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Stephen Reeder Donaldson (born May 13, 1947 in Cleveland, Ohio) is an American fantasy, science fiction and mystery novelist. He earned his bachelor's degree from The College of Wooster and master's degree from Kent State University. He currently resides in New Mexico.
In the United Kingdom he is usually called "Stephen Donaldson" (without the "R").
Donaldson is part of the generation of fantasy authors which came to prominence in the 1970s and early 1980s. Like that of 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, C. S. Lewis, 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.
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 tyrannical Lord Foul, who intends to break the physical universe in order to escape his bondage and wreak revenge upon his arch-enemy, "The Creator".
The Chronicles were originally published as two trilogies of novels between 1977 and 1983. According to his current publisher, Putnams, those two series sold more than 10 million copies. A third series, "The Last Chronicles of Thomas Covenant" began publication in 2004 with the novel "The Runes of The Earth." With the second book of that series, "Fatal Revenant," Donaldson again attained bestseller status when the book reached number 12 on the New York Times Bestseller List in October of 2007.
The First Chronicles:
1. Lord Foul's Bane (1977)
2. The Illearth War (1978)
3. The Power that Preserves (1979)
The Second Chronicles:
1. The Wounded Land (1980)
2. The One Tree (1982)
3. White Gold Wielder (1983)
The Last Chronicles:
1. The Runes of the Earth (2004)
2. Fatal Revenant (2007)
3. Against All Things Ending (planned for 2010)
4. The Last Dark (planned for 2013)
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