The Power That Preserves (The First Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, Volume 3), by Stephen Donaldson

The first trilogy draws to a close with the main leper character finally coming good. Trouble is, it takes almost three quarters of the book to get to that point & up to then there are so many dire & tortuous setbacks that Lord Foul's main weapon of inspiring despair in his victims was inspired in me as well, which made for a heavy, & somewhat dull, read. After eventually getting to the final showdown I wasn't overly impressed with it either & felt in some places it was even slightly absurd.

In this genre I also look for some romantic heroism & inspirational courage but the main character in this trilogy purposefully embodies the opposite; it's often mentioned that he has a cynical unbelief & distrust of the world he has found himself in, which all worked to leave me feeling somewhat cynical too. Consequently I won't be reading the other two trilogies in the Thomas Convenant series (Second & Final).

I also wonder if nostalgia plays a part in how well regarded these books are (some even say they are better than Tolkien's) because, judging by other reviews, many people seem to have read these as teens in the 80s when they were first published.
3/5