Stephen R. Donaldson is probably the second-most renowned writer of fantasy of all time. Only J.R.R. Tolkien eclipses him when it comes to critical acclaim and recognition.

Yes, Robert Jordan and others have sold more books, but as far as I know there are no universities teaching courses on their work, and surely nothing to match Kent State's Donaldson Collection at that school's Department of Special Collections and Archives.

Donaldson has inspired scholarly works analyzing the psychology of his main characters and the mythos they inhabit, such as Professor W.A. Senior's Chronicles Of Thomas Covenant: Variations On The Fantasy Tradition, published in 1995.

Donaldson's imagination and storytelling abilities are amazing, whether writing fantasy (Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, Second Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, Mordant's Need), science fiction (The Gap Series), or short story collections (Daughter of Regals, Reave the Just).

He rivals Tolkien in world creation (including linguistics and language building) and societal explanation and exposition.

His mechanics of writing is second to none, including Tolkien. Donaldson is most likely the most accomplished fantasy writer of all time in regard to novel construction and grammatical structure.

He specializes in getting into the heads of his characters, explaining not only what they do but why they do it. His forte is flawed (even unlikeable) heroes.

His masterwork, The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever, is a three-volume tale concerning a man from our world who journeys to a fantasy world in peril called the Land. Covenant has leprosy and has been greatly affected - mind and body - by his illness. He also carries the White Gold (his wedding ring from our world), which in the Land is the most powerful magic item that exists. The books detail his struggle to first accept and then to save the Land from its nemesis, Lord Foul the Despiser.

Book One - Lord Foul's Bane.
Book Two - The Illearth War.
Book Three - The Power That Preserves.

In The Second Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, ten years have passed in our world since the events at the end of The Power That Preserves. In the Land, thousands of years have gone by. Lord Foul is back, and this time he has a new plan. Instead of destroying the Land, he's going to have Thomas Covenant do it for him! Can Covenant and Dr. Linden Avery, a physician who accompanies him on the journey, stop Foul or will they ultimately serve him?

Book One - The Wounded Land.
Book Two - The One Tree.
Book Three - White Gold Wielder.

Now comes word of The Third Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, which has been kept under careful wraps by the publisher and author. Another decade has gone by in our world, another few milennia in the Land. Lord Foul has one last desperate plan - he will use Covenant's son to further his own dark aims. Once again Linden Avery must journey to the Land to try to save it - but this time Thomas Covenant may not be on her side.

The announced titles of the new (four book!) series are:

Book One - The Runes of the Earth.
Book Two - Fatal Revenant.
Book Three - Shall Pass Utterly.
Book Four - The Last Dark.

The first book will debut in late 2004, and is sure to be the fantasy event of the year.

For more info, check out this page (part of a great Donaldson website):

I enthusiastically recommend any lovers of fantasy or just plain good stories to check out the earlier works and pick up The Runes of the Earth when it appears. You won't be disappointed.

I predict that fifty years from now people will be talking about Donaldson the way we talk about Tolkien today.