Ten years ago, Linden Avery found herself thrust into the middle of an epic battle between absolute evil and good when she inadvertently followed Thomas Covenant to the Land - a magic other world he once saved, but which was again under assault by his enemy, Lord Foul.

In the time she spent with Covenant in that other world, she grew to love it, and him; but that love could not save him. In the final battle, he gave his life to defeat Foul, merging his life with the Arch of Time in a burst of argent flame that left only his white gold wedding band behind for Linden to hold onto.

In the years since, she has cared for an adopted son, Jeremiah, who was maimed by Lord Foul and overseen the operation of a mental hospital that houses Joan, Covenant's first wife who left him to protect their son, Roger, when he became a leper. Now, Roger is grown, and demanding that Joan be turned over to him, as well as the white gold band that controls the wild magic.

Linden is terrified of him and refuses, prompting the taking of her son and leading to her own return to the Land. There she finds all her and Covenant's work seems to have been for naught. The Sunbane she once defeated is still gone, but the Earthpower that sustained the Land is forbidden by the Haruchai who now control the Land.

History has been kept secret so that there is no memory of her or her beloved except among the Haruchai and the great horses, the Ranyhyn, and their servants, the Ramen. The former oppose her, the latter will serve her. With few other allies, some of them double minded, she must challenge time itself to fulfill the mission the spectre of her love gives her.

There is literature, which may tend to be dry and boring. There are fun books that are in no way literature - and then there is the Thomas Covenant series, like the white gold itself, an alloy of a book that you can thoroughly enjoy melded with great literary value. With no reservations, this can be labeled the finest book written this year, perhaps in the last several years.

At times it will move you to tears, then there are moments of golden joy that will make your heart sing. Reaching the last page is something you will be eager to do, yet will come entirely too soon. Not too many fiction books have the sheer power this one does. Just do not loan it to anyone, you may never see it again. It's a keeper.

Okay, I have to start this review by admitting something. The First Chronicles of Thomas Covenant are pretty much my favourite fantasy series ever written. In my mind The Lord of the Rings just doesn't compete.

Okay, I guess I am now on one or two people's hate-lists. Ah, well! Now I suppose I should make clear that I am a fan of LoTR, and will admit that I do think it the most important fantasy series written (as it was the first and formed the genre), but for me I prefer Donaldson's first venture into the land.

Twenty years after the final book in the second series, Donaldson has returned to his Land for the Final Chronicles of Thomas Covenant. My first thought on hearing this book was coming was "What are they going to do now Covenant is dead?" Well, let's see.

Okay the character if Linden Avery had been introduced in the second series so the author had someone he could bring across from our world. And so he does. Ten years have passed since the first time Linden visited the land. Ten years when in her role as psychiatrist, she has been in charge of the treatment of Covenant's ex-wife Joan, but now Covenant's son Roger has come of age and he visits Linden and announces his intention to remove his mother from Avery's care.

The only problem is that Roger is insane, and determined to have his mother removed from the institution Linden heads. His reckless actions (including the kidnapping of Linden's adopted son Jeremiah) lead to Linden once more being transported to the Land but she is not alone. Lord Foul has Linden's son, and the insane Joan has been brought across also.

In the ten years on Earth since Linden's first visit, thousands of years have passed in the Land. In that time much has changed. The people of the land are blinded to Earthpower, The Haruchai have taken it upon themselves to be the Masters of the Land and seek out any being strong in Earthpower so they can prevent their putting the Land at risk, and the staff of Law is lost.

To any fan of the original books I cannot see how this could be seen as anything but a joy. Reading this book brought back all the addictive feelings the original series gave to me. The same rich use of language – including the most obscure of words at times (who knows what "untrammelled" means anyway?), the same vast detailed Land, the same deep mythology, the Demondim, the Ranyhyn and so on.

This is magnificent stuff, what more can I say? This is my pick as the best fantasy novel of 2004.