Gollancz Acquires the First & Second Chronicles of Thomas Covenant!


The Last Dark (2)Gollancz is absolutely delighted to mark the publication of Stephen R. Donaldson’s The Last Dark – and the conclusion of one of the most influential fantasy series ever written – by making the complete Thomas Covenant Chronicles available for the first time in the UK.

Gollancz, the SF and Fantasy imprint of the Orion Publishing Group, announces the acquisition of electronic rights to the first and second Thomas Covenant trilogies, by bestseller and World Fantasy Award-winning author, Stephen R. Donaldson.

First published in 1977, The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever – comprising Lord Foul’s Bane, The Illearth War and The Power that Preserves – was one of the keystone works of modern SFF and is directly responsible for establishing epic fantasy as the commercially buoyant genre it is today. The Second Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever – comprising The Wounded Land, The One Tree and White Gold Wielder – followed from 1980 to 1983 and cemented Donaldson’s reputation as the major fantasy writer of the ‘70s and ‘80s.

Gollancz publishes The Last Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, which began with The Runes of the Earth in 2004, continued with Fatal Revenant (2007) and Against All Things Ending (2010) and will conclude this October with The Last Dark. The acquisition of these first two trilogies will enable us to make the complete Thomas Covenant Chronicles available for the first time in the UK.

The deal was negotiated with Del Rey/Random House US by Orion Deputy CEO and Publisher Malcolm Edwards, who said: ‘This is a landmark acquisition. Along with Terry Brooks’ The Sword of Shannara, the Thomas Covenant books were responsible for igniting the post-Tolkien boom in epic fantasy, which led to the commercial success of the Robert Jordan, David Eddings, George R. R. Martin and others. We are delighted to be bringing these modern classics to a UK audience for the first time as eBooks.’

The First and Second Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever will be published as eBooks under Gollancz’s SF Gateway imprint, and will be released to coincide with the publication of The Last Dark.