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Worth the Wait
More than two decades after he completed the Second Chronicles, Stephen R. Donaldson has begun a third series about the leprous Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever. In this Amazon.com exclusive essay, Donaldson explains why The Runes of the Earth has been so long in the making.

From Publishers Weekly
Six fantasy novels featuring Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever appeared between 1977 and 1983, but Donaldson shows that his epic series still has the power to surprise in this richly imagined start of a final quartet. Covenant died at the end of White Gold Wielder (1983), and at this novel's outset so does his lover, Linden Avery, in a violent confrontation with Joan and Roger Covenant as they kidnap her son, Jeremiah. Linden awakens once again in the Land, where she finds Lord Foul scheming to escape the Arch of Time with the help of Joan and Roger while using Jeremiah as a pawn. The 10 years since Linden's last visit have been centuries by Land time, and in that interval Anele, with whom she teams, has lost the Staff of Law, plunging the world into chaos. Linden's only hope for saving the Land and reclaiming Jeremiah is to gather a crew from the Land's numerous races and surf a caesure, or time rift, to retrieve the Staff. Nevertheless, she can't shake her fear that all this has been plotted by Foul as part of his malignant design. Donaldson's saga has transformed tremendously since initial volumes offered startlingly original antiheroic fantasy resonating with echoes of both Tolkien and Philip K. Dick, but the engaging humanity of his characters still compels attention. A new generation of readers may find this episode's midstream plunge into the saga bracing, while fans of Covenant's past chronicles will welcome a return to the Land. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
Donaldson returns, with the intent of saying farewell to his most successful creation, Thomas Covenant, in four volumes, of which this large, generally impressive novel is the first. It is 10 years since Thomas Covenant's death, and Linden Avery runs the small mental hospital in which Covenant's widow, Joan, is confined. Roger Covenant, newly turned 21, visits Avery and tries to get his mother released. Failing at that, he kidnaps Joan as well as Avery's adopted son, then commits several murders and flees to the Land, the other world of Covenant sagas. Roger is clearly doing Lord Foul's bidding, and Avery has no choice but to follow him. She discovers that in the Land three and a half millennia have passed. The Haruchai are now called the Masters and distrust Earthpower, and an old man, Anele, who is full of Earthpower, is key to finding the lost and essential Staff of Law. Thus is engendered a quest of formidable complexity, ranging across the Land to end at the seat of the Masters at Revelstone Keep, presently menaced by a host of Demondim, against which, however, the Staff of Law, wielded by battle-worn Avery, no longer offers the only hope. Filled with splendid inventions (occasionally described to the point of prolixity), this book promises extremely well for the future of the end of the Covenant chronicles. Expect readers to swarm. Roland Green
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Book Description
The triumphant return of the New York Times-bestselling, critically acclaimed fantasy series that has become a modern classic.

Since their publication more than two decades ago, the initial six books in The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant series have sold more than 6 million copies and have been published in ten countries around the world. Now, starting with The Runes of the Earth, Stephen R. Donaldson returns with a quartet of new Covenant novels that are certain to satisfy his millions of fans, and attract countless new followers.

In the original series, a man-living in our world and in our time-is mysteriously struck down with a disease long since believed to have been eradicated. He becomes a pariah in his small town and is abandoned by his wife who departs with their infant son. Alone and despairing, Thomas Covenant falls and, while unconscious, is transported to a fantastic world in which a battle for the soul of the land is being waged. Christened "The Unbeliever"-for he is convinced the world is only an illusion, a dream-he finds himself slowly forced to accept the role that seems to be his destiny: savior of the Land.

At the end of the sixth book, Covenant is killed, both in the real world and in the Land, as his companion, Linden Avery, looks on in horror. His death is both the ultimate sacrifice-and his redemption.

At the opening of The Runes of Earth, ten years have passed. Linden Avery comes home one day to find her child building images of the Land with blocks, and senses a terrible foreboding. She had thought that she would never again be summoned to the Land-nor ever again see her beloved Thomas Covenant. But in the Land, evil is unmaking the very laws of nature. . . .

About the Author
Stephen R. Donaldson is the author of six previous Covenant books: Lord Foul's Bane, The Illearth War, The Power That Preserves, The Wounded Land, The One Tree, and White Gold Wielder, as well as many other novels.

The jacket for Runes of the Earth will feature a stunning wraparound painting by award-winning artist Michael Whelan.

FROM OUR EDITORS

The Barnes & Noble Review
In 1977, Stephen R. Donaldson began his bestselling Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever saga with the publication of Lord Foul's Bane. After two wildly popular trilogies (which have sold more than 6 million copies worldwide), Donaldson -- much to the dismay of his fans -- ended the series in 1983. Now he returns to where it all started in The Runes of the Earth, the first book in a projected quartet that will make up the Last Chronicles of Thomas Covenant.

The story picks up approximately a decade after the tragic death of Thomas Covenant, an ill-fated writer afflicted with a strange form of leprosy, who had been transported to an alternate universe called the Land -- where an epic battle for the realm's soul was being waged. Linden Avery, Covenant's companion who briefly traveled with him to the Land, is now working at a psychiatric hospital taking care of mentally disturbed patients who include Covenant's ex-wife, Joan, who has a "lost mind." When Covenant's son Roger enters the hospital and demands the immediate release of his mother, a violent confrontation ensues. A few hours later, after he has forcefully removed his mother from the hospital and kidnapped Linden's adopted son, the police -- and Linden -- track Roger to his father's old residence. In the midst of a powerful thunderstorm, shots are fired, and￯﾿ﾽLinden finds herself back in the Land, where Lord Foul has not only allied with Roger but also has control of her son!

Breakneck-paced, richly described, and replete with intriguing plot twists, this long-awaited return to the Land will enthrall fans of Donaldson's previous Covenants novels. Paul Goat Allen

FROM THE PUBLISHER

"More than twenty years ago, Stephen R. Donaldson wrote the six volumes of The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant. Now, at long last, Donaldson returns, with the first in a four-book conclusion to the bestselling saga: The Last Chronicles of Thomas Covenant." "The original series introduced an unforgettable main character, a man who has fallen ill and in quick succession lost his family, his work, and everything else that made his life worth living. Abandoned by his wife and child, he lives alone, trying to maintain his fragile equilibrium. As he begins to experience spells of unconsciousness, however, he finds himself transported to the Land, a magical, dreamlike world." "Convinced that the Land is a figment of his own imagination, Covenant is christened The Unbeliever by its inhabitants. But after a long and dire struggle, Covenant sacrifices his own life to save a world he now regards as precious." The Runes of the Earth opens ten years after Covenant's companion, Linden Avery, witnessed his death. When she returns home from work one evening to find her adopted son constructing images of the Land with his toys, she realizes that the Land, and her beloved Thomas Covenant, are more than just a memory. Soon she will come to understand that evil is unmaking the very laws of nature - as well as the laws of life and death.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

Six fantasy novels featuring Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever appeared between 1977 and 1983, but Donaldson shows that his epic series still has the power to surprise in this richly imagined start of a final quartet. Covenant died at the end of White Gold Wielder (1983), and at this novel's outset so does his lover, Linden Avery, in a violent confrontation with Joan and Roger Covenant as they kidnap her son, Jeremiah. Linden awakens once again in the Land, where she finds Lord Foul scheming to escape the Arch of Time with the help of Joan and Roger while using Jeremiah as a pawn. The 10 years since Linden's last visit have been centuries by Land time, and in that interval Anele, with whom she teams, has lost the Staff of Law, plunging the world into chaos. Linden's only hope for saving the Land and reclaiming Jeremiah is to gather a crew from the Land's numerous races and surf a caesure, or time rift, to retrieve the Staff. Nevertheless, she can't shake her fear that all this has been plotted by Foul as part of his malignant design. Donaldson's saga has transformed tremendously since initial volumes offered startlingly original antiheroic fantasy resonating with echoes of both Tolkien and Philip K. Dick, but the engaging humanity of his characters still compels attention. A new generation of readers may find this episode's midstream plunge into the saga bracing, while fans of Covenant's past chronicles will welcome a return to the Land. Agent, Howard Morhaim. (Oct. 13) Forecast: Despite the long gap since the last in the series, this one should hit many bestseller lists. The Michael Whelan dust jacket is going to have a lot of fantasy fans drooling. Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

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