Stephen R. Donaldson

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Stephen Reeder Donaldson (born May 13, 1947) is an American fantasy, science fiction and mystery novelist. His works range from the conventional "space opera" style of science fiction to "sword and sorcery" fantasy.

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

1 Major Influences
2 The Covenant Books
3 Other works
4 External links

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Major Influences

Though often compared to J. R. R. Tolkien, Donaldson's stories are also strongly influenced by William Shakespeare, Mervyn Peake and the operas of Richard Wagner. The Thomas Covenant and Mordant's Need series also make use of the "alternate world" paradigm in a manner reminiscent of the Narnia books by C.S. Lewis. A notable specific influence is Roger Zelazny's Amber series, which influenced Mordant's Need. Also, in the Gradual Interview section of his website, he mentions his deep study of Joseph Conrad, Henry James and William Faulkner to develop his narrative style.

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The Covenant Books

Main article: The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, the Unbeliever

Donaldson's most celebrated character is Thomas Covenant, a cynical leprosy-sufferer, shunned and despised by society, who is destined to become the heroic saviour of an alternate Earth (or, perhaps, only of his own sanity?). Covenant struggles against the evil Lord Foul - "The Despiser" - who intends to break the physical universe (the Arch of Time) to escape its bondage and wreak revenge upon his arch-enemy "The Creator".

The story of Covenant was told originally across two trilogies of novels published between 1977 and 1983. A third series, "The Last Chronicles of Thomas Covenant" began publication in 2004.

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The First Chronicles:

Lord Foul's Bane
The Illearth War
The Power that Preserves

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The Second Chronicles:

The Wounded Land
The One Tree
White Gold Wielder

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The Last Chronicles:

The Runes of the Earth
Fatal Revenant (coming soon)
Shall Pass Utterly (still in planning)
The Last Dark (still in planning)

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Other works

Mordant's Need

The Mirror of Her Dreams (1986)
A Man Rides Through (1987)

The Gap Cycle (science fiction)

The Gap into Conflict: The Real Story (1990)
The Gap into Vision: Forbidden Knowledge (1991)
The Gap into Power: A Dark and Hungry God Arises (1992)
The Gap into Madness: Chaos and Order (1994)
The Gap into Ruin: This Day All Gods Die (1996)

Short stories:

Gilden-Fire (1981) an incident which occurs during The Illearth War - actually written for that book but cut for narrative reasons as explained in the Author's Foreword'
Daughter of Regals or Daughter of Regals and Other Tales (1984)
Reave the Just and Other Tales (1998)
Epic Fantasy in the Modern World: A Few Observations (1986)

The Man Who detective novels:

The Man Who Killed His Brother (1980)
The Man Who Risked His Partner (1984)
The Man Who Tried to Get Away (1990)
The Man Who Fought Alone (2001)

The first three The Man Who books were originally published under the name Reed Stephens and have subsequently been rereleased under Donaldson's own name.

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