Forbidden Knowledge: The Gap Into Vision [Hardcover]

Stephen R. Donaldson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1, 1991

Author of The Chronicles Of Thomas Covenant, one of the most acclaimed fantasy series of all time, master storyteller Stephen R. Donaldson retums with the second book in his long-awaited new science fiction series--a story about dark passions, perilous alliances, and dubious heroism set in a stunningly imagined future.



Beautiful, brilliant, and dangerous, Morn Hyland is an ex-police officer for the United Mining Companies--and the target of two ruthless, powerful men.  One is the charismatic ore-pirate Nick Succorso, who sees Morn as booty wrested from his vicious rival, Angus Thermopyle.  thermopyle once made the mistake of underestimating Morn and now he's about to pay the ultimate price.  Both men think they can possess her, but Morn is no one's trophy--and no one's pawn.



Meanwhile, withing the borders of Forbidden Space, wait the Amnioin, an alien race capable of horrific atrocities.  The Amnion want something unspeakable from humanity--and they will go to unthinkable lengths to get it.



In Forbidden Knowledge, Stephen R. Donaldson spins a galaxy-wide web of intrigue, deception, and betrayal that tightens with inexorable strength around characters and readers alike.


From the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

The Real Story was just a preview to this action-packed tome... The Gap series steps on the accelerator with Forbidden Knowledge. Beautiful cop Morn Hyland, desperate and in pain aboard Captain's Fancy, controls her body and mind with her illegal zone implant, recreating herself as a superbeing worthy of holding Captain Nick Succorso's affections. Jealousy among the crew, threats of rape and ship self-destruction, prisoner torture, and government cyborg programs keep things moving along. Alien Amnioni seeking genetic domination over humankind enter the scene with new technologies such as mutagens and force-growing fetuses. Bite your fingernails while you live it all (vicariously!) through brilliant survivor Morn and villain-turned-conspirator Angus Thermopyle. --This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.

From Publishers Weekly

The second novel in the Gap Cycle (begun with The Real Story ) continues the story of Morn Hyland, security cop for the vast United Mining Companies, and her travails among space pirates. Having escaped the clutches of tormentor Angus Thermopyle, Morn sides with Angus's arch-competitor, Nick Succorso. Morn uses her "zone implant" (a device for regulating bodily sensations) to feign desire for Nick while trying to thwart his plans for her and recover from her trauma with Angus. Gradually she exerts influence over Nick, but incurs his growing distrust. Their battle of wills takes them to the forbidden Amnion, where they struggle to get what they need from the aliens without losing ground to each other. Donaldson combines detailed character analyses and some perverse plot twists with the stuff of standard space opera, and this unusual mixture raises the story far above the average. But the characters remain largely unsympathetic, the plot is bogged down by Morn's self-pity, and the constant refrains of cruelty, hatred, self-loathing and egocentricity are suffocating. Readers willhope Donaldson reveals his characters' good sides in subsequent volumes.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: Spectra; Limited edition (July 1, 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0553073877
• ISBN-13: 978-0553073874
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.2 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,243,802 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A minor triumph - start on this one., July 4, 2003

By 

"general_geiger" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Forbidden Knowledge: The Gap into Vision (The Gap, Book 2) (Mass Market Paperback)

Forbidden Knowledge is well-written, excellently paced and constructed as well as could be expected. It extends the story and characterisation of brutalised Morn and her fleeing to Nick Succorso from Angus Thermopyle, saving the latter pirate's life to keep control over the zone implant he gave her.

This is a many-faceted story of corporate corruption, greed, and an insidious alien presence that seeks to undermine human life as a prequel to changing it into something non-human (Amnion - the name of the aliens). A complex and fascinating faster-than-light future is set most effectively against a background of Morn struggling to stay alive and sane aboard a pirate ship with a captain as alternately unstable and brilliant as the rest of his crew, and various people who want to help, rape, hug and understand her. The tale takes leaps of horror, throwing itself from intra-crew intrigue, sexual jealousy, viruses and murder, to confrontation with an alien horror and an unimaginably horrific yet at once deeply human and profound examination of childbirth, all mingled in with the tale of Angus from the first story, and an examination of the ethics of turning a human into a machine. As a study in how a book can be at once enthrallingly horrible and a thorough character study of several different people, this book has top marks.

The only thing that brings it down - the only thing at all - is the consideration that others without my love of SF and dark foulness will read it, and not have the same opinions. If you haven't got a strong stomach then you probably won't be reading "Forbidden Knowledge" in the first place; but, if you do start, my advice is don't finish. You will have nightmares. This consideration of others forces me to mark down. In terms of piling horror upon horror in an intense and sickening yet maniacally gripping and extraordinarioly effective, and - crucially - *human* way, this story has no equal. Anywhere.

It's goddamn brilliant. But it may not be to your taste.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant, February 8, 2004

By 

not4prophet (North Carolina) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Forbidden Knowledge: The Gap into Vision (The Gap, Book 2) (Mass Market Paperback)

There are two things that Stephen R. Donaldson always does remarkably well. The first is character. His people, be they heroes, antiheroes, villains, winners, losers, manipulators, or manipulated, are boldly drawn and astonishingly real. A Donaldson character does not blend into the background and become indistinguishable from dozens of others you've read. These people stick around inside your head, awing you with their overwhelming personalities long after you've finished the book. His other great talent is for conflict. Having set up two titanic personas, he then sets them against each other. The result is amazing to see.

I'm pleased to report that both of these talents are on full display in "The Gap into vision: Forbidden Knowledge". The personalities this time around are Morn Hyland and Nick Succurso. Morn, seen earlier almost entirely as a victim, comes into her own as a dynamic and strong-willed person. In "Forbidden Knowledge", she draws on a staggering amount of tenacity and courage to continue fighting for what she needs against all odds. Nick, for his part, gives us previously unrevealed levels of depth as he struggles to keep control of his ship and his crew. When these two come into conflict, the result is breathtaking to see, one of the best character duels ever written in imaginative fiction.

And that's not all. While those two battle the twists of fate and each other, Angus Thermopylae is caught in a different web of intrigue. Furthermore, the plot and the universe keep expanding. Like many Donaldson fans, I found "The Real Story" entertaining but mildly disappointing, partly because the future world we saw there seemed somewhat cliché. Well, suffice to say that I can lodge no such complaint against "Forbidden Knowledge". The story leaps suddenly from being small and simple to being complex and epic. The Amnion who reside in 'Forbidden Space', a topic barely mentioned in the first book, come fully into the picture now. Through brief snippets of past history and a few suggestions of multi-layered conspiracies lurking beneath the surface, we start to see that Donaldson is developing a bigger picture. This book, in short, is awesome.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another Masterpiece, August 2, 2000

By 

Dylan Bruzenak (Minneapolis, MN USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Forbidden Knowledge: The Gap into Vision (The Gap, Book 2) (Mass Market Paperback)

Another masterpiece from Donaldson. Pick it up and READ it.... if you like it try out his other books. The story of Angus and Morn continues, even more gripping and well developed than in the first book. Like The Real Story, there is bleakness and desolation, but they only serve to highlight the characters. The extremes that they are forced to experience shape them and make them believable as individuals, and make this book very dramatic and powerful. You are brought to understand and care about the characters, and by the end you will find yourself looking on to the next book. After reading this book I went out and bought the rest of the series.... I had no fears about being disappointed by any of the books, and I wasn't. Two other people in my family were hooked on this series as well, once I showed it to them(they almost strangled me for losing the third book :) )