Boxing day draws to a close, and my sister and her husband have left. Downstairs is quiet... I'd imagine they're watching TV.
Had a brief, private catchup with my sister before she left - told her about all the office politics and that one of the Commercial Managers has a nasty brain tumor (that's a scary number of cancer-related illnesses we're aware of this year) and then, on a lighter note, discussed the Thomas Covenant books that I'm reading.
Turns out she (tried to) read them several years ago, but didn't get very far - most of what she remembered was from the first book, though she was certain she'd read the second, if not the third. She did remember the Illearth Stone, but nothing of the other significant events or characters of the second book. While she admitted that she had a hard time with it (not least because of the unsympathetic 'hero'), she pretty much dismissed it as 'derivative of Lord of the Rings', and summed up the story by saying "It's got horse-y people like the Rohan, a giant who sings, and a glowing green stone".
Yeah. Just like Lord of the Rings, then.
I may yet convince her to try again... I'm perfectly happy to read about heroes who aren't heroic, but my sister prefers her fantasy to involve good people (even if they are flawed) winning out against evil. At a stretch, one could say that Thomas Covenant is good - refusing to wield his power because he doesn't understand (or, for that matter, believe) it... but it would be a stretch.
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