Stephen Donaldson. Voyna Illearta (The Illearth War)

Etot mir stoit na poroge velikoy voyny. Esli lyudi proigrayut - zloba i nenavist poglotyat vse, oskvernennaya zemlya uzhe nikogda ne vozroditsya k zhizni. Vrag slishkom silen, ni otvaga, ni mudrost ne pomogut oderzhat pobedu v neravnom boyu. I, upovaya na poslednyuyu nadezhdu, praviteli Strany prizyvayut v mir Tomasa Kovenanta Neveruyushchego, nositelya magii belogo zolota.
Imya Stivena Donaldsona stoit v odnom ryadu s takimi zakonodatelyami zhanra "vysokoy fentezi", kak Dzhon R.R.Tolkien, Rodzher Zhelyazny, Ursula Le Guin. Ego knigi mozhno perechityvat beskonechno, vsyakiy raz otkryvaya v nih dlya sebya nechto novoe. Trilogiya "Hroniki Tomasa Kovenanta" byla pisatelskim debyutom Donaldsona, odnako srazu zhe zanyala mesto na zolotoy polke ne tolko fentezi, no i literatury v tselom, ryadom s shedevrami velikih masterov.