Thomas Covenant Books In Order

Publication Order of Chronicles Of Thomas Covenant Books

Chronological Order of Chronicles Of Thomas Covenant Books

Publication Order of The Second Chronicles: Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever Books

Publication Order of Last Chronicles Of Thomas Covenant Books

The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant is a novel series authored by Stephen Reeder Donaldson an American born in 1947 in Cleveland Ohio. The series comprises of ten books that began as a trilogy known as The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever. Later Stephen released the second trilogy titled The Second Chronicles of the Thomas Covenant. These first six books of the series were published between 1977 and 1983. The last four books were released as a tetralogy titled the last Chronicles of the Thomas Covenant that began publication in 2004. This superb piece of art combines fantasy, psychological complexity and use of arcane vocabulary to keep the audience fixated on the book.

The main character in the series is Thomas Covenant. Initially Thomas is a renowned writer with a wife and kids and leads a comfortable life. Later on, life takes a turn for the worst when he is diagnosed with leprosy. Leprosy being an extremely infectious disease leads to him being stigmatized by the community. His family left him, and he was isolated. In the course of the novel Thomas wakes up in an alternate earth where he is destined to be the savior of the The land. He struggles to save the land from an evil lord called ‘The Despiser’ from escaping and wreaking revenge on the Land and the Creator. The Thomas is a dynamic character as he changes roles from being the victim to being a victimizer depicted when he raped a girl after recovering his health. The first two books of the trilogy dubbed the Unbeliever are the Lords Fouls Bane and the Illearth War. A review of the two books is done below.

The first book of the series, Lord Fouls Bane starts with an unfortunate tale of Thomas Covenant, the main character who is diagnosed with Leprosy. Thomas, who is described, has having led a dissent life as a writer, is abandoned by everyone including his family after the unfortunate event. He is branded an outcast of the community and eventually isolated. After a rather disturbing encounter with a beggar in one of his trips to the town, he is knocked down and rendered unconscious by a police car. Upon waking up, Thomas finds himself in ‘ The Land’ a fantasy world where he meets Drool Rockworm. He learns that it is Drool that has summoned by him to that strange place acting against orders of an evil overlord by the name The Dispenser. Drool Rockwell’s plan is to trigger the destruction of The land much earlier than the estimated 49 years by the Dispenser. According to prophecy, Thomas’s arrival will cause the destruction to happen much sooner. The Dispenser tasks Covenant with the cross of carrying the message to the Council of Lords at Revelstone to prepare for battle with Drool to recover the magical instrument that he used to transport Covenant to the land. Later Covenant is carried to a place called Kelvins watch. He meets a girl named Lena who cures his leprosy. Lena identifies Covenant as a reincarnation of Berek Halfhand an ancient God, who fought the Dispenser years back. Covenant rapes Lena, but his family cannot seek vengeance for this heinous act because of the peace covenant they swore. Covenant delivers the message to the council. Covenant along with the lords party set out to engage Drools in an act of war in an attempt to recover the staff of law. He hopes that re-acquiring the staff of law will assist him in getting back to the real world. He refuses to believe that he is not conscious and that all that he is seeing is all in is head hence dubbed the unbeliever.

In the second book The Illearth War, Covenant has returned to the real world. He falls and hits his head while taking a call from his ex-wife. He finds himself ones again in ‘The land’ finding himself in the presence of the Council of Lords of Revelstone. In their midst is Elena the daughter of Lena the girl he had raped. Elena reports that the Lord Foul has garnered an army of soldiers and threatens to attack the people of ‘The Land’. The lords prepare for battle and plan to attack the foul lord’s layer led by Hile Troy, who is said to have come from the same world as Covenant. The Revelstone army is defeated but makes significant damage to the Foul Lord’s army. Later in the novel Elena, Covenant and their two Blood guard protectors travel to the hiding place of the Ward. Elena tries to summon the spirit of Lord Kevin but without notice she breaks the law of the death leading to her death and the capture of Lord Kevin’s spirit by Lord Foul troops. Covenant manages to escape with his Bloodguard. At the same time, Hile Troy and his forces have been forced to retreat to the edge of the forbidden forest. In this period of desperation, they seek the intervention of Caerroil Wildwood a being charged with protecting the forests of The land. Wildwood comes to their aid, and the Fouls army is destroyed. The war comes to an end as the both sides are significantly destroyed during the war. Covenant returns to the real world where he is once again a leper.

Stephen carefully manipulates the reader’s emotions through the main character. At beginning of the series, you feel sympathy for Covenant, who has been outcasted by his community for contracting leprosy. In fact, these sections can make you break down if you are not strong enough. But as soon as you start sympathizing with Covenant he is described as having raped a young lady who has just cured him of his ailments. Here you are angered by the same person you at first felt compassionate about. Ironically the people of ‘The Land’ are forced to work with him even after committing the shameful act. These twists of events and the vivid description of the alternate world are what make this novel series so interesting to read. The chronological flow of events and quick turnarounds in the storyline will keep you glued to your seat.