 | The Lord of the Rings (3 Book Box set) by J.R.R. Tolkien
Buy new: £14.00 / Used from: £11.99 Top of the list as this is the first great tale of my favourite genre; read the Hobbit first, though understand that this is a children's book introducing a much better tale.
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 | The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien
Buy new: £4.96 / Used from: £0.01 Wonderful follow-up revealing some of the ancient history hinted at in LOTR, leaving you with a thirst for more of the history of middle-earth. Should have been much longer!
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 | The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant - Lord Foul's Bane by Stephen Donaldson
Buy used from: £0.01 My favourite author...and books, develops wonderful characters, a world to die for, and masterful story-telling despite the obvious inspiration from LOTR. (Aren't they all!)
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 | The Illearth War (The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant) by Stephen Donaldson
Buy used from: £0.01 The only world/characters to truly compare to LOTR, just gets better and better.
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 | The Power That Preserves (The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, the Unbeliever) by Stephen Donaldson
Buy used from: £0.01 Finally TC accepts his role as the Land's hero and does the decent thing...great conclusion to the first series.
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 | The Wounded Land (The Second Chronicles of Thomas Covenant) by Stephen Donaldson
Buy used from: £0.01 Fantastic follow-up to the first series, with the main character far more sympathetic a hero; as good as the first series. Glad to be back in the Land!
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 | The One Tree (The Second Chronicles of Thomas Covenant) by Stephen Donaldson
Buy new: £6.29 / Used from: £0.01 How can he create so many sympathetic characters the second time around...hard to pick a real favourite from such a plethora of heroes, almost able to forget those from the first series!
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 | White Gold Wielder (The Second Chronicles of Thomas Covenant) by Stephen Donaldson
Buy used from: £0.01 Fitting, if slightly unexpected ending to the second trilogy; though still wanted more of this world and its characters...what better tribute to the master author.
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 | The Runes Of The Earth: The Last Chronicles of Thomas Covenant (Gollancz S.F.) by Stephen Donaldson
Buy new: £6.99 / Used from: £0.01 Completely unexpected, though welcome continuation of the TC chronicles after a 20 year wait. Looking forward to the next instalment from a notoriously slow author!
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 | The Real Story (The Gap Series) by Stephen Donaldson
Buy used from: £0.01 Great SF story that matches his earlier novels for sheer imagination and ability to grip the reader. Accept the disturbing scenes in book 1 as this really is integral to the rest of the story.
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 | Forbidden Knowledge (The Gap Series) by Stephen Donaldson
Buy used from: £0.01 Story really begins to flow in the second book in the series.
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 | A Dark and Hungry God Arises (The Gap Series) by Stephen Donaldson
Buy used from: £0.01 And so it continues with book 3, getting better and better...
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 | Chaos and Order (The Gap Series) by Stephen Donaldson
Buy used from: £0.01 And better...
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 | This Day All Gods Die (The Gap Series) by Stephen Donaldson
Buy used from: £0.01 And so it ends...brilliantly told, though unlike the TC chronicles, this satisfied my yearning for adventure with this particular group of unsympathetic 'heroes'.
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 | The Many-coloured Land (The Saga of the Exiles) by Julian May
Buy used from: £0.01 Only slightly less re-readable than SDs novels, and another author with wonderful imagination and story-gripping ability.
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 | The Golden Torc (The Saga of the Exiles) by Julian May
Buy used from: £0.01 A mixture of earth's future and distand past...great concept and explains how our furry and hunched forebears became sentient!
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 | The Nonborn King (The Saga of the Exiles) by Julian May
Buy used from: £0.01 Earth's distant past in turmoil and a human on the throne...great continuation of the series.
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 | The Adversary (The Saga of the Exiles) by Julian May
Buy used from: £0.01 Great conclusion to the series...and leaving enough open ends to continue the story in later books, though in a different direction to that expected. Definitely wanted more after this!
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 | Foundation (The Foundation Series) by Isaac Asimov
Buy new: £4.42 / Used from: £0.01 Though written in the 1950s this is another gripping tale by a master of his genre.
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 | Foundation and Empire (Book Two of The Foundation Series) by Isaac Asimov
Buy new: £5.38 / Used from: £0.01 Asimov manages to make his characters sympathetic to the reader despite their fleeting impact on the history of the empire.
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 | Second Foundation (Book Three of The Foundation Series) by Isaac Asimov
Buy new: £4.77 / Used from: £0.01 Like all great stories, the reader is hooked throughout, and looking for more of the same at the end. It came but took a long long time!
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