Stephen R. Donaldson

Stephen Reeder Donaldson was born on May 13, 1947 in Cleveland Ohio in the United States. He spent part of his youth in India, where he attended the Kodaikanal International School. He earned his Bachelor degree from The College of Wooster and then went to Kent State University and was a graduate student there during the Kent State shooting on May 4, 1970.

The best place to start is the Chronicles Of Thomas Covenant series, the earliest of Stephen R. Donaldson's multi-book series: it opens with Lord Foul's Bane (1977) and runs to 4 books across 1977–1981, ending with Gilden-Fire (1981). Stephen R. Donaldson's other series stand alone, so they can be read in any order.

Stephen R. Donaldson has 39 books catalogued in this guide, published between 1977 and 2022. 27 of them belong to 8 named series — the largest being the Gap series with 5 books — and 12 are standalone titles, collections or anthologies.

Read each series in publication order — the numbered entries in each series follow the year each book first appeared. Stephen R. Donaldson's series do not depend on one another, so they can be started in any order; by start date they are Chronicles Of Thomas Covenant (1977–1981, 4 books), The Man Who (1980–2001, 4 books) and The Second Chronicles: Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever (1980–1983, 3 books), plus 5 more.

This guide splits Stephen R. Donaldson's 39 books into 8 named series and 12 titles that stand alone or appear only in collections: Gap (5 books, 1990–1996); Chronicles Of Thomas Covenant (4 books, 1977–1981); Last Chronicles Of Thomas Covenant (4 books, 2004–2013); The Great God's War (4 books, 2017–2022); The Man Who (4 books, 1980–2001), plus 3 further series.