I always pictured Donaldson sitting at the typewriter with a Roget's in his hand, yelling "I've got a thesaurus and I'm not afraid to use it!" I kept reading because I just couldn't believe that he could take such good concepts and ideas and screw them up so badly. The Blood Guard and the Giants were incredibly inspired, but the language! Ack! And I understand the concept of the antihero, but Covenant was such a wishywashy mess. It's been twenty years and I still want the days I wasted on those books back.