Stephen R. Donaldson is the author of a number of lengthy, complexly plotted sagas in the science-fiction/fantasy genre that have earned him both critical praise and a devoted readership. Yet he struggled for many years as a writer, unable even to find a publisher who would work with him, before his books landed on the bestseller lists. Donaldson is perhaps best known for his The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant: The Unbeliever, which appeared in 1977. It sold millions, and was likened to the one of the most famous trilogies in fantasy fiction, J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings.

Like all of Donaldson's subsequent novels, the "Thomas Covenant" story drew readers into a plot in which forces of good and evil battled to destroy one another; always, the author's anti-hero protagonists struggle with ethical dilemmas that echo eternal religious themes while cruelty and violence run amok. "The...