I read your works; I'm a vocabulary buff and you certainly keep my appetite whetted! I've (after years of trying) convinced her to begin with the first Thomas Covenant series and then she'll be on her own... I "discovered" your "The Man Who..." series quite by accident, but feel that these express your talent and wry humor as well as anything you've done. I was more than surprised to learn of your interest in the martial arts; I was promoted to Shechidan years ago, but no one "outside" is aware of this. Keep it up!!! One question: I've heard you described as either "gruff" and unappreciative, or just very shy and hard to get to know. Any comment? btw, not MY observation!!!

No one who knows me would describe me as "gruff" or "unappreciative."  But I'm definitely "shy" and "hard to get to know."  And sometimes those qualities give me an air of aloofness which can easily seem both gruff and unappreciative.  This is especially true on author tours, where my emotional exhaustion--and the strain on my general shyness--exacerbates the problem.

(07/27/2005)

Todd Burger

Mr. Donaldson,

I just read that if you lost an entire manuscript, as opposed to edits of a manuscript, that you would likely kill yourself. I'm quite certain that I'm paraphrasing a bit, and that you were exaggerating (I hope!). You might be interested to know that Sharon Kay Penman, a wonderful writer of medieval historical fiction, had her first and only manuscript stolen from the front seat of her car while was parked in front of a shopping mall. Personally, if that happened to me, I would likely have succumbed to despair and depression from which I may never have recovered. SOMEHOW, she recovered, and rewrote the book from start to finish, for which I'm very grateful, as I'm a huge fan of her work.

Todd

History also supplies examples of writers who lost entire books--and survived the experience.  Frankly, I don't know how anyone does it.  The day my computer died, destroying half of one chapter of "The Man Who Tried to Get Away," was one of the worst days of my life.

Still, as they say, "Life is just one #^#$% opportunity for growth after another."  I like to believe that I wouldn't actually kill myself.  After a period of (no doubt considerable) disarray, I hope I would get back to work.

(07/27/2005)

Melissa Goldfinch

Hi steve i was just wondering if you are a christian?
i am myself and noticed that in the second chronicles of Thomas Covenant you have the Elohim beings. i recently found out that the word Elohim in greek means God. How did you come to use that word?
Keep writing the chronicles. I can't wait till i read the rest.

I used the name "Elohim" precisely *because* it means "God".  In Donaldson books, however, such references usually have an ironic component.  My "Elohim" do have some rather elevated opinions about themselves.

(07/27/2005)

Dave

I've always enjoyed the map of the Land as it appeared in what I am going to call the originally released paperbacks (the books with Darrel K. Sweet art). I noticed that the paperback versions of the Chronicles that are in stores now - the ones with the cover art that joins to make one big picture - has a map by a different artist. Do you have any say as to the maps that appear in the various TC books? I imagine you'll tell me that the publisher controls such decisions based on answers to other questions in the GI, but just wanted to confirm. Moving into the future, do you have more control, now that you are working with a different publisher, over what will appear in the remaining installments of the Last Chronicles? Will we see different maps than those in "Runes"?

And since we are on the subject of maps, can you discuss your invlovement with Karen Lynn Fonstad's "The Atlas of the Land"? I've enjoyed her Atlas for some time and often wonder how much input you had.

As is customary, I've greatly enjoyed reading your books, look forward to any forthcoming works of yours, appreciate the GI, and would like to meet you if you ever make it to Columbus, OH.

I've just posted a comment or two about maps, so I won't repeat myself.

Quite some time ago, actually, the orginal maps for the first "Covenant" trilogy were re-drawn, in part to increase legibility, and in part to facilitate making the changes necessary for "The Second Chronicles."  I was a willing participant in this process.  To my eye, however, the increase in legibility entailed a loss of precision (e.g. where, exactly, is Gallows Howe?).  And my publishers, especially in the UK, were extremely sloppy about applying the changes (the death of all the forests west of Landsdrop) to "The Second Chronicles."

I don't like the maps in "Runes" stylistically; and they're also inaccurate (we were extremely pressed for time, and the artist refused to heed my corrections).  I hope my publishers and I can do better for "Fatal Revenant."

I spent quite a bit of time with Karen Fonstad when she was preparing her "Atlas".  The results are as close to literal accuracy as possible, considering that I'm not a visual person.

(07/27/2005)

Michael from Santa Fe

Here is something I have wondered about since the First Chronicles.  A person who is sent to the Land, always begins to assume the physical state they entered the Land when they are about to be returned to the "real" world.  So in Lord Foul's Bane, for example, Covenant bumps his head before being sent to the Land, and he bumps his head "on the way out".  What would happen if a woman entered the Land who was pregnant?  Obviously they would need to be pregnant again when they left, but would they show their pregnancy while in the Land?  Could they have the baby in the Land, only to be impregnated again before returning?  Or is this all just speculation since none of the books transports a pregnant woman to the Land and so dealing with that situation is not necessary?  Just curious how you would handle it though.

This is obviously WAY outside the text, so anything I say about it must be taken as purely speculative.  But--just guessing here--I might arrange a miscarriage in the Land, matched by a miscarriage in the "real world" caused by the trauma of events enabling translation to the Land.

(07/27/2005)

David Kirkham

Dear Mr.Donaldson

<Reflection>
I finished ROTE yesterday- I've worked it out- it is *you* in fact who is Lord Foul- you keep us all waiting for 20 years, then out comes ROTE and you keep us waiting for 'twenty-eight score' pages until the final sentence.

Now I know how Liand feels- what freedom of choice will I have whilst waiting for FR?

<Question>
Now I regard myself as a fairly intelligent, cultured, well-read person, with a BA in English and lets face it I'm a Brit- so I understand irony, rhetoric and parody, though I don't drive a Rover [any more]. BUT- my question is this:

Will Covenant *really* return and become the main protagonist- I dearly hope so, as- though I enjoy all of your characters- it is he who represents the 'root note' to your symphony- surely?  

Thank you and best wishes with your work- and I hope you continue to enjoy our 'writing' as we continue to enjoy your 'reading'...

David, UK

I'm sorry.  I can readily appreciate your reasons for asking it; but answering your question would be a MEGA-spoiler, and I really don't want to give anything away.

(07/27/2005)

Dave A

Hello Mr. Donaldson,

The other day  was discussing the Covenant books with a friend, and we made a curious observation: Lord Foul never tells an actual lie when speaking to the protagonists.  He misdirects, he omits, and he manipulates, but at no time does he out and out lie.  So I wondered if this is deliberate - Foul considering it below him - or if it was just fortuitous?

Keep up the good work!

Putting it as broadly as possible:  Lord Foul simply has too much contempt for people to bother lying to them.  In order to lie to them, he would first have to believe that they can actually defeat him.  (Misdirection, omission, and manipulation are much more fun than lies:  they reinforce his feelings of superiority.)  Of course, he *has* been defeated in the past.  But he's also learned from his mistakes, which allows him to continue believing that *this time* he can't fail.  (Like virtually every human being I know, he's better at solving yesterday's problems than he is at foreseeing--or handling--today's problems.)

Of course, deeper issues underlie his manifest egocentricity.  But he isn't likely to admit that to anyone.

(07/27/2005)

Bill Kovka

The Covenant Chronicles are my favorite books. Years ago I had the whole series and I lent it to someone and never got it back.
 I've since replaced them except for the the atlas of the land. I can't find it anywhere.
  Is this still in print?

   Thank You

   Bill Kovka

Today seems to be my day for maps....

As it happens, "The Atlas of the Land" went out of print a very long time ago (for the obvious reason:  poor sales).  And I don't think we'll ever see its like again.  I'm just not that popular.  Which is pretty easy to understand, considering the demands that my books make of their readers.

(07/27/2005)

Lynne (aliantha)

This isn't so much a question as a story that I happened to think of this past weekend and wanted to share with you.

In the early '80s, when the 2nd Chronicles were being published, I was working in a radio station newsroom where most of us (we had 5 on our staff) were big Covenant fans.

At about this time, the radio station joined RKO Radio Networks.  One of the perks of the deal was that RKO would give us a computer, primarily to download information about network commercials, but also for such practical purposes as playing "Hunt the Wumpus" and so forth.  To illustrate how long ago this was:  In order to connect with the network's computer, we had a rectangular box, the top of which sported two holes outfitted with rubber gaskets.  One would insert the handset of the phone into the two holes, dial the access number, and connect at a screaming 300 baud.

Anyway, we received the computer. Our news director set it up, plugged it in, and lovingly christened it Yoda.  We had nothing but problems with the thing.  I don't remember the specific issues, but suffice it to say they were frustrating enough that eventually, we convinced RKO to send us another computer.

When the new machine arrived, the news director set it up, plugged it in, and dubbed it Lord Foul the Despiser.  

Damn thing ran like a top.

So you see, there is power in names.

Between this and "Heatherly and Julie's Fantasy Bedtime Hour," my immortality is assured.  <grin>

(07/27/2005)

Daniel L. Gillard

Hello Mr. Donaldson,

I have always wondered who the 'old man' was that Thomas & Linda encountered in the real world. Was he  The Land?

I have often wondered this, and reading your new novel brought back this question.

It's great to see another chronicle for Thomas C. and to return to the Land once more with it healthy again.

I, like so many other people, enjoy you work.
Cheers!
Dan

Actually, I intended the old beggar to be an avatar or manifestation of the Creator (I mean the Creator of the Land, not necessarily of Covenant's "real world"--and certainly not of *our* "real world").

(07/27/2005)

Scott

Most importantly - I want to thank you for the wonderful fiction you have given us, and for the generosity of doing this interview.  

I love and enjoy the Covenant series in some part because of two qualities that are essentially absent from the majority of fantasy but wealthy in the Chronicles.  I see both strong emotional content (something which you have discussed in GI a lot) and a certain relevance to human life.  My question is do you have a tip, or suggestion for writers in trying to keep something as exotic and seemingly irrelevant as epic fanstay relevant?

My easy and whimsical question - have you given any thought to what might be in the part of Kevin's Lore that was never recovered?  It always crushes me when the Lords are forced to jump straight to Earthblood.  

Of course being crushed is par for the course in your books :)

Thanks,
Scott

I'm tempted to contest the notion that epic fantasy is either "exotic" or "seemingly irrelevant":  that would be easier (being more abstract) than answering your actual question.  The truth is that I don't really know how I do--whatever it is that I do.  As far as I can tell, I just do what comes naturally.  I follow the advice of virtually every high school writing teacher on the planet:  I write what I know--which turns out to be my own mind (my thoughts, emotions, reactions, dreams) and the minds of those people around me who have given me glimpses into themselves.

Of course, that's a terrible over-simplification.  It leaves out alot.  For example:  my literary tastes and standards were formed by the study of giants, from Shakespeare and Dostoevsky to Jane Austen and Henry James.  And I've made an exhaustive (and occasionally unflinching) analysis of myself.  And I believe in the absolute necessity of empathy; of getting outside myself, putting myself in other people's shoes.  Such things greatly complicate the issue of how I do what I do.  And then there's the small matter of imagination, which I can neither explicate nor quantify.

<sigh>  The short answer?  Your guess is as good as mine.

As for the content of Kevin's lost Lore:  as I keep saying, I'm an efficient writer in the sense that I only invent what I need.  If I ever need to know what's in the missing Wards, I'll think of something.  <rueful smile>

(07/27/2005)

sue

Did you get the idea of despite or malice from dealing with someone who suffered from depression?  My best friend recently died of a drug overdose and I feel like Linden Avery who suffered great losses from losing Covenant and her son.  I have just finished "Runes of the Earth"; I enjoyed it greatly.  When will the next book be published?

I can't honestly say that I drew on a conscious source.  The idea of "despite" just seemed to fit my notion of evil.  But looking back over my life, I can see that I grew up immersed in depression, my own as well as that of the people around me.  In addition, both of my parents died while I was still in my 20's.  And I can say with some confidence that I was affected by the state of American politics in the late 60's and early 70's (and no, it's not any better now).

(07/27/2005)

Darran Handshaw

Hey again Stephen,

I just got finished with the third book in The Man Who.. series and it was literally jaw-dropping for me.  You took an old and outdated concept, brought established characters into it and you also succesfully created a group in which each character could be suspected and rooted for at the same time.  Bravo!

In reading some of your previous posts for The Man Who.. series, I heard that you changed alot of the character names in the re-release for the first two books.  Not having access to those names, I was wondering which ones were changed and what they were before you changed them.  I feel that a character's name has alot to do with the reader's perception of him/her, especially in the world of text.  Thank you.

-Darran

First, I'm glad you've been enjoying "The Man Who" books.  This is a rare experience for me.

Unfortunately, your question is one that I find uniquely embarrassing.  I didn't change "alot of the character names," but those that I did change--and off the top of my head I can only remember two--I changed because they made me cringe.  And as you probably know, it's no fun cringing at your own work.  In addition, it's no fun dropping your literary pants in public.  And you're absolutely right:  "a character's name has alot to do with the reader's perception of him/her, especially in the world of text."  All of which is a long-winded way of saying that I'm not going to answer you.  I hope you'll forgive me.

(07/27/2005)

Sean Casey

You've said that part of the motivation for writing the Last Chronicles now was financial. If things get especially tight, I was wondering if you'd consider corporate sponsorship. For instance:

Thomas Covenant, Unilever
Windows Avery
Terry's White Gold
Lord Foul the Budweiser

You should have your agent look into it. Just a thought, anyway. :)

Well, I didn't mean that I'm writing "The Last Chronicles" for money.  (If I suspected myself of that, I'd go into some other line of work.)  I meant that I'm *selling* it--and specifically selling it one book at a time instead of holding them back until the whole project is complete--because I need the money.

Still, I like the idea of corporate sponsorship.  <grin>  Although I personally prefer "Lord Foul the Un-Cola" (being a non-drinker and all), the rest of your suggestions are excellent.  I'll get right on them.

(07/27/2005)

Gary

Hello Stephen,

Have you ever seriously considered doing screenplays based on any of your work, or have received offers to collaborate on a screenplay?  Over a decade ago, I read the Mordant's Need duology and fell in love with it.  I thought that it would make a phenomenal movie, once graphic technology progessed enough.  And now that we've seen the highly impressive and successful results from the Lord of the Rings triology of movies, I think that the technology has finally arrived that could certainly do your work justice (with the right actors of course!).

Forgive me if this question has come up before--I didn't seem to find anything searching the database.  If it had been addressed before and nothing came of it, perhaps it's time again to reconsider?  I still feel that the two stories have such fabulous imagery and could turn into a truly magnificent and successful movie.

Best regards,
~Gary

I'll never write a screenplay for any of my stories.  1) I don't know how.  2) I don't have time.  3) Any screenplay would necessarily involve abridgement, and I'm allergic to abridgement.  4) Movies are made by committees.  Therefore they require compromise--and I'm also allergic to compromise.  5) The people who hold the option on "Lord Foul's Bane" already have a good screenwriter in mind, John Orloff.

(07/27/2005)

Peter "Creator" Purcell

You recently stated:

Well, I'm completely flummoxed. a) While I was writing "Runes," I was consciously trying to tone down my (over)use of what I'll call Fancy Words. b) (and this is totally subjective) Apart from the word "scend," I can't think of a single Fancy Word in "Runes" which doesn't appear in at least one of the previous six "Covenant" books.

Come on!  How about "formication"?!  You know, after I wiped the grin of my face and told myself you couldn't mean THAT <grins again> I looked it up.  I don't think it was in any of the others!!

Just a polite correction (unless I'm mistaken!) from one of your fans!! <chuckles>

You win:  I also can't find "formication" in any of the previous "Covenant" books.  I probably got confused because I've known the word, like, forever, while "scend" was a fairly recent aquisition.

(07/28/2005)

Mark

I have a question regarding the nature of evil. What is your opinion on inherent evil? Original sin. Many of your books deal with corruption as an active evil. This presupposes an undefiled state that cannot defend itself, as you say. But this leaves untouched the "bad seed" so to speak. Natural evil, if you will. Is The Land wholly good (in which case it's very different from the Earth we know with its vacillating compounds of good and evil. Do you agree with this?). To put it another way is there any uncorrupted thing from The Land that in itself is corrupt. Thank you.

You appear to be asking about two entirely different, fundamentally distinct things, evil in our consensual reality and evil in the Land.

Evil in our reality (and I emphasize that this is just my opinion).

In my view, every personality is composed of a host of conflicting impulses, some tending toward destruction (perhaps in ways which we might be able to agree are evil), some tending toward healing, some rational, some emotional, some petty, some noble, some egocentric, some unselfish, some that defy description.  Every human being is a mixture of all of these impulses; and it is the specific proportions of the mixture which make each individual unique.  Well, when the mixture is dominated by the darker or more destructive impulses, we get--just to pick one example--sociopathy.  And when the mixture is so completely dominated by the darker or more destructive impulses that every other kind of impulse is, in effect, cowering in a corner somewhere, we get people whom most of us would not hesitate to describe as evil.  (And just to make the subject more complicated:  every individual mixture is created by a combination of "nature" and "nurture" so unquantifiable that it's impossible to tell where one leaves off and the other kicks in.)  That's as close as I can come to believing in "bad seed" or "natural evil."  I'm simply convinced that everybody contains everything.  Obviously, however, in some cases certain impulses are so dominant that their opposites (and anything associated with those opposites) become invisible.

Of course, I can't actually *demonstrate* any of this.  If those opposites have become invisible, we can't possibly know that they still exist.  Nonetheless I choose to believe it.  I doubt that I could be a storyteller if I didn't believe that everybody contains everything.

Evil in the Land is entirely another matter.  And I don't want to discuss it--for the simple reason that I've already discussed it at length elsewhere.  But if you take the ideas described above, and combine them with the argument in my essay on "Epic Fantasy" (downloadable from this site), you should get a pretty clear picture of my views on evil in the Land.

(07/28/2005)

Brad

Hi Stephen

I only came across your site fairly recently and have read your answers to the graduated interview with interest - must admit what brought me here was trying to track down a release date for Fatal Revenant (no, its not that again, bear with me).

You have explained that any speculation about a Covenant movie is exactly that, speculation, moreover about something that will most likely never come to fruition. It was your answer regarding the LOTR trilogy that interested me, when you mentioned that most of the things that you treasure about the books was missing from the movies - this intrigued me. Could you please briefly explain what these elements were? 

Oh, one last thing - when is Fatal Revenant going to be released? Im joking of course.

regards

Brad
16/Mar/05
London, UK 

Briefly, huh?  Now I *know* you're joking.

But I'll try....

Putting it crudely:  the LOTR books are drenched in sorrow and nostalgia, and the movies are not.  Despite their heroic trappings, the books aren't really about "good vs evil":  they're about "simplicity vs evil".  (In other words, they're about the Hobbits, not Aragorn and the Riders of Rohan and Gandalf and Elves.)  And in the process of defeating evil, simplicity (in the person of Frodo) is crippled.  It's a very sad story.  Well, movies being movies, the heroic trappings dominate, and so the unique emotional depth of the books is lost.  If you doubt me, consider this:  the movies leave out virtually all of the harm that is done to the Shire *after* Sauron is defeated.  *That* (the whole last third of "The Return of the King") is what ties the books together and completes their thematic development--and in the movies it's just not there.

Don't get me wrong:  I enjoyed the movies.  I like a good "heroic" fantasy as well as anyone.  But I don't think that those movies will ever linger in the heart the way the books do.

(07/28/2005)

David Carter

Dear Mr Donaldson,

As a classically trained musician, I have been intrigued by your frequent reference to music in this interview both to create your Cocoon of Sound when your write and the references to Wagner’s Ring and opera generally. I have also been interested to read your antagonism? antipathy? towards any possible movies of the Covenant Stories.

How would you feel about someone composing an opera or indeed cycle of operas based on the Thomas Covenant stories? I have not so far seen you mention any modern composers. Personally I would have thought an excellent ‘Modern’ possibility would be Sir Harrison Birtwhistle whose treatment of the Orpheus legends in “The Mask of Orpheus” and the Arthurian and Green man legends in “Gawain” would suit the Covenant stories. If you couldn’t face a ‘Modern’ opera which composer would you most liked to have written a Covenant Opera and would you be/have been interested in writing the Libretto?

David Carter

Wherever possible, I try not to hamper anyone else's creativity.  If someone felt moved to compose one or more operas based on "Covenant," I wouldn't stand in the way (just as I wouldn't stand in the way of a movie).

But I think it would be a deranged endeavor, even more truly "doomed from the start" than a movie.  By their very nature, operas have to be even more truncated/condensed/abridged than movies, if for no other reason than because singing takes so much longer than speaking (which in turn takes so much longer than showing).  I don't doubt that individual scenes could be set to music effectively.  But the larger story would be irretrievably crippled.

Under the circumstances, discussing specific composers seems pointless.

(07/28/2005)

Brian from Michigan

Mr. Donaldson,

Thank you so much for letting me revisit my favorite fantasy world.  You have mentioned that, as book tours go, the Runes of the Earth tour went well.  AND, while I was recently at a Border's in southeast Michigan, there were several sf/f fantasy fans that I tried to talk into buying a copy; however, they were waiting for the paperback edition.  So, to the question:  how have the sales for Runes of the Earth been so far?  Have you and/or your publisher been satisfied?

Again, thank you for the many, many years of your work.  I have truly enjoyed every novel/story.

Thank you.

Here's the best report I can give you on sales for "Runes" so far.  My US publisher is happy:  my UK publisher is very happy:  neither is ecstatic.  Publishers don't get ecstatic without both prominence and longevity on their respective "Times" bestseller lists.

Am I satisfied?  Not entirely.  But I try not to care too much.  As long as my publishers don't dump me--and do keep my books in print--I'm pretty much content.

(07/29/2005)

James DiBenedetto

Two questions:

Do you have any creative outlets/hobbies other than writing?  Painting, drawing, music, etc.?

You have often talked about how ideas take up residence in your mind and demand to be written, and they dictate their format (short story, single novel, trilogy, etc).  Do ideas ever come to you that demand to be expressed as, say, song lyrics, or as a play, or in another medium entirely?

Creative outlets?  No.  Hobbies?  Yes.  These days I study karate pretty diligently.  Long ago, I played the guitar (12-string, no less); but then I lost interest.  Ditto with playing tennis (although I suspect that my racquet had less than 12 strings <grin>).  More recently, I played competitive bridge; but again I lost interest (this time, however, in competition rather than in bridge).

Back in my college days, I got ideas for plays; but they dried up after I had the humbling experience of seeing one of my plays performed.  And I do still (rarely) get ideas for poems.

(07/29/2005)