“Be cautious of love. There is a glamour upon it which
binds the heart to destruction.”

This is a warning given to Linden Avery, newly returned to The
Land. Once known as The Chosen, Linden strives to save The Land
from peril at the hands of Lord Foul. More importantly, she seeks
to rescue her son from his clutches. FATAL REVENANT picks up at the
precise moment where its predecessor, THE RUNES OF THE EARTH, left
off.

Revelstone is under siege. Linden and her friends feel the weight
of hopelessness fold over them until that one spark emerges from
the gloom, offering aid and hope. Thomas Covenant, long-dead hero
and ur-Lord, returns. Not alone does he come to Revelstone. In his
company is Jeremiah, Linden's adopted son, who is no longer the
shell of a boy he was in our Earth time. Jeremiah now is attentive,
speaks and is devoted to Covenant.

For all of her joy, however, Linden cannot help but sense that
something is amiss. Covenant, her old lover, seems remarkably the
same and yet so different. He tells Linden that she can touch
neither he nor Jeremiah, and she also is not permitted to use the
Staff of Law without undoing all he has struggled to achieve.
Covenant explains that he has folded time, making it possible for
them to exist in two places at once. Her touch or her use of power
will undo his magic. And he also demands his white gold ring.

Elusive in his answers to a growing list of her concerns, Covenant
--- the longtime savior of The Land --- declares that he can end
the onslaught of the forces of Kastenessen and his apparent master,
Lord Foul. Linden does not share his surety, yet she also has no
choice but to follow Covenant on his quest, for she is torn by her
uneasiness about him and her heart's desire for him to be alive
once more. Only as they undertake their mission can she hope to
uncover the truth about Covenant's supposed rise from death, what
his true purpose is concerning Jeremiah and how she can free her
son and return home.

Forever in the back of her mind is the fateful warning to be
cautious, but sometimes the heart overpowers thought. For Linden,
and The Land, it can have horrific consequences.

FATAL REVENANT is a resounding success on multiple levels. It is a
continuation of an already intriguing story, one that does not
suffer from "middle book syndrome," in which nothing is either
answered or achieved. In fact, many answers to the questions from
THE RUNES OF THE EARTH are provided. Yet for every gap that is
filled and for every solution uncovered, a new hurdle rises
up.

Linden Avery continues to be a strong focus, and this volume shows
her incredible struggle to locate and uphold her own personal
strength. Faced with the heartbreaking inability to touch Covenant,
for whom she still longs, or her son Jeremiah, she is equal parts
devastated and concerned. That concern builds her resolve as she
refuses to yield to the possibility that all is what it seems.
Likewise, her trusted companion, Stave, is an excellent character
to follow and is quite simply the one soul that experiences the
most growth over the course of the series thus far.

As one would expect from Stephen R. Donaldson, his descriptive
passages are mesmerizing and as vivid as the most spectacular of
dreams. You can easily see The Land in all its glory --- every
mountain peak, every lake, every plain is richly detailed and laid
before you without ever becoming burdensome in the telling.
Although he presents this tale in more flowered and patient
language than most modern epics, it seems merely to add to the
depth of his vast world rather than remove you from it.

Donaldson ends FATAL REVENANT with another groan-inducing
cliffhanger, one that will not resume for another couple of years.
Now, halfway through The Last Chronicles, he has elevated
the stature of epic fantasy to new heights and reclaimed a throne
that he never truly gave up so much as took a rest from.