Over the course of my lifetime I have read literally thousands of books.

Some were good, some were bad, some were too obtuse, some were too simple. But every now and then an author punches you in the face with his or her creation. Such was the case when I discovered Stephen R Donaldson. 

The First and Second Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever are arguably the greatest fantasy fiction ever written and even if you don't feel as I do, they are in everyone's Top 5 at least.

Not resting on his laurels, Mr Donaldson also created the Gap Series, one of the all-time great Science Fiction sagas. You can check out his work and bio here:

https://www.stephenrdonaldson.com/

If you've never read Stephen Donaldson, do yourself a favor and start now!