Customer Reviews

Chaos and Order: The Gap Into Madness

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This book is not so much about the world that the characters are living in, but the characters themselves. Donaldson seems to take real people and fold them into the page, bringing them alive. They all have a sense of balance and reality to them, so that you even find yourself interested in 'the bad guys'. They are set out into a unique universe and sucked into an expansive and dramatic struggle that makes all of the books in this series 'page turners'. Donaldson is simply the best. I suggest giving it a try(start with 'the real story'). If you like this series give his fantasy series, Thomas Covenant the unbeliever, a try. Even if you don't usually like fantasy, his characters make it worthwhile. Summation: If you haven't already, READ THIS BOOK.... and then review it so that more word gets out.

If I were reviewing the paperback edition, I'd give it 5 stars; I love the story, love the book, love Donaldson's writing. But, I'm not reviewing the paperback. I'm reviewing the Kindle edition. And, my friends, the Kindle edition is a leprous turd of a book.

Why, you may ask? Well, because it's a poorly-proofread OCR scan, and the typos and formatting errors show up fast and furious. By the time I reached the end of the book, I was annoyed enough to start counting them. 13 in the final 8 chapters that I noticed, which is on a pace for about 80 in the book. Some samples, for your edification and amusement:

From Chapter 46:
That was the first attack, the first nard g. (should be "hard g.")

From Chapter 48:
"Do it now I Hit those keys!" (should be "Do it now! Hit those keys!")

From Chapter 50:
"Jesus, that's gravity] There must be a black hole back there!" (should be an exclamation point instead of a square bracket.)

From Chapter 51:
Carrying her flesh like a bur den which had grown too heavy, ... (should be "burden", without the internal space)


All of these are errors which don't exist in the paperback. Somehow, Amazon decided that they didn't need the source files, and could just OCR the book to get the Kindle edition without checking the results. It's painful. It's annoying. It should be embarrassing for Amazon. I'll be requesting a refund; don't waste your money until someone at Amazon decides that ebooks need quality control too.

Yet again there is action, counter-action, plot twists, side stories..it's almost dizzying in its MTVish momentary presentation. Maybe that's why it was either widely acclaimed or panned to the skies. For some time, humans have been working on an anti-alien (mutagen) drug that prevents them from converting to something not human.

Thantos, that hell of a place, explodes and Nick manages to rescue several people including Nick (downgraded from hero to simple pirate with illusions of grandeur), Morn, Davies, her son who was aged rapidy by the evil aliens, the sadist Angus, etc. We have lovers, family, enemies -the whole gambit, from good and bad and they are all on the same small vessel. One undercurrent is the struggle against the evil mining company that has control of their brain.

While "Chaos and Order" isn't as tightly plotted and intricate as "A Dark and Hungry God Arises", it is still rippingly good. The tale is a rollercoaster from following-on beginning to incomplete end, unlike the previous book, which more amounted to an examination of shifting alliances and intrigue amid the profound psychology of its characters, all concentrating and shifting onto one place, accruing to a kind of psychological "critical mass", at which point Thanatos Minor explodes. One of the core themes of Chaos and Order - running about through a maelstrom of rock, the hurtling debris of shattered plans, shattering and coalescing into new forms - follows on from the diametrically opposing theme of the previous story brilliantly.

As the web of intrigue and murder in and around Earth is expanded to a fully-fledged political thriller, we have the important characters from the previous story - Nick, Morn, Angus, Davies, Vector, Mikka, and with them the rather incidental Sib and Pup - all saved from the storm of Thanatos Minor's ruin and flung off just ahead of half a dozen people who want them alive; or, if they can't have them alive, then blown to atoms like Billingate. Everyone else - from *Captain's Fancy* - is dead. While this may seem like a bit of a *deus ex machina* (subtle nod towards Angus, I'm sure), in practice it works out fine.

They are now on the run, the most explosive body of information in Human Space, and seeking to make themselves even more explosive by letting Vector Shaheed, the geneticist, complete the anti-mutagen drug which the United Mining Companies Police suppressed, which will give humankind a defence against alien absorption, however temporary. Everyone - the cops, the aliens, people working for the cops and people working for the aliens - are after them, and the scene is set for ever-tenuous alliances and furious desperation to lead to a lot of shooting and bloodshed, and even greater extremity by the survivors.

This is an intermediate tale. As with all the others except "The Real Story", it is successfully diametric and harmonious in its many balancing qualities. It is a masterpiece, in a way opposite to how the previous book in the story is - and again this is an intentional contrast. I swear again, this series will significantly improve your life. I'm normally so damn analytical, and it has me ranting!

The marking of four out of five and not five is rather a personal opinion. I preferred the rigid and less scattered nature of the plot in and around Billingate, and this made me like the fourth book somewhat less than the third. The horror of the first, second and somewhat the third books as gone, or at least vastly reduced and changed in character. It is no longer an issue. The squeamish will have been well and truly left behind by now, anyway.

Each book in the Gap Series up to this one expands on the author's complex mind-game universe by a power of two. It is this story which opens Donaldson's future to its fullest extent. The final book is an examination of that universe, now that the previous four books have detailed it in full and lavish detail, bringing the story to an ultimate conclusion. This fourth book is the last time you will see the fun "Ancillary Documentation" - but Donalson's story-advancing characters will have captivated you utterly by now, if you've got this far, so you won't mind that in the slightest as you rapidly and nervously go out for the fifth book, hand shaking as you hand the money over and wonder whether it can possibly live up to what's gone before.

I felt bad giving A Dark and Hungry God Arises four stars--it was sooo close to five. I'm glad to say that this book is even better than the last. Actually, I see why some people are liking the third one more, as there are differences.

Many people, including myself, raved about the complex political intrigues in the previous book. So many new characters were introduced and fully developed with simultaneous plot development. Sometimes it was a sensory overload...a good sensory overload, but an overload nonetheless.

Chaos and Order sticks with the same characters as in the third one. Consequently, readers are better prepared to deal with the lightning pace of the plot, as they are now familiar with the characters orchestrating it.

The bulk of the story takes place aboard the Trumpet, Angus' ship. Morn, Nick, Angus, Davies, Mikka, Vector, and Ciro agree to head toward the Massif 5 (pardon the potentially incorrect spelling) system in order to concoct a counter to the Amnion biological threat. On their tail, however, are three dangerous ships: the Amnion controlled battleship Calm Horizons, the rogue Free Lunch, and Sorus' Punisher.

This is a great addition to the series with a smattering of unique ideas introduced. I like the singularity gun, with ammunition that upon detonation creates a black hole. I hope This Day All Gods Die can maintain the momentum with which the series has coasted for the past three parts.

I think this book is the most compelling and powerful in the entire Gap Cycle. All the main characters come into their own power fully in this book. Yes, even Ciro, in his own way. Of special note is the fact that not until all secrets are revealed can the characters begin to unravel the tapestry of events that has enshrouded them. Morn's forgiveness towards Angus makes her a great heroine. This one will keep you in suspense all the way through.

Donaldson continues to write the most engaging, thought provoking, mind-blowing science fiction around. This series is not for the lazy. If you're willing to put in the effort and intelligence Donaldson demands to keep up with the story, it promises to be one of the best series you'll ever read, period.

It is seldom that one sees Sci-Fi with as much attention to detail as the Gap cycle. More to the point, it is not often that one sees Sci-Fi, with the possible exception of writers like Larry Niven or Arthur C. Clarke, which so seamlessly integrates hard science and psychology with real people in real situations. By real, I mean that the characters are driven to, and beyond, the limits of their ability to cope, and not only do they come out shining, but they come out reacting exactly like their background and upbringing would have them react. Donaldson's grasp of the human psyche and his ability to cut away the technology and 'Civilization' we so commonly talk up to reveal the underlying nature of humanity is colossal. He paints us, and realistically, as a cut-throat, dog-eat-dog species in a person to person struggle for survival. Which, in my experience, is exactly what we are.

Donaldson has returned to the splendid level of maturity and complexity he established as his own in the first Thomas Covenant series. In fact he exceeded all of my expectations. (I had doubts after his "looking glass" stuff and was skeptical of his ability to handle "hard science" science fiction.) But Donaldson pulls it all off with a deftness and sensitivity that only our best writers can achieve. His plotlines are intiricately weaved in this tale and (as I state in my teaser above) just when you think things couldn't get any worse for the human race in general and these characters in particular, Donaldson gives the screw another twist.

His characters aren't just flawed. They are real. Good people do evil, evil people do good; for good and bad reasons alike.

This story still sticks with me (I finished reading it when it was first released), and I consider it his some of his finest (and perhaps *greatest*) work.

His fearless use of mature and complex themes and language distinguish this series from the thousands of !hacks! currently working in this field.

Thank you Mr. Donaldson.

The Gap Series, opened with a weak volly across the bow, blows into the most powerful, dramatic, and tense series of the century. I firmly believe that Mr. Donaldson's series rivals Frank Herbert's Dune. It's remarkable that SRD is not only able to maintain the tension over 5 novels--but increase it to a fever pitch. Fair warning to the squeamish: These novels contain graphic violence and sex. None of it, however, is gratuitous. Every terrible thing that happens to the characters has a profound impact on the outcome of the story. Fair warning to the uninitiated SRD reader: Take along a pencil and some paper in order to keep the characters and ships organized. Based on Richard Wagner's Ring Cycle (the Operas), SRD has created a brilliant series. READ IT!