Stephen R. Donaldson - The Power That Preserves: The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant

THE POWER THAT PRESERVES wraps up the first trilogy in the dark-toned classic epic fantasy series The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever. In the midst of an attempt to rescue a little girl from a rattlesnake, Thomas Covenant is once again summoned back to the magical place called the Land. Although mere days have passed for him, seven years have gone by in the Land, and the Land is even more seriously devastated by Lord Foul's evil. Although Covenant still doubts the reality of the Land, he has come to love it nonetheless, and he's tired of being a victim of circumstance, both in the "real world" and in his apparent delusion. So he decides to act. Accompanied by his friend, the giant Saltheart Foamfollower, and Lena, the woman he raped when he first visited the Land, Covenant travels to the stronghold of Lord Foul, planning to destroy the evil Illearth Stone and defeat Lord Foul through the wild magic in his white gold wedding ring. Unfortunately, Covenant still has no idea how to use that magic.