Book 2 of the 1st trilogy about a man magically summoned to an alternate world to help them fight their most ancient evil foe because he is thought to be the reincarnation of it's greatest hero. A thoroughly adult fantasy tale full of sorcery, peril & heroism.
Enjoyable epic fantasy series.
Classic fantasy fiction- Must read for any Sci/Fi Fan
This is the second volume in the emotionally and morally complex epic fantasy series, the Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever. Covenant is summoned back to the magical country of the Land two weeks after his previous visit--although 40 years have gone by there. The sinister Lord Foul now possesses the Illearth Stone, a powerful talisman of evil magic, which is distorting and injuring the life of the Land. Worse still (from Covenant's point of view), Covenant learns that his rape of the innocent young woman Lena produced a daughter, Elena, now the Land's High Lord. The Lords of the Land are preparing a desperate defense against Foul, but they believe Covenant is the key to their victory, because his white gold wedding ring possesses the wild magic capable of defeating Foul. Unfortunately, not only does Covenant have no idea how to wield the magic of white gold, he still refuses to believe that the Land is a real place instead of a hallucination he's having.
It isn't as horrible as Shannarra. And I tried really hard to read that too.
The story was only just engaging enough to make me want to finish it, but I can only take so much of SRD's style. He writes as if he is trying to impress you, instead of trying to communicate. This is called purple prose, and I learned about it in 11th grade. Which, incidentally, was the last time I remember not disliking the Covenant series.
I only read up to the 3rd book in this nonology because I am just compelled enough to not leave the story at a finished point. This is less from enjoyment of the books and more of a compulsion akin to not leaving a smudge on my glasses.
If you are into fantasy, go read Earthsea or anything by Brandon Sanderson (not the Wheel of Time stuff) or Peter V Brett.
Alex C. (FrequentReader) reviewed The Illearth War (Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever, Bk 2) on + 40 more book reviews 
