stephen donaldson is one of my earliest influences as a writer.
As a high school student reading his highly sophisticated fantasy, I was completely immersed and overwhelmed by the ambition and depth he displayed in his Thomas Convention Chronicles.
You are reading: Stephen r donaldson books in order
I’m always happy to share my enthusiasm for your work, and this guide provides the perfect opportunity.
first chronicles: the chronicles of thomas pact, the incredulous
In the 1970s when j.r.r. Tolkein’s work had just become established as “fantasy canon”, epic fantasy authors like Donaldson had to find a way to equal the scope of Middle-earth and set themselves apart from it.
The First Chronicles (which at the time were simply “The Chronicles” as no sequels had been planned) are Donaldson’s attempt to rise to the challenge of creating a world and story as sophisticated and meaningful as Lord of the Rings. rings. Under the direction of legendary publisher Lester Del Rey, it was a brilliant success.
Like Tolkein, Donaldson sets his story in a world with many races and groups, each with their own subdivisions and backstories. lords, stone dwellers, tree dwellers, giants, haruchai, waynhim, ur-viles all live on earth and interact with each other under the threat of the malicious deity, foul lord, who has been trapped in the world with them and who wreaks havoc on them through his manipulations.
Into this complex landscape, Donaldson throws a visitor from our world whose task is to save the earth from Mr. Foul.
what lifts the concept above the fantasy homage to the realm of original fiction, even literary, is that the savior is an anti-hero, a man whose life has been taken by leprosy and who has learned to deny himself same hope in order to survive. upon arriving on earth, where he is healed and hailed as savior, he immediately refuses to believe his situation is real and subsequently denies any responsibility for his actions or his potential. all of his attempts to act on his behalf, sometimes in the service of his disbelief and sometimes in spite of it, have dire consequences for the earth and the people who inhabit it.
There are plenty of tragic events here, presented in a way that isn’t dampened by the romance we normally find in fantasy. no matter how magical the setting, the cruelties we see are real-world cruelties, and the tragedies are real-world tragedies. the unforgiving reality of the book is compelling and harrowing and makes it unique among fantasy series.
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This trilogy is different from the seven books that follow it in a vital way. at no point is the reality of earth established for the hero or the reader. in the end, covenant and the readers must decide for themselves the validity of the covenant’s actions and the meaning of its final transformation.
second chronicle
The second chronicles were started shortly after the publication of the original trilogy at the request of its publisher, lester del ray.
covenant returns to earth with another person from our world, and each of them has a role to play in preventing Lord Foul’s new domination of earth. the second character, linden avery, wrestles with questions about his own agency, his ability to act, and his ongoing relationship with the pact, and the alternate reality acts as a means of his own transformation, as well as a development of his own. covenant self-understanding. .
There are several vital differences between the first series and the second. this series takes us beyond the ends of the earth, introducing us to characters from the greater world beyond. furthermore, the dual perspective we receive from our heroes minimizes the question of whether that world is real, shifting the book’s focus from a question of reality to a question of agency.
As harrowing as the events of the first series are, the second covers darker emotional territory.
The former operates in more primary colors, with the question of good and evil more easily determined between rival factions, if not individual characters. in the second series, many things that were expected to be good turn out to be much more nebulous. this reflects the main characters’ questioning of their own value in this world.
Are they heroes or do they bring disaster despite their best intentions? And as the stakes seem even higher than before, their need to prove themselves worthy of the love and protection they receive is all the more acute.
third chronicles
The first book of the Third Chronicles was published 23 years after the last book of the Second Chronicles. Donaldson felt the need to satisfy the questions raised by the first six books while also raising the stakes for himself as a writer. the result is a virtuoso tetralogy that also brings time and causality into play.
Linden Avery returns to earth with her autistic son. Mr. Foul’s machinations have run deep, perhaps even to the level of insanity, and the fate of everyone around the earth is now in grave jeopardy. characters of immense power move like chess pieces, altering the game with each change of position, and in her fight to save the earth, linden avery must negotiate between them to determine who is an ally and who is an adversary.
Certain races and groups that played only minor roles in the first six books have a much richer existence in this one, and their backstories are rounded out considerably. Donaldson again changes the virtue of different segments of his population, giving a fascinating arc to the nearly ten thousand year span of his world. the motives of the people in this book are kept particularly dark, so in a way it seems both a mystery and a fantasy.
need for mordant
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These two books were published after the second chronicles. they are an independent series that shares with the books of the covenant the premise of a person from our world brought to save another. Like Thomas Covenant, Terisa Morgan is a woman who is uncomfortable with the idea of her own power and unable to realize her apparent potential as the savior of the world she has entered.
Although the magic of mirrors is a key component of the plot, the book feels more like a historical novel than a fantasy. a great monarch has apparently gone mad and numerous princes and potentates are vying for control. meanwhile, the adepts who study and perform mirror magic have their own agenda as they seek to save their occupations and their lives.
Like a good mystery novel, the motives of the various themes are kept hidden, with only a few key characters allowed to show their true colors. Terisa’s gradual awakening to her own potential remains the heart of this book, and the political machinations and fantasy elements do not overshadow it. Still, there are enough spells, sword fights, and battles to satisfy the most ardent fantasy lover.
the war of the gap
In an introduction to this series, Donaldson revealed that the creation of these books was inspired by his admiration for Richard Wagner, composer of the interconnected epic operas known as the Ring Cycle. the characters in the books are inspired by roles from those operas.
The books span many years in the lives of the three main characters, Morn Hyland, Angus Thermopyle, and Nick Succoroso. as the characters’ fates change, so do their roles. donaldson never allows us to permanently assign the title of “hero”, “villain”, or “victim” to anyone in the story.
The story is vast and certainly operatic in scope. the writing is consistently of high quality. readers will find the breach war a very entertaining and fun series.
the war of the great god
Donaldson’s most recent collection will be completed in 2020. Donaldson brings his experience as a writer, creating a world and plot no less complex than his previous work, but told in a writing style that is more concise. Longtime fans will enjoy Donaldson’s return to sophisticated fantasy fiction.
story collections
donaldson has written only a handful of stories. he considers himself a novelist by temperament. however, the quality of his writing in these tales is no less powerful in them, and they are very satisfying.
the daughter of kings came after white gold wielder and collected many stories that donaldson had published before and during his rise as an early chronicler. The title story is a novel that is as engaging as any of his novels and demonstrates Donaldson’s ability to build complex worlds that are compelling and compelling. the rest range from the prophetic “mythological beast” to the classic fight between good and evil in “unworthy of the angel”, to a story excised from a longer version of his pact series, “golden fire”. /p>
The second collection, Reave the Just, collects later stories and novels from the group. the title character, who appears in two of the stories, is one of the strangest heroes to be found in fantasy literature. Meanwhile, stories like “The Woman Who Loved Pigs” confuse our expectations of hero and villain, and “The Death Blow” makes use of Donaldson’s considerable knowledge of martial arts.
the man who (as reed stephens)
donaldson wrote these detective novels under a pseudonym. while a writer of his caliber is unlikely to produce inferior fiction, lovers of his fantasy novels may not find them of the same caliber as his other works.
However, Donaldson’s ability to create vivid characters and unexpected twists and turns serve him well in these film noir books.
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