The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, Unbeliever (first and second) were a pivotal moment in my early fantasy reading. They were grown-up fantasy, full of moral quandaries and difficult emotions, but they were also stunning works of imagination, populated by brilliant characters. Even when he was writing gothic romance and portal fantasy with Mordant's Need, or sweeping science fiction with The Gap Cycle, Stephen R. Donaldson's work was always marked by those elements - stunning imagination and brilliant characters.


Sadly, that's precisely why Seventh Decimate falls so short. The first book of The Great God's War reads like a self-indulgent short story, big on ideas, but short on everything else. It's a heavy-handed morality tale about the horrors of war and the stupidity of racism/nationalism, couched in a thinly-veiled desert fantasy.

For a man who excels as world-building, this falls so short, it's really quite embarrassing. We get two warring countries, separated by a river . . . or chasm . . . or cliff . . . or something that's never really clear. There is an ocean to one side of them and a desert to the other, both assumed to be impassable - although it turns out the desert is simply a challenge, and hardly an insurmountable one. If there is anything else to the world (and we do get hints later in the story), neither country has the slightest idea.

Similarly, for a man whose fiction is defined by its characters, this falls even shorter than it did in the world-building. There is hardly a likeable character in the book, and none of them have any more depth than a background character. Most importantly, Prince Bifalt, the protagonist of the story, is even more unlikable than Thomas Covenant - a miserable, leprous man who most readers remember for a single unconscionable act. The Prince is a bland, boring, arrogant young man with a single-minded obsession. If only he had demonstrated a sliver of growth, this could have been a far better story, but if that growth is in the cards, it's not in this volume.

Finally, that brings us to the plot, which is the only thing weaker than the world-building and the characters. It is largely a paint-by-numbers story, predictable in every way, with a conclusion so foregone it should just be dropped into the cover blurb. Aside from the opening battle and the scenes involving the mysterious desert caravan of nations, there is nothing here of interest or excitement. There were moments of potential, where the story could have opened up, but it lacks the characters necessary to do so.

I had high hopes for Seventh Decimate, especially after The King's Justice proved to be such a fantastic read last year, but was bitterly disappointed. Unless the digital ARC was a rough draft that was accidentally released, I don't see myself continuing with this.

It's so hard for me, when there is a book that I know I could love, but for some reason I just don't. Seventh Decimate has everything in it that should keep pulling you in. There is plenty of action, a well developed world, conflict, and a seemingly impossible quest. 

I think the problem for me was that while the characters are well developed, I couldn't form a connection to the main character, Prince Bifalt, or really to majority of the novel's cast. The entire book is told from Bifalt's viewpoint, so this made it increasingly hard for me to care about the fate of this quest.

As the first born son of a King, even one whose main duty is as a soldier, he should be at the very least more shrewd in his scrutiny of the world around him. This is apparent in the last 1/3 of the novel where he is opened to new experiences, however his attitude remains that of a sulky, hate-filled child uninterested in gaining knowledge, insight, or any additional tactics that could help his country. Indeed other than his devotion to his men and his people, which is his one redeeming quality, I can't remember a protagonist I could identify with less. 

The storyline itself had problems with pacing. After I finished I was sorely disappointed that so much of the novel had dedicated itself to the journey, which at times taught us things, however it could have been condensed and instead the ending expanded upon. Though with how Bifalt acted in this section of the story, I don't know if I could have stomached it.

Indeed the 'climax' of the novel gives barely any resolution and no falling action. I understand wanting to end upon a cliff-hanger if this is to be the start of a series, but there wasn't enough falling action for me to feel as if I know if there is another story coming or if I just received a very unsatisfactory ending. 

On a good note, the setting was phenomenal. I could feel what the characters were going through, I could perfectly picture the journey, the terrain, and the countries. The details were incredibly rich. Perhaps one of my favorite parts of the novel was how explicitly the rules of magic are in the world. This to me makes it even more believable, and I want to understand more about this world. 

And this is the moment where I'm torn. If there would be another book, I'm incredibly tempted to read it. I desperately enjoyed the world, and I think that I could love some of the characters that we were introduced to at the end. However, I don't know if I can stomach the main character and what is bound to be more bull headedness, and once again not caring what happens to him, just to see this world. I'm not sure yet if it's worth committing myself to searching out the next installment. 

Thank you to Stephen R. Donaldson, NetGalley, and the Berkley Publishing Group for sending me this book in exchange for an honest review.

I've been a big Donaldson fan since his first novel and I wasn't disappointed by his latest. I was thrilled when I received access to an ARC of this novel and didn't have to wait until November for it to be released. Two countries are in a terrible war, each with a particular advantage the other side does not have. Prince Bifalt leads a band of men on a quest to a far away library with the hope that they will be able to acquire a book of sorcery to help them tip the balance. What he discovers is, of course, not what he expected.

The Seventh Decimate, like most of Donaldson's novels, has an underlying allegory about the human soul. In this case, Bifalt discovers that the world is much much larger than he expected, with people from lands very different than his, and that the war he is fighting is not stacked in the way that he had thought. He digs his heels in, unwilling to believe or make decisions that go against his narrow view. The parallels to today's world are clear. I am looking forward (oh, the long wait!) to the next books, to see if Bifalt is able to redeem himself and his people.