[littlemissattitude]

Well, it took me awhile to find this thread...

I do definitely recommend the two Thomas Covenant trilogies - I read them pretty much straight through, and since I don't usually do epic fantasy, that's quite an endorsement, I suppose. I started the new one - the beginning of the third series - but I had too many things going on to read it out of the library (without it becoming overdue); I was also feeling a little depressed when I began reading it and it was just making things worse. But I will go back to it.

I think the thing about Covenant is that Donaldson was able to make me care for the character despite the fact that he is basically a mess, psychologically speaking. The thing is, I prefer heroes who are flawed because, as JP referenced, they are ultimately more believable for me. I also have a dark streak about a mile wide (that I try not to show too often, as it tends to disturb people) and that part of the books appealed to that part of my personality.

I read the first book in the Gap series, and part of the second. Yes, it was disturbing and that put me off at the time, but I've been thinking about giving them another try.

I'll close with a recommendation for those who like fantasy and would like to read Donaldson, but don't like the darkness or some of the subject matter of the Covenant books. Give his two-book series a try. "The Mirror of Her Dreams" and "A Man Rides Through" are not nearly so dark as the Covenant books (although they aren't all sunshine and roses, either, by any means). The protagonist is a young woman who feels as if she is disappearing and can only feel real when she looks at herself in a mirror. She slips through a mirror at one point, and finds adventure in a world behind the mirrors, a world where mirrors are used to make magic.