Stephen R Donaldson

Stephen R Donaldson (born May 13, 1947 in Cleveland, Ohio) is an American fantasy, science fiction and mystery novelist.

He lived in India (where his father was a medical missionary) until 1963. He graduated from the College of Wooster (Ohio) in 1968, served two years as a conscientious objector during the Vietnam War, doing hospital work in Akron, then attended Kent State University, where he received his M.A. in English in 1971.

After dropping out of his Ph.D. program and moving to New Jersey in order to write fiction, Donaldson made his publishing debut with the first "Covenant" trilogy in 1977. That enabled him to move to a healthier climate. He now lives in New Mexico.

The novels for which Stephen R Donaldson is best known have received a number of awards. However, the achievements of which he is most proud are the ones that seemed the most unlikely. In 1993 he received a Doctor of Literature degree from the College of Wooster, and in 1994 he gained a black belt in Shotokan karate from Sensei Mike Heister and Anshin Personal Defense.

Stephen R Donaldson is part of the generation of fantasy authors which came to prominence in the 1970's and early 1980's. Like many of his peers, his writing is heavily influenced by the works of J. R. R. Tolkien. However Donaldson's stories show a wide range of other influences including Mervyn Peake, Robert E. Howard, and even the operas of Richard Wagner. Donaldson is also a great fan of Roger Zelazny's Amber novels which were a direct inspiration for his own Mordant's Need series. Also, in the Gradual Interview section of his website, Donaldson mentions his extensive study of Joseph Conrad, Henry James and William Faulkner to further develop his narrative style.

Stephen R Donaldson's most celebrated series is The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, the Unbeliever, which centers on a cynical leper, shunned by society, who is destined to become the heroic savior of an alternate Earth. Covenant struggles against the tyranical Lord Foul who intends to break the physical universe, in order to escape its bondage and wreak revenge upon his arch-enemy "The Creator".

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

Selected Bibliography

Series

• Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever
  • Gilden Fire
    • Gilden Fire (1981)
  • The First Chronicle of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever
    • 1 Lord Foul's Bane (1977)
    • 2 The Illearth War (1977)
    • 3 The Power that Preserves (1977)
  • The Last Chronicles of Thomas Covenant
    • 1 The Runes of the Earth (2004)
  • The Second Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever
    • 1 The Wounded Land (1980)
    • 2 The One Tree (1982)
    • 3 White Gold Wielder (1983)

• Mordant's Need
  • 1 The Mirror of Her Dreams (1986)
  • 2 A Man Rides Through (1987)

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

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