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=                            The_One_Tree                            =
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                            Introduction
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'The One Tree' is a fantasy novel by American  writer Stephen R.
Donaldson, the second book of the second trilogy of 'The Chronicles of
Thomas Covenant' series. It is followed by 'White Gold Wielder'.  This
book differs from the others in the First and Second Chronicles, in
that the story takes place outside of the Land, although still in the
same world.


                            Plot summary
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Following the vision he received from the Clave at Revelstone, Thomas
Covenant seeks to fix the corruption of the Land after the Staff of
Law's destruction. He is accompanied on his quest by Linden Avery, a
physician from his own "real" world, and four 'Haruchai' bodyguards.
They use a ship crewed by the Giants, a seafaring people. The journey
is made more difficult by Covenant's bouts of madness from the
venomous bite of a Sunbane-spawned monster. Linden, who in this world
is endowed with an ability to sense health of animals and plants, is
frustrated by her inability to help him.

From the Land, the Giant-ship sails to the home of the 'Elohim' that
Linden perceives are an embodiment of Earthpower, the source of magic.
Despite their seeming omnipotence, the 'Elohim' are bound by a strange
code of behavior and provide no direct help, other than helping
Covenant unlock the location of the One Tree, from which the Staff of
Law was fashioned. In the course of rendering this service, the
'Elohim' deliberately cause Covenant to go into a catatonic state;
"don't touch me" is all he can say.

The travelers find that one of the 'Elohim', named Findail, has joined
them aboard the Giants' ship for his own purposes. The questors are
not pleased 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 city of the 'Bhrathair', a militaristic - but also
wealthy and civilized - people living at the edge of a great desert.
The 'Bhrathair' are ruled by the 'gaddhi', Rant Absolain, who rather
coldly receives the quest's shore party, and it is discovered that the
true ruler is the 'gaddhi's' chief adviser, a wizard named Kasreyn of
the Gyre. Kasreyn initially appears to be kindly disposed to the quest
but is revealed to have ulterior motives.

The ship is repaired, but the ill will between the travelers and the
'gaddhi' breaks out into overt violence. One of the 'Haruchai' guards
is forced to fight a Sandgorgon, a monster of immense power, and is
killed. The feud was the result of a manipulative ploy by Kasreyn. The
wizard abducts Covenant, who is still in a catatonic state, and
attempts to use his powers to compel Covenant to give up his ring. The
remainder of the shore party is imprisoned in the dungeon. Linden
reluctantly uses her power to invade Covenant's consciousness, breaks
his catatonia, and thwarts Kasreyn's efforts to seize the ring by
making Covenant summon the Sandgorgon that had previously killed the
'Haruchai'. Covenant and the 'Haruchai' fight their way to Kasreyn's
laboratory but discover that Kasreyn has a parasitic being living on
his back that provides him with extended longevity and immunity to
physical attack. Findail kills both the parasite and Kasreyn, setting
off a palace coup that leaves the port in a state of chaos.

After narrowly escaping, the ship arrives at the One Tree's island
location. Brinn, Covenant's 'Haruchai' bodyguard, sacrifices himself
in a duel with the Tree's Guardian 'ak-Haru Kenaustin Ardenol'. He is
regenerated as the new Guardian and leads the party to the Tree
itself. Cable Seadreamer, the mute giant, stops Covenant from taking a
piece of the Tree. When Seadreamer makes the attempt himself, he is
killed: he has disturbed the Worm of the World's End, which sleeps
beneath the Tree and whose "aura" serves as a defense mechanism. This
aura triggers Covenant's power to an astronomical degree. As Covenant
attempts to overwhelm the Worm with his power, Findail warns Linden
that the Arch of Time cannot contain the struggle between the two
powers and that the world will be destroyed if it continues.

Linden, much against her will, mentally reaches out to Covenant.
Sharing his thoughts, she sees him open a passage back to the "real"
world and attempt to return her to it. She senses, however, that in
the "real" world Covenant's body is very weak and will die if he does
not himself return. Unwilling to do this, Covenant draws Linden back
through the rift between the worlds. With her help, he is able to
contain his power, but at the price of the Isle of the One Tree
sinking beneath the ocean as the earth heaves with the movements of
the Worm of the World's End settling back from disturbance into
slumber. Thus, the quest ends in failure.


                             Reception
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John T. Sapienza, Jr. reviewed 'The One Tree' for 'Different Worlds'
magazine and stated that "'The One Tree' is the quest for the material
for the staff, but it is also a quest for self-control and
self-realization, in both Covenant and Avery. Their depth of
characterization and development distinguishes Donaldson's writing
from fantasy writers of lesser skill as much as his mythmaking. But,
for our purposes as gamers, the features of greater interest are the
Land and other territories, and their races and cultures, and 'The One
Tree' shows us new elements of each."


                              Reviews
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*Review by Faren Miller (1982) in 'Locus', #254 March 1982
*Review by Patricia Hernlund (1982) in 'Science Fiction & Fantasy
Book Review', #4, May 1982
*Review by Joseph Nicholas (1982) in 'Vector' 109
*Review by Roger C. Schlobin (1982) in 'Fantasy Newsletter', #51
September 1982
*Review by Ian Watson (1982) in 'Foundation', #26 October 1982
*Review by Frank Catalano (1983) in 'Amazing Science Fiction', January
1983
*Review by Mo Holkar and Ivan Towlson and Neal Tringham [as by M. H.
Zool] (1989) in 'Bloomsbury Good Reading Guide to Science Fiction and
Fantasy'
*Review [Dutch] by Jaap Boekestein (2004) in 'Holland-SF 2004', #5


                           External links
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*[http://theland.antgear.com/glossary.html#second Glossary of terms
from the Second Chronicles of Thomas Covenant]


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