I was in Borders the other day and spotted a book that I (think) I’ve been waiting for since the late 80’s. I used to read a lot of fantasy literature; Stephen Donaldson and Michael Moorcock were two of my all time favourite authors at the time. They both bucked the trend for the swarthy, muscle-bound hero who saves the day (think: Conan the Barbarian). Both featured an anti-hero as the main character of a series of books (see the Wikipedia entry talking about anti-heroes - its quite informative).
I would have posted this blog entry days ago but I got caught up in reading the website of Stephen Donaldson. Unlike many authors today, Donaldson happily answers messages from his readers -
just take a look at the 500+ questions he’s already answered in the Gradual Interview on the site.
The book I ran across was “The Runes of the Earth” - the first of four books in The Last Chronicles of Thomas Covenant (basically, it’s book seven in the Chronicles of Thomas Covenant). Pervious to this book were:
| THE CHRONICLES OF THOMAS COVENANT THE UNBELIEVER
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THE SECOND CHRONICLE OF THOMAS COVENANT
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Isnt it strange how music gets hooked up with the things of life? I have distinct memories of listening to “On the wings of love” by Jeffrey Osborne connected to these books. Osborne’s song dates from ‘82, but the bedroom I remember reading the book, and hearing the music in, was one I had in ‘85 / ‘86 (in Orchard Street, Blandford Forum, Dorset, England … for those who’re curious, click the links for maps). Actually, thinking of maps, does anyone know of one that will let you enter multiple locations and mark them? I’d like to see a map and mark all the places that I’ve lived.