The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever started way back in 1977. As seems to be the case with much modern fantasy, the series is published in sets of threes, the first set being The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever, and the second set being The Second Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever. Catchy titles, eh? The last installment is projected to be four books, starting with The Runes of the Earth and continuing with the latest installment, Fatal Revenant.
The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant is regarded by some as a modern fantasy classic. The hero is an author from the “real” world who finds himself translated to an alternate world, the “Land.” The second trilogy demonstrates that that there is a larger world beyond the Land, but for the most part the action in the books is set in the Land proper.
Covenant has two basic problems. He is never really sure if the Land is real and he has really been relocated to this new reality, or it the Land is a product of his increasing insanity, brought on by loneliness and isolation.
This loneliness and isolation is caused by the second of Covenant’s problems: he suffers from Hansen’s disease, better known as leprosy. Much of the first trilogy is devoted to how the local population in the “real” world reacts to having a leper in their midst. Covenant is first shunned by the people of his town, a sort of collective pretending that he no longer exists. As he refuses to accept this situation, and makes ever more desperate attempts for some kind of human contact, the shunning turns to persecution.
The place where Covenant finds himself now is a place infused with something called Earthpower, essentially the living vitality of Nature made manifest. Covenant is healed of his leprosy, but the consequences for the people of the Land who have aided him in his dislocation are catastrophic in every way.
Also, the Land is beset by its ancient foe, a being who calls himself Lord Foul the Despiser. In many ways Lord Foul is the embodiment of the inner darkness of humanity. Foul’s intent is pretty simple-he intends the complete and utter ruin of the Land and indeed of the Earth itself.
Space does not allow for fuller back-story, but the essence of the rest of the series is Covenant’s ongoing battle to save the Land from the machinations of Lord Foul, and the utter and extravagant lengths he will go to achieve this. Eventually this struggle comes to include a woman from the real world, Linden Avery, a physician with her own woes of spirit and mind who becomes involved in looking after Covenant, and who eventually finds herself whisked off to the Land with him. This is the starting point for the second trilogy, and it ends with Covenant defeating Lord Foul again, but this time at the cost of his life. Along the way we get further development of the Land and this time this alternate Earth as it exists outside the Land.
The latest round of books deals with yet another threat to the Land from Lord Foul, but this time around Linden is the Land’s champion. Foul draws her to the Land by kidnapping her adopted son Jeremiah. Linden goes on to have her own series of adventures in the Land. I assume (and I hope) that the conclusion of the Final Chronicles of Thomas Covenant will be the end, one way or another. 2 books down, 2 books to go.
So why read the latest book? This is not the entry point to the series. After reading Fatal Revenant and having a few days to digest it, I think it would be almost impossible to access the series from this book. For long time readers of the series though, it is invaluable.
Many, many things dating back to the first book in the series, Lord Foul’s Bane, are clarified and explained, and Donaldson works very hard at connecting the many, many threads that inevitably develop in a story and mythology so vast.
Donaldson is really one the writers in whom you can see a change and improvement in his writing and storytelling skills as you trace his career. I found the tension in Fatal Revenant almost unbearable at times. Some of that, of course, comes from being a long time reader of the series and waiting for the next little scrap of information. But as I think about it seems there is a discernable improvement in Donaldson’s craftwork. Your mileage may vary.
Fatal Revenant, and the rest of the series for that matter, is not an easy read. Many of the characters, including the chief protagonists, are very troubled people in very, very serious ways. But that is one of the challenges of reading the series-it presents an almost endless series of moral and ethical issues for the reader to ponder. I like that in Covenant and Linden’s stories, but it is definitely not for everyone.
Another issue is Donaldson’s use of Big, Important Words When Lesser Words Would Suffice. This is one area of his writing that has not improved. I have mixed feelings about a book I need a dictionary at hand to read. Still, reading The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant will enhance your vocabulary. You will have to decide if that is a good reason for reading one of the more massive fantasy series around today.
Fatal Revenant is a must read for fans of the series, but it is not the place to try to gain entrance to the series. If you are in need of a new fantasy epic and have not read this series, and are interested in something really different, go find Lord Foul’s Bane at Edwin McKay’s, work through it, and then decide if you are hooked. If you are, then you will find some rare fantasy treasures in the stories of the Land, its enemies, and its protectors.
presents
Joyeux Noël
(Merry Christmas)
Enemies abandon their weapons for one night during World War I.
November 15, 2007
12 p.m.
AT Auditorium
The Internationalizing the Curriculum Committee, The Department of Communications and Fine Arts, & The GTCC Spanish Club
The Road Less Traveled? Better The Road Never Traveled.
The Road-Cormac McCarthy
I’ve been putting off writing a review of this book for some time now. It is not that it isn’t a good book-in fact it may be a great book, one of the best written in this young century and millennium.
But the fact is I do not like mentally revisiting the world of The Road. It is a harsh and unforgiving place, and is a meditation on what is truly the worst and the best in humankind. The best is there in acts and words of kindness, love, and beauty. The worst is there in acts and words of wanton cruelty and barbarity.
If you have read other books by Cormac McCarthy you will already be aware that his outlook is, to be brief, bleak. The murderous loner in Child of God, the lonely and lost cowboys of the Plains trilogy, and the apocalyptic gang of mercenaries-cum-outlaws in Blood Meridian are all inhabitants of the world that has reached its culmination in The Road.
The Road centers on the travels of a nameless man and and his young son as they wander what appears to be a post-nuclear exchange United States. The world is locked in the grip of the much debated “nuclear winter”, and there is very little life of any kind-human, animal, plant-left. The bare necessities of living-food, water, clothing, shelter-are almost impossible to come by, and can only be found by incessant scavenging of every home, shop, and building left standing. The road of the title refers to the highways that our hapless pair follow as they look for some surviving community that has maintained the minimum standards of civilized behavior.
Because for the most part, civilized behavior is a thing long blown away, like the grey ash that constantly fills the air of this strange new world. The man and the boy may be the last civilized people left in the world. Their journey consists in part of hiding whenever they encounter strangers, trying to determine if they will be welcomed as fellow survivors or as a new source of protein. Cannibalism is a very real thing among the desperate survivors of the nuclear exchange.
I told you it was bleak.
Yet among the ruins there are moments of mercy, of kindness, of humanity. The man tries desperately to protect the innocence of his son, and of course in this world there is ultimately no way he can. He is also trying to teach him what he needs to know to survive, and the balance between innocence lost in the face of doing what is required to live is an ever present theme of The Road.
As you read The Road the hint of the ending is all to clear, and I suppose is some of why it affected me so deeply. I don’t want to give it away, but it centers on the meaning of being a parent. My own son is only a little older than the child at the heart of The Road, and the ending brings painful consideration of what the final task of a parent is.
Again, if you have read other books by McCarthy you will already be familiar with the quality of the prose in The Road. The poetic liquidity of his language and what it invokes only serve to heighten the elegiac tone of The Road. Consider this passage
“The soft black talc blew through the streets like squid ink uncoiling along a sea floor and the cold crept down and the dark came early and the scavengers passing down the steep canyons with their torches trod silky holes in the drifted ash that closed behind them silently as eyes."
The English language as it can shaped only by the hands of a master craftsman.
So take the long, slow walk of The Road. You may not like what you find along the way, but at the end of the journey you may find yourself understanding what it is that makes us human and what keeps back the darkness a bit better. This, to my mind, is what the best literature does-imparting some wisdom about the human condition. And the human condition, good and bad, light and dark, is what is at the center of The Road.
Tree of SoulsOnly one of the world's mythologies has remained essentially unrecognized—the mythology of Judaism. As Howard Schwartz reveals in Tree of Souls, the first anthology of Jewish mythology in English, this mythical tradition is as rich and as fascinating as any in the world.
Drawing from the Bible, the Pseudepigrapha, the Talmud and Midrash, the kabbalistic literature, medieval folklore, Hasidic texts, and oral lore collected in the modern era, Schwartz has gathered together nearly 700 of the key Jewish myths. Equally important, Schwartz provides a wealth of additional information, revealing the source of the myth and explaining how it relates to other Jewish myths as well as to world literature.
Designed to increase awareness of online resources and highlight the value of your eBook collection, the November eBook of the Month is provided through the generous support of Oxford University Press. Don’t miss this opportunity to showcase your NetLibrary collection by sharing this pioneering anthology of Jewish mythology.
Here is what Golda Fried's students say about Don't Make Me Stop Now in their review at Amazon.comI'm teaching this collection of short stories at my community college and we're having a lot of fun. A lot of my students can't stand when the stories are open-ended because they really want to know what happens to these characters. But that means they care about the characters, right?
One student says, "The whole music thing did it for me"--Jonathan White. "Many of the stories have cool 70s point-of-reference songs. I like how the main character is composed in his thoughts but then he'll lash out at his father and stuff. But then there are many surprises for the reader and diabolical twists."
In "Couple Strikes it Rich," Jeff Kinzie says,"The main couple is not the one who gets rich; the older couple is the one who does which makes the story ironic. His girlfriend was real indecisive."
In "Hidden Meanings," Ian Griffith says, "I really like how he filled the whole thing with comedy and sarcasm. The whole time this student is writing the story she is complaining about the other students and that the teacher is probably not going to listen to her opinions anyway."
About the story 'The Right to Remain'," says Amanda Slaughter, "I appreciate the cold and tense internal battle Sanderson has with his wishful love life in an alcoholic haze."
Rebecca Turner says about "Muddy Water, Turned to Wine": "It was a very well-written story but a little morbid. The main character is this guy who's obviously getting over a relationship which ended very badly for him and he has a one night stand and the girl gets a call that her father has died and he offers to drive her to the funeral. He finds out that he's being used...."
Natalia Alston states about "The Golden Era of Heartbreak": "I liked the descriptions. I felt like I was there in the background watching. I like how he had heartbreak. The story was suspenseful because it had a Sopranos feeling."
Kim Woods states about "Everything Was Paid For": "I like how the main character tried to make everything right for his girlfriend. I did like the ending because there is poetic justice to the two guys. I also like how the main character was upset and trying to take care of his girlfriend and so was in touch with some of his emotions."
Shelly Shealy states about "Results for Novice Males": "I like the competitive nature of the main characters. These guys are out of control trying to do a triathalon in the middle of the night."
Overall, we as a class give it eighteen thumbs up.
Check out NetLibrary's eBook of the month, "Capitalism: As if the World Matters" by Jonathon Porritt.
I just finished this wonderful book by North Carolina author Sarah Addison Allen, who lives in Asheville. It's a quick, light read about a magical garden and the reconciliation of two sisters.As the town’s successful caterer, Claire has always clung closely to the Waverleys’ roots in their enchanted soil, tending the family garden from which she makes her much sought-after delicacies. She has everything she thinks she needs – until one day she finds a vine of ivy creeping into her garden and knows that everything is about to change.
Then her prodigal sister Sydney arrives with her five-year-old daughter and a dark secret she hopes to keep well hidden. And suddenly Claire’s carefully tended life is about to run gloriously out of control …"
Need something new to look at while mindlessly browsing the net? Check out PC Magazine's Top 100 Undiscovered Web Sites! It's full of fun and useful websites that you might otherwise never come across in your attempts to navigate the ridiculously vast web of knowledge that is the Internet. I especially like footnote, which is ideal for the history lover and has a partnership with The National Archives to digitize historic documents; and Uncyclopedia, a site that is essentially Wikipedia's evil twin (not quite academic but fun to browse nevertheless!).
GTCC's very own Jeff Kinard has just published a new book! As a part of ABC-CLIO's "Weapons of Warfare" series, this book focuses on the history of artillery "from ancient dart firers and catapults...to the latest rapid-fire, rocket-propelled, laser-guided models." It can be found at the Jamestown Library on the new book display!
Welcome back. It is sizzling outside and things are heating up in the classroom as well, now that we are back at the start of a new semester.
The start of the semester is always a good time for reminders of things that may have slipped the mind over the summer, and of course we have new staff and faculty on board who may not know about some of the services offered by the library. With that in mind...
You Can Suggest Items for Purchase for the Library Collection!
The easiest way to do this is use our online form set up for this purpose. Just go to
http://www.gtcc.edu/library/requests/MaterialsRequestIndex.htm
and click on the link for Make a Request.
The form is self-explanatory but there are a couple of things to remember:
1. The more information you can provide, the easier it is for us to fulfill your request.
2. At a minimum, we need to know the title, the author, and the format (book, DVD, magazine).Library staff will also be happy to take this information directly from you.
It Is Time to Renew Your Home Access to the Library Databases!
We are happy to provide this service, but it does require that users make a new request as the login and passwords are changed every few months. Again, this is easily done online.Go to
http://www.gtcc.edu/library/RemoteAccessPoliciesProcedures.html
From there you will have 2 options:
1. Click on the If You Use BlackBoard tab, and follow the instructions from there.
2. Click on the If You Do Not Use BlackBoard tab and follow the instructions from there.
Please note that if you do not use BlackBoard we have to verify that you are a GTCC student, faculty member, or staff member. This may mean a waiting period of usually not over 1 working day while we "check your credentials".
Staff and faculty, you can help us here. Please remind students that they have to renew their access even if they have previously had access.
You Can Place Material on Electronic Reserves for Use by Your Students!
That's right. Not only can you place hard copy/physical items on reserve, but you can even utilize cyberspace for those things you want the students to use.
Go to http://www.gtcc.edu/library/ereserve/index.htm
and carefully review the Electronic Reserves FAQ. Everything you need to know to utilize this service is there one place.
Again, welcome back.
Please don't hesitate to ask questions about these or other library services. A directory of library staff, including contact information, can be found at
If you had the chance to look into a person’s soul, their past, would you want to remember what you see? In the case of Valentino Achak Deng, you would probably try to forget, but he must live with the memories every day of his life. In the novel What is the What by Dave Eggers, the story of a boy ripped from his family and home in war-torn This book follows Valentino, whose given name was Achak Achak, from his village in Marial Bai to the 13 years he spent in Ethiopian and Kenyan refugee camps and finally to Atlanta, Georgia, the latest stop on his journey. As one of the Lost Boys, he walked across Sudan’s harsh landscapes with thousands of other boys in search of a safe haven after his village was raided and destroyed, watching those around him die of exhaustion, diseases, and even in the jaws of wild beasts. He often went days without food, water, or shelter, and when food was available the portions were meager. Not knowing the fate of his family and having little hope of ever returning to his village, Valentino struggled with his will to live, and even attempted to take his own life. He eventually came to Kakuma, a refugee camp in
The purpose of What is the What is perhaps the most important thing to remember after reading it. In Valentino’s own words, “this book was born out of the desire on the part of myself and the author to reach out to others to help them understand the atrocities many successive governments of
To learn more, visit the Valentino Achak Deng website.
Someone recently came into the library and informed us of a great site called LibriVox. This website is run by volunteers and their objective is "to make all books in the public domain available, for free, in audio format on the internet." Books in the "public domain" are those whose copyrights have expired and therefore are available for use however the public sees fit. These are usually older books, published before 1925. The volunteers at LibriVox create recordings of these books and donate them to the public. You can even volunteer to read yourself! So if you enjoy audiobooks, this is the site for you!
"The Glass Castle" When they were enrolled school, which happened sporadically, the taunts they endured for their lack of food and clothing were terribly cruel. The four Walls children had to stick together in order to survive, and ultimately escape the life their parents made for them. While her parents viewed their lifestyle as an exciting adventure, Walls knew she wanted something more.
It is understandable that Jeannette Walls might be furious with her parents and traumatized by her childhood, yet her memoir is surprisingly objective. Readers will be taken in with her story and affected by it long after they turn the last page. This book is available for checkout at the Jamestown LRC.
These are just a few of the many wonderful new titles we've acquired. Please stop by and check them out on the new book display carts!
In honor of Women's History Month, we have created a display of books honoring the special contributions of women. Among other titles, we have books on women aviators in World War II, important women physicians, women inventors, women who acted as forces for social progress, women Noble Prize winners, and of course the many other facets of women in history.
The other featured books concern a subject of interest to both men and women-sweet love. Yes, the books currently occupying the genre place-of-honor in the Greensboro Campus LRC are the Romances! Need to feel like you are not alone on the rocky rapids of love? Need to feel the glorious heights of passion without the headache of a relationship? Then have we got the books for you! Come indulge that secret craving. Like chocolate, a good Romance novel can make everything better.
Non-circulating Non-Fiction (Reference)
The World Almanac and Book of Facts-Call #Ref. 317.3 W927
The World Book Encyclopedia 2007-Call #Ref. 031 W927 W.17
Physicians Desk Reference, 2007 Edition-Call #Ref 615.1 P578
Circulating Non-Fiction
What Color Is Your Parachute? 2007-Call #331.128 B691w
Defending the Devil: My Story as Ted Bundy’s Last Attorney-Call #345.759 N428d
Steck-Vaughn Complete GED-Call #373.1262 S811
Roads of the
No-Nonsense Resumes-Call #650.142 B688n
Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl-Call #840.5318 F828d (Reserve copy)
Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl-Call #940.53 D539 (5 copies)
Circulating Fiction
Alderman, P.J.-A Killing Tide-Call #Fiction
Anderson, Kevin J.-Star Wars: Champions of the Force-Call #Science Fiction
Armstrong, Kelley.-Broken-Call # Fiction
Austen, Lynn-Faith of My Fathers-F A936c
Bailey, Roz-Postcards from Last Summer-Call #FB155p
Baldacci, David-Absolute Power-Call #Fiction
Banks, Leanne-Footloose-Call #Romance
Banks, Leslie Esdaile-Shattered Trust-Call #F821s
Benson, Amber-Witchery: A Ghosts of
Black, Jenna-Watchers in the Night- Call # Romance
Brown, Sandra-Exclusive-Call #FB879e
Browne, Gerald A.-18 mm Blues-Call #FB882e
Buckley, Michelle-Trippin’-Call # FB294t
Cach, Lisa-Have Glass Slippers, Will Travel-Call #Romance
Carr, Philippa-A Time for Silence-Call # F C312t
Castle, Jayne-Ghost Hunter-Call #Romance.
Clancy, Tom-Executive Orders-Call #FC587e
Clancy, Tom-The Sum of All Fears-Call #FC587s
Clayton, Debra-Fallen Star-Call #FC619f
Cornwell, Patricia-From Potter’s Field-Call #FC821f
Cornwell, Patricia-Trace- Call #FC821t
Crichton, Michael-Airframe-Call #FC928a
Chichton, Michael-Timeline-Call #FC928t
Culberson, San-The Nick of Time-Call #FC967h
Cussler, Clive-Serpent-Call #Fiction
Deblasis, Celeste-Swan’s Chance-Call #FP286s
Donovan, Susan-The Kept Woman-Call #Fiction.
E-Fierce-The Sistahood on the Mic-Call #FE27s.
Esdalie, Leslie-Take Me There-Call #Romance
Fitch, Janet-White Oleander-Call #F671d
Flynn, Vince-Transfer of Power-Call #F648v
Folsom, Allan-The Day After Tomorrow- Call #FF671d
Francis, Dick-10 LB Penalty-Call #FF818t
Francis, Dick-Decider-Call #FF818d
Francis, Dick-Wild Horses-Call #FF818w
Frey, Stephen W.-The Takeover-Call #FF893t
Gerritsen, Tess-Body Double-Call #FG378b
Gipson, Fred-Old Yeller-Call #Fiction
Grafton, Sue-M is for Malice-Call #FG731i
Groffom. W.E.B.-The Investigators-Call #FG852i
Grimes, Martha-The Five Bells and Bladebone-Call FG862t
Hunt, Jill-Another Sad Love Song-Call #Romance
James, P.D.-The Children of Men-Call #F28c
Jihad-Riding Rhythm-Call #FJ61r
Jones, Katherine D.-Deep Down-Call #Romance
Kemer, Julie-California Demon-Call #FK36c.
Kendrick, Beth-Nearlyweds-Call #F K33n
Korda, Michael-Curtain-Call #F K84c
Koen, Karleen-Now Face to Face-Call #FK78h
MacPherson, Suzanne-Hysterical Blondeness-Call #Romance
Marquez, Babriel Garcia-One Hundred Years of Solitude-Call #Fiction
Martin, Steve-The Judge-Call #FM383j
Michaels, Fern-The Jury-Call #Fiction
Paretsky, Sara-Tunnel Vision-FP228t
Parker, Robert B.-Change-Call #FP242c
Parker, Robert B.-Straight Passage- Call #F242n
Perry, Anne-Pentecost Alley-Call #FP462p
Perry, Steve-Star Wars: Shadow of the Empire-Call #Science Fiction
Perry, Thomas-Shadow Woman-Call #F P465s
Reich, Christopher-Numbered Account-Call #FR347n
Ridgway, Christine-Must Love Mistletoe-Call #Romance.
Rowe, Jennifer-Stranglehold-Call #FR878s
Sargeant, Patricia-You Belong to Me-Call #Romance
Thompson, Faye-In Her Mother’s Shadow-Call #Fiction.
Turow, Scott-Pleading Guilty-Call #FT956p
Ulen, Eisa Nefetari-Crystelle Mourning-Call #FU37c
Woods, Stuart-Swimming to Catalina-Call #F 897s
