This thread will contain extreme spoilers! You are warned!
My copy came in the mail yesterday while I was at work. And believe it or not, I only read the first two chapters.
![Smile :)](./images/smilies/icon_smile.gif)
I chose to spend time with my husband instead.
![Smile :)](./images/smilies/icon_smile.gif)
And - I guess this makes me a pretty rotten fangirl, but of those two chapters, I had previously only read the first one at Donaldson's website. I just do not care for reading long manuscripts online.
So, the first chapter was known...the second one was new. And I have been busy doing housework today and have not gotten any farther, and when I do have time to read on my breaks tonight at work, I plan on rereading chapter two ratehr than heading into new territory.
Why, you ask? Because in the one review that I have read that I trust (that would be berg's review at Amazon) , the reviewer said very explicitly that you had better be very slow and careful with the first few chapters, or you might not understand what is going on in the end.
![Confused :?](./images/smilies/icon_confused.gif)
So, with that in mind, I am planning on advancing at a snail's pace in those first few chapters, and perhaps rereading them a few times before I get any further.
And besides, this is a new and very special treat, and I will not get any new Donaldson treats for two long years! o I am going to do my best to stretch it out and enjoy it.
Anyway, here are my impression of the first couple of chapters, before I get back to the darned laundry.
SPOILERS for the first chapter follow:
[spoilers]
There is no way in any world that the two riders could be Thomas Covenant and Jeremiah. Or - if by some wild chance that they are - there is something extremely hinky and bad going on with them.
Linden cannot touch them? When other people like the haruchai who shared their horses touched them? No Staff of Law? When they already have enough power within themselves to hide from the eyes of the haruchai and the ramen?
Sounds to me like these two beings are trying to keep Linden from seeing who or what they actually are. And Linden, blinded with love, is believing and going along with this load of horse hockey pucks...
And my guess is that they have got to be evil - but not ravers because people would pick up on that fairly quickly. Perhaps in the service of the fiery being who possesses Anele when he is standing on bare dirt?
The way the demondim act and the timing of their arrival at Revelstone would certainly suggest that.
But what would the fiery possessor hope to gain by sending servants to Linden?
What the heck do these ominous beings want?
[/spoilers]