Lord Foul's Bane

Don't be put off by the appearance of this series being somewhat similar to Lord of the Rings. Yes, there are certainly similarities, but, consider them genre only. The series is an excellent read, with the trials and tribulations of The Unbeliever taking many surprising twists. Certainly one of the better fantasy series. I enjoyed the idea of the series being an alternate reality extreme variation, only barely recognisable from its origin inspiration.

I wish to touch on another aspect of the books. I read them a long time ago, and can remember little of the details, but what does stay is what impacted me at the time. Besides thoroughly enjoying and reading the entire series in one go, there's a deeper mystique to the stories.

I always felt a decided More to the writing. Like the author had wild personal experiences, too wild for normal telling and was forced to re-format them into this tale and the fantasy format. In particular, the white-gold connection. At the time I was not aware of it's alchemical and scientific significance, but my impression then was decidedly that there's much more going on than the story directly states.

The series has a spiritual quality, adding to the enjoyment. While certainly not overt, it's there nonetheless. A connection to a something, what precisely not easy to say, but there. A bonus which enhances the series tremendously. I felt the same with LotR, but different. With Tolkien, I recognised it at the time as an unspoken connectedness of all things, and of all that's done and said, especially if energy, attention and Intent are involved. With Donaldson however, the spiritual, or perhaps metaphysical aspect, is more complex, and subtle. A fine layered mystery which permeates the story and writing.