The names aren’t very euphonious, though; “Drool” in particular calls undue attention to itself. But the one that really bugs me is Kevin. KEVIN.
IANAD, either, but I think that treatments of leprosy have really improved from when Donaldson wrote the books. At the time, it wasnt’ something you’d expect to recover from.
And Covenant’s own experience played into how fanatic he was about VSE, etc. That’s one of the points of his telling the parable about the leper woman with the beautiful smile while passing through Revelwood – it shows what Covenant expects would happen to him if he put the Land first before his own leprosy.
(the other point of the parable being, of course, Covenant pointing out that the Land’s beautiful smile was only a front for its own problems)
Weren’t the cavewights basically enslaved by the ur-viles, though? Naming your slave “Drool” is no worse than “Prissy”. Drool wasn’t really in charge until he dug up the Illearth Stone (and even then, was still Foul’s patsy).
I’m only 50 or so pages into the book, maybe not even that much. I haven’t reached this rape scene*. but Kevin bugs the hell out of me, too.
And there’s a lot of pompous speeches…and I felt the same way about Lord Foul. Let’s make it clear he’s a bad guy, eh? And I haven’t read it so maybe he’ll turn out to be a good guy, but doesn’t seem like it.
*For once, remarkably, I don’t care about spoilers for some reason. Normally I won’t touch a thread with spoilers in it if I want to read it, but this one doesn’t bother me.
Say to the Council of Lords, and to High Lord Joe son of Hank that the uttermost limit of their span of days upon the Land…
And as a token that what I say is the one word of truth, tell them this: Mark Smith, Cavewight of Mount Thunder, has found the Staff of Law, which was lost ten times a hundred years ago by Kevin at the Ritual of Desecration.
Thus spake Lord Steve the Disliker!
Eh, works for me… 
If nothing else, Donaldson has caused me to learn a little about Hansens Disease (link ) and so played a small part in the fight against ignorance.
What about Kevin bugs everyone? Not grand enough?
For me, yes! Why am I reading a fantasy novel about Kevin? I could read the Horse Whisperer or some crap like that…
Exactly. It takes you out of the story for no good reason. Whether you like names like Drool Rockworm & Saltheart Foamfollower, they at least contribute to the sense that the story is taking place in another, very different world than our own. By using a name like “Kevin,” Donaldson undercuts tht illusion, and not in a good way. It would work if he were writing a straight-up, intentionally humorous parody, but as it is it just knocks the reader out of the tale.
Try pronouncing it “keh-VEEN”… that way you won’t have the mental picture of Macaulay Culkin slapping aftershave on his face.
What?
But having the main characters name Thomas doesn’t bother you?
The ficklness of the sdmb is mysterious and deep 
No, of course not. Who goes by Thomas in real life? I mean, I don’t like it that much, but I can deal with it better. If it was “Tom” or “Tommy” it would be way more annoying.
I have to admit, the names in LOTR were beautiful. Galadriel, Legolas, Aragorn, Lothlorien…those are beautiful names. I had a crush on a boy named Kevin when I was like 8. Not mystical.
Thomas comes from the “real” world, though, or rather the analogue to our world in his universe. Of COURSE he should have an ordinary name. But naming the great legendary figure of the Land “Kevin” is like naming the viewpoint character “Iofur Byrnison.”
There has one thing that has always puzzled me about this series – the use of Hindu/Buddhist terms for the names of the ravers – moksha, turiya, and samadhi. In Hinduism and Buddhism, these are all very positive things – but Donaldson uses them as alternative names for Satansfist, Fleshharrower, and Kinslaughterer. Is this supposed to signify anything? Donaldson’s hatred of Hindu concepts? Or did he just open up a dictionary and take terms that were unfamiliar to him to come up with names of things in his stories?
Did he pull your hair alot? Call you names? Could we perhaps be transferring?
I agree the names in LoTR were more lyrical and mystical, no argument there. But remember that Kevin was both on of the biggest sucesses and failures in the Land. I always thought giving him such a bland, boring name like Kevin was a nod toward his history. Who would have thought someone named Kevin would end up desacrating the Land for centruies?
Remember that I haven’t read the book yet, just come across his name - and hated it from the get-go. Yanked me right out of the story to go “Kevin???” Plus what Skald said - it was OK for Thomas to have a real name, although in that case Covenant gets weird.
Kevin is like eating Gorgonzola when it’s clearly Brie time, baby.
As for the IRL Kevin, no, he was a sweetheart.
Really, the “Kevin” name read like a shout-out, to me. Like Donaldson had named the guy after someone. Probably someone he had a particularly low opinion of, since Kevin Landwaster was an idiot in a Land full of idiots, really.
It’s odd, though, that Donaldson left the name in, with it being such an off-note when he’s deliberately trying to suck in readers expecting “Aragorn” or “Galadriel” and who’re jarred by real-world references in their fantasy-world novel.
Everywhere else, Donaldson’s real-world references were there to jar people out of the overblown fantasy backdrop, they weren’t part of the overblown fantasy backdrop.
I don’t think there’s any textual support for this (it’s been years since I’ve read them, although this thread makes me want to re-read them now) but I always thought that perhaps the name “Kevin” was possibly because he came from the Real World, like Thomas.
Oh, and like I said it’s been years but there are so many images from the books that have stayed with me forever – his lifting of the dagger out of the lake, the breaking of the rule of death, the horrifying reavers murdering the giants one by one… I loved the books both times I read them (last time right out of college).
Not that I think any of the criticism is completely off-base. But to dismiss the books out of hand as being awful is being somewhat unfair. I love LOTR but, c’mon, Tolkien’s writing is beyond purple in places.
I enjoyed the set and have re-read them several times. Donaldson’s main failing in my mind is that everything takes way too long. The reason I don’t read them back to back anymore is I can’t handle 2000+ pages before Covenent becomes a half way decent person.
That was my first thought when I read the name, but I don’t see any textual support either. And it bothers me that Covenant never remarks on the oddity of a common name from his world being a name used in the Land.
I don’t know if you meant me with that, muzzynyc, but I’ve been worrying that I came off as unfairly and unduly critical of the books in my OP. I didn’t mean too. I rather like the Covenant books, though I’m with the crowd that calls the first trilogy–especially Lord Foul’s Bane --are his worst work. I came to Donaldson through his short story collection Daughter of Regals & Other Tales, the title story of which is simply beautiful. I’m glad I read that first; it gave me the patience to wade through the drek in some of his earlier work.
Them’s fighting words. Were I god-king I’d have dispatched the GEFBFEVSWHMs to teach you how best to speak of the professor.
Course if I were God-King I’d be too busy to post on the SMDB, so ti’s all good.
Kevin manifestly fails the Skywalker Test for naming fantasy and SF heroes.