Thomas Covenant Chronicles (Stephen J. Donaldson)

I read the first and second chronicles about a year ago, and I thought they were pretty damn good, although a little different than what I was expecting.
I used to just read fantasy (although I have moved into other areas now), and I was expecting the usual, unsuspecting boy thrust into the world, finds out he has some magical ability he needs to learn to control and that he is the only one that can save the world from some terrible evil. Although this is more or less the story, it is a lot darker. Thomas although battling agaisnt Lord Foul as well as his ork like minions (whose name escapes me) it seems that he's mainly fighting his own demons, and as Whitecloak says Thomas is almost an anti hero. For instance:

quote spoiler

Within a few chapters, we see Thomas raping his girl-saviour.

which I was never expecting, especially in a fantasy book.
I just found out that the Third (and last) Chronicles of Thomas Covenant have been published in Hardback, so I think I'll re read one and two in anticipation of the paperback release.

I know that the First and Second Chronicles are both in paperback, I have them both. I'm talking about "The Runes of the Earth: The Last Chronicles of Thomas Covenant" which was released 6 days ago here in the UK. I don't like reading hardbacks (too big to carry around and read on the bus) so I'm gonna wait for the paperback.

Jeeze, I read the two Covenant trilogies decades ago! I loved them and thought they were incredibly well written and engaging. I always thought of them as a fictional study in despair. By the way, a minor correction is that the author's name is Stephen R. Donaldson, not "J."

It's been a while since I read this, but what I do remember is that the premise of the story is that Thomas Covenant has leprosy in the real world, but instead of it being treated, it got very advanced and debilitation. Because of his "white gold" wedding ring, he is somehow transported into an alternate universe where his disease how no power over him and he is a mythologized, legendary figure that everyone calls "White Gold Wielder," and he is basically there to save this other world. Very interesting and well crafted world, sort of like Tolkein if Tolkein needed serious anti-depressives lol!