History Literature / TheChroniclesOfThomasCovenant

* KillItWithFire: Comes in many different flavors and alignments.
** One unique example is the Giants, who use fire to "kill" guilt, grief and anguish. Giants are immune to damage from fire, but still feel pain equivalent to burning when exposed; they use this pain to "burn" away extremes of harmful emotion, and are psychologically dependent on this ritual, called ''caamora'', to the point where they will suffer mentally if they are unable to purge their pain in this fashion. Even the spirits of the Giants of Seareach were unable to fully rest in peace for ''centuries'' until Covenant used his ring to provide a ''caamora'' of mystic flame to ease the horror of their slaughter.
** {{Foreshadowing}}: [[spoiler: "When he hit me with my own fire, he did me one thing I couldn't do for myself. He burned the venom away. After that, I was free."]]

* AerithAndBob: Mostly strange-sounding names, with a few ordinary ones mixed in. The ancient and revered High Lord Damelon Giantfriend is succeeded by High Lord Loric Vilesilencer, and he in turn by High Lord... Kevin.
** Possibly a hint that [[spoiler:others from this world have also been drawn into the Land]].

* BeneathTheEarth: Most evil stuff comes from here; The Illearth Stone, the cavewights and ur-viles, the Lurker of the Sarangrave, but that changes as the series goes on. Eventually good things come from here too.

* GrumpyBear: In the first trilogy, Thomas Covenant is determined to be miserable no matter how wonderful a place he finds himself in, acting as though he expects things to go to hell any minute now. He's right in that the SugarApocalypse really is just around the corner, but, unlike the people around him, Covenant is unable to enjoy the good times while they last.

* AwesomeMcCoolname: The High Lords, given title surnames based on their greatest deeds, combined with AerithAndBob tendencies. By the way, the "Kevin" mentioned above is more formally known as Kevin ''Landwaster''.

* CorruptHick: Sheriff Lytton in the "real" world.

At first, Covenant is convinced that it is AllJustADream. This does not really change, but he eventually decides that it is a dream he cares about. In the first three books, the author makes certain that the reader cannot decide whether or not it really IS a dream. The corruption of The Land could be a subconscious metaphor for Covenant's corruption by leprosy. It also seems suspicious that The Land is rather simplistically detailed for such a dark series -- perhaps because it is AllJustADream and the dreamer is not a fantasy writer. Oh, and it starts when Covenant is hit by a car and falls unconscious. On the other hand, it is far more vivid, lengthy, and elaborate than any dream should/could be.

The [[TrilogyCreep second trilogy]] more or less confirms that no, it is not AllJustADream, by adding another main character who joins Covenant. What the Land ''actually'' is, however, is left up to the reader.

Following the clear and unambiguous information on the AllJustADream question, the Chronicles have two own wikis, [[http://unbeliever.wikia.com/ one serious]], [[http://gapintomirrorland.wikia.com/ one not so much and a bit detached from reality]].

* WitchSpecies: The Insequent are all magic-users of great power, though they're not as good as the Elohim. Probably because the Insequent have to learn their powers while the Elohim are power incarnate.

* TheFairFolk: The Elohim, in addition to being mind-numbingly incomprehensible and powerful, believe that everything happening in The Land is a reflection of their own inner problems, and adjust their arrogance accordingly.

** Lord Foul. Parodied in the first book, where Covenant asks Lord Foul what his name is: Lord Foul the Despiser, The Grey Slayer, Fangthane the Render, Satansheart Soulcrusher, Corruption, and A-Jeroth of the Seven Hells. After that list of names he then proceeds to hit Covenant with [[NotSoDifferent 'We are not so different, you and I...']]

* NotSoDifferent: Thomas [[spoiler:defeats]] Lord Foul in ''White Gold Wielder'' when he realizes that Foul is the embodiment of his own self-disgust, in a sadomasochistic ying-yang relationship: Thomas is self-hate while Foul is hate.

* YearOutsideHourInside: Reversed. One day in the real world roughly translates into a year in the Land.

* YearOutsideHourInside: Reversed. 15 minutes in the Real World is akin to 20 years in The Land. When Thomas is gone for a ''week'', thousands of years have passed in The Land.

* YearOutsideHourInside: Reversed. 15 minutes in the Real World is akin to 20 years in The Land. When Thomas is gone for a ''week'', thousands of years have passed in The Land.

** Possibly a hint that others from this world have also been drawn into the Land.

The series tends to have much more character-driven writing than other HighFantasy stories, and delves pretty deep into the psychology of its characters. Now has a [[Characters/TheChroniclesOfThomasCovenant Character Sheet]] in need of WikiMagic.

* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: Linden gives one to each of Thomas' former ghost friends from the first trilogy. All of them vanish in shame, save Lord Mhoram, who smiles and says she was Well Chosen before vanishing.