The One Tree
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| Cover of The One Tree | |
| Author | Stephen R. Donaldson |
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| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Series | The Second Chronicles of Thomas Covenant |
| Genre(s) | Fantasy novel |
| Publisher | Del Rey |
| Released | 1982 |
| Media Type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
| Pages | 496 pp |
| ISBN | ISBN 0-345-34869-9 (USA paperback) |
| Preceded by | The Wounded Land |
| Followed by | White Gold Wielder |
The One Tree is the second book of the second trilogy of The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, the Unbeliever fantasy series written by Stephen R. Donaldson. It is followed by White Gold Wielder.
[edit] Plot summary
Most of this book takes place outside of the Land, but still in the same world, making this book different from the others in the first and second chronicles.
The Giants, a sea-faring people, take Covenant and his companions to the Elohim, a community of beings seemingly made from Earthpower itself who are known to possess supreme wisdom. Bound by a strange code of behavior, they provide no direct help, other than showing the Giants the location of the One Tree, from which the Staff of Law was fashioned. This knowledge was hidden in Covenant's mind by Caer-Caveral (Hile Troy), but Covenant lacked the means to reveal it. In the course of rendering this service, the Elohim cause Covenant to go into a catatonic state - "don't touch me" is all he can say.
Leaving the Elohim, the travellers find that one of the Elohim, named Findail, has joined them aboard the Giants' ship, for purposes which he declines to reveal. The group is not pleased at this uninvited companion but are powerless to make him leave. After suffering severe damage in a storm, in which Findail refuses to help, the ship arrives at the port of the Bhrathair, a warlike people living at the edge of a great desert.
The ship is repaired, but two of the Haruchai guards lose their lives at the hands of a Sandgorgon, a monster indigenous to the desert. Linden is able to return Covenant to normality to thwart an attempt to take his ring from him. The ship narrowly escapes from the port, and further travel eventually brings the group to the island where the One Tree is located. Brinn, Covenant's Haruchai bodyguard, sacrifices himself in a duel with the Tree's Guardian Ak Haru Kenaustin Ardenol (himself a figure from Haruchai mythology who represents their idea of the perfect warrior), and is then regenerated as the new Guardian and leads the party to the Tree itself.
However, when Covenant attempts to take a piece of The One Tree, he is stopped by Cable Seadreamer, the mute giant. When Seadreamer attempts himself, he is killed, activating the "aura" which serves the Tree as a defense mechanism. During the struggle, Findail warns Linden that Covenant's uncontrolled power threatens to destroy the world itself. Linden is able to stop Covenant, but at the price of the island of the One Tree sinking forever beneath the ocean. Thus, the quest ends in failure.
[edit] External links
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| Novels |
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| The First Chronicles: Lord Foul's Bane | The Illearth War | The Power that Preserves |
| The Second Chronicles: The Wounded Land | The One Tree | White Gold Wielder |
| The Last Chronicles: The Runes of the Earth | Fatal Revenant | Shall Pass Utterly | The Last Dark |
