The One Tree

The One Tree - Stephen R. Donaldson [These notes were made in 1984:]. Bk II of the Second Chronicles. A group of assorted creatures -- giants, haruchai, our two humans, the strange black creature called Vain - set out on a giant-ship to find the One Tree and re-make the Staff of Law. They find the One Tree, but fail to remake the Staff, and what happens in-between is a great deal of peril from unfriendly people, and Covenant falling in love with Linden Avery, as she begins to find herself and her own particular powers. I thought the Sandgorgons were rather good, and the Haruchai, with their obsessive will to service, are the most sympathetic characters, the now-familiar new generation of giants (the First, Honninscrave(?), Pitchwife, Seadreamer), running a close second. But the tone is still very dark and dismal, with everything that happens only making the situation worse. A real downer.