The Power That Preserves: The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever, Book 3

I have read all the trilogies since I was 10 yrs old and still turn to them as I approach 60. They still inspire and astound me.

Reread after 40 years. Now I remember why, after all those years, this trilogy still crosses my mind. Well written with a unique view on the philosophy of life

The Power That Preserves is the sequel to The Illearth War and the final novel in the first trilogy about Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever. Just as in the previous two books, Covenant returns to the Land after blacking out in the real world from an injury. Seven years have passed in the Land while only a couple days have transpired for Covenant. He finds the Land in the grip of an unnatural winter brought on by Lord Foul, whose forces have overrun most of the Land and nearly defeated all resistance. The Lords at Revelstone are the only major obstacle left for Foul to defeat, and Foul with his Illearth Stone is much more powerful than they are. Covenant's wild magic is the only hope to turn things around, but he doesn't even know how to unleash it!I gave the previous novel, The Illearth War, a five-star rating. It was excellent fantasy from beginning to end. The sequel is just as good until the ending, which is a tad weaker in comparison. Don't get me wrong, it's still a great ending: explosive, climactic, and quite satisfying. But it doesn't quite "jive" with how Covenant and Lord Foul have been portrayed throughout the series. So it seems a bit contrived or artificial. You'll probably know what I mean when you get there. On the other hand, you may love the ending just as much as most of the other reviewers did. Anyway, though I think the ending is the weakest part of the novel, it's still a fine close to the series and you'll enjoy it. Solid four-star material, which ain't shabby at all! I'd rate it four and a half if that rating were available.The siege against Revelstone by Lord Foul's minions is perhaps the best part of the book. High Lord Mhoram is awesome! The enemy general and his forces truly inspire dread. Covenant's long quest in the south is full of adventure too. You'll finally get to see what's become of Lena, the girl Covenant wronged in the first book. Triock plays a major role, becoming a tragic hero in one of the finest action scenes of the novel. Dead Elena (the High Lord killed in the last book) makes an appearance, though not in the guise you may expect. A couple welcome old friends from past books accompany Covenant on his quest.Characters show more variation in personality than in the previous books, in which most of them seemed like they were cast from the same mold. There are a few quite gory moments in the battles, like one memorable scene where blood is pumping around a knife stuck in somebody's chest (sorry!). Overall, this series consists of the some of the best fantasy I've ever read. It doesn't quite rank up there with the Wheel of Time series (at least the first six books of it), but it succeeds admirably for its relatively short length. Jordan could learn a few pointers from this series, as in how to tie things up neatly.Highly recommended and a must read to wrap up the first trilogy!

I read this book about 30 years ago. That is, the trilogy. It was a joy to re-read it although if Mises membered much of it. It makes you want to become a hero and do good in the world.

The entire series allows you to feel the characters growth and pain, confusion and anger, and the final book brings about a balance of his guilt, feelings of inadequacy, with his finding of a sort of teetering balance between unbelief and responsibility for the land. Thus he is able to resist despair and do the right thing to fulfill his responsibility to all those who sacrificed for him.

Stephen R. Donaldson has crafted a wonderful ending to this first trilogy of Thomas Covenant. It is my fourth time reading through these books, and it will probably not be my last time.

The Covenant series is a tough read. There is a great fantasy story here, but it's hidden a bit underneath an utterly unlikeable main character and an author who consistently uses words and phrases that are very difficult to understand. At times, it's almost like the author is writing with a thesaurus next to him at all times, and deliberately chooses the 10th or 11th choice in the word list at least once or twice per page. Anyone reading a Covenant book on a Kindle will make full use of the dictionary function!I've always felt that the best chapters of any Thomas Covenant book at the ones where Covenant is not present and the story can shine through. The Land is richly detailed and the native characters and storyline are compelling. This book, IMO, is a step down from The Illearth War, which had a great story, dropped Covenant from a large section of the book, and had him be a lot more easy to relate to in his sections.. I had higher hopes for the conclusion of the Trilogy - not necessarily for Covenant to be largely absent again, but for his character advancing to the point where he fit in with the story better. Instead, the story grinds to a halt far too often under Covenants repeated denials, excuses, and tirades. Despite this, however, there is still a compelling story underneath and a satisfying resolution to the trilogy. My four star review comes from a combination of a five star review for the story and a generous three star rating for the writing style.

The first six books about Thomas Covenant, the Unbeliever are among my favorite works of fiction. Donaldson creates a vivid beautiful world with noble nuanced characters. To contrast the nobility and beauty he creates he subjects his beautiful world and noble, but nuanced characters to horrific pain and corruption. Thomas Covenant, his main character is a pain in the ass who can't embrace the beauty of the moment. If I never read the phrase "don't touch me" again it will still be too soon! Donaldson's works are great on Kindle, because he is brilliant and I use the dictionary to look up quite a bit of the verbiage he uses. This rarely happens for me. I personally think Donaldson mixes some of the ethos of Hamlet with the basic plot and story of the Lord of the Rings. I have read the first six books about the world of Thomas Covenant and the Land a minimum of three times each. I enjoyed them the first time through, with frustration. With each successive read the frustration remains, but the beauty and subtlety becomes more apparent to me. My admiration for the degree to which Donaldson creates beautiful tragedy is deep. I recommend the first six books of the Unbeliever passionately. But he still pisses me off.

The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant Trilogy was really a read great read, these fantasy book I can recommend if you like these kind of book. Brilliant Trilogy.

This is a complex story written over several books and it leaves me in awe of authors that are able to construct a story of such complexity and written so well. I have enjoyed this series and look forward to reading the next books in this saga

This purchase was a gift to someone in advance of the third and presumed final Thomas Convenant trilogy Stephen R. Donaldson is about to release. I haven't read this series since it came out more than three decades ago but I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys novels based on high-fantasy settings.

Well written. Beautiful ending. HBO should consider series for their next big feature.

Read this in the 80s. The three. Lord fouls bane the ileath war. And power that preserves . Tried to get hold of the 3 books. In 2000 started reading. Again in. June 2018, first opurtunitiy. To purchase since 90s. glad i did i remember first time around. The first book. Took a little while. to get going . But. Well worth the. MoneyLot detail captervating. Story.