The Gap Cycle

By: Stephen R. Donaldson

Type: Series, 5 books:

• The Real Story
• Forbidden Knowledge
• A Dark and Hungry God Arises
• Chaos & Order
• This Day All Gods Die

Setting: The limits of known Human and Amnion space

Description:

Through the course of five books, we follow the sick and twisted lives of a spacefaring police officer (Morn Hyland) and the two pirates who become obsessed with her beauty and personality (Angus Thermopyle and Nick Succorso.) Weaving in and out of the law and the limits of acceptable behavior, the three become inextricably entangled in a power struggle between the richest man in the universe and his immediate successor. 

Comments:

This series fulfills Donaldson’s wish to branch out after establishing himself with The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever and the Second Chronicles of same. In it, he takes on a much harsher and bleak style that put off many readers who were expecting more of the fantasy style of Covenant. Indeed, the first book in the series, which serves as an introduction to the three main characters, was nearly dark enough to make me give up on the series, but I’m glad I didn’t. By the third book, I was as inextricably caught up in the storyline as the characters were!

Donaldson weaves a phenomenally complex storyline of changing loyalties and situations. He claims to have received the inspiration for the story from the Ring operas, in which the characters change places in a cycle. Somehow, he creates situations in which we are rooting for the same character who we wanted to see dead for their actions two hundred pages before. And we begin to have doubts about the character that we thought was worth something back then. The three main characters cycle from Victim to Villain to Rescuer, all the while being pawns in a greater game without realizing it. The harsh language and actions of the characters, though tough to stomach at first, are necessary to the plot as tools to make us feel contempt for certain characters and compassion for others. In effect, they serve as a barometer in addition to being crucial to plot advancement in some circumstances. The complexity of the political struggle in the series rivals the original Dune trilogy, without the sometimes droll exposition that Herbert often used.

For me, the writing seemed to burn like a slow fuse until the beginning of the third book, at which point it immediately attained magnesium intensity and sustained that level through the explosive climax. At the flare point, the images seemed to become crisper, the metaphors more evocative. To give the reader a break from the intensity (and to satisfy the techno-nerds like me) Donaldson occasionally inserts a brief essay in the form of a historical entry about some aspect of the science or political setup of his universe. Even these read well; Donaldson definitely knows his science.

The sales of these books were disappointing. I’m sure that many of the people who were expecting “more of the same” when they picked up The Real Story were put off by the abrupt change in direction from the fantasy world. The dark, manipulative universe in which The Gap Cycle unfolds is not a fun place; neither was the Land, from Covenant, but at least you knew who was good and who was evil back then. In these books, that is not so clear.

And that is brilliant. Donaldson accomplished exactly what he wanted to do: write a hard science fiction saga with a challenging subject matter. I hope the low sales of the series don’t force him to avoid risks like this in the future. 

Recommendations:

I liked this series immensely after I got into it. Don’t let the first book fool you; it serves mainly as character introduction. The plot doesn’t really start to thicken until the second book. If you can get past the violence and vulgarity, this series will be very hard to put down by the fourth book. Donaldson undertook a risky endeavor, and the craftsmanship he shows may not be immediately visible. The more you reflect on the series, though, the tighter it becomes. He deals with sensitive issues from child abuse to emotional dominance, the rights of an individual versus the benefits of the greater good, and the high wire balance of self-interest and integrity. Give the books a shot; if you can’t stomach them, pass them along. The more people who read the series, the greater the chances that Donaldson will take risks like this in the future.