• bizarroland@fedia.io
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    2 months ago

    I’d say the first book of The Chronicles of Thomas covenant the unbeliever was a wild trip.

    In the story, Thomas covenant has leprosy. Due to the leprosy he is numb from the neck down even though he can still walk. He has no sensation when he touches anything and he cannot engage in his chosen profession which is writing. In a fit of pique he rescues a girl that almost gets hit by a car and gets isekaied.

    This was written in the late '70s so it was not a common trope at the time.

    He arrives in a world of magic on top of a mountain covered in Giant steps, he crawls his way down the mountain and encounters a girl who uses the magic of the land to heal him of his leprosy.

    Believing this is all a dream and trying to prove to himself that this is not real, he rapes the girl.

    The girls seems very distraught but pulls herself together and guides him into town and that is when he discovers that the white gold wedding ring on his finger is the source of wild magic.

    There is a great evil on the land that plans to destroy everything and he is the chosen person, the only person who can stop it.

    He has to fight against his disbelief of the world while reconciling his abhorrent actions with his own internal sense of morality in order to have a chance to go home again.

    This book spawned a 10 book series covering hundreds of years of history in the land with Thomas Covenant’s battle with the forces of evil and the lives of the people of the land resting in his leprosy numbed hands.

    It’s an amazing work but it is a rough read.

    • TheOneAndOnly@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      Have read the first 6 books at least a half dozen times since my local librarian suggested Lord Foul’s Bane to 12 year old me in the early 80s. Little heavy for a pre teen, so I’m pretty sure she hadn’t read it herself…But those books ignited a lifelong passion for fantasy adventure stories. Saltheart Foamfollower is one of my absolute favorite characters of all time. Sooo many wild parts in those books. Good call!

      • bizarroland@fedia.io
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        2 months ago

        Indeed. When saltheart foamfollower undergoes the lava caamora? Like I don’t cry but that brought a tear to my eye.

        There is a final four books out which are of a different caliber than the first six but not a terrible read.

        • TheOneAndOnly@lemmy.world
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          2 months ago

          Yeah…I read the last 4, too. Not all that long ago. I appreciated the nostalgia returning to The Land engendered…but…“a different caliber”, is a very diplomatic way to refer to them. Lol