Customer Reviews

Forbidden Knowledge: The Gap Into Vision

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

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.

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.

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 :) )

Forbidden Knowledge begins one of the most brilliantly written space dramas in recent years. Mankind is threatened by an alien race that not only wants to conquer us, but also has aspirations to genetically transform us into replicates of themselves and take away our humanity. The result is a conflict in which our humanity itself is at stake, and this makes it fascinating. However, Donaldson does not end with just another human-alien conflict, but goes further, showing how humanity is fighting itself as much as it is fighting the aliens. It should be said, though, that I do not believe that this series is for everyone. It is very dark and sometimes savage, so if you are one who only enjoys books that have a Hobbit kind of story, this book is the exact opposite and not for you. I believe that this is why people have diametrically opposing views on this series.

This is the second book in the Gap series, though the first book (The Real Story) seemed more like a prelude. Donaldson himself saw it more as an introduction to the characters rather than the launching of the primary story. Forbidden Knowledge picks up right where The Real Story leaves off, and immediately kicks things into high gear.

What frustrated me so much about the first book was that I felt that Donaldson showed so much potential in these characters and in the universe he created, yet he never quite reached the potential of what he had created. In this book, he definitely begins to tackle that potential. More than anything else, I loved that the story just moved. I love any story which just takes me away, and Donaldson does just that.

With that said, I must say, again, that I am disappointed once again at the centrality of the character's sexuality (or distorted and/or damaged sexuality) to the story. I do appreciate that none of it is irrelevant to the characters and plot - it just seems quite a depraved way to build a plot and characters. It gives a very futile and almost hopeless tone to the story, developing solidly depressing overtones. Of course these provide the motivations for the characters - they move and strike out in their desperation.

It seems that in a quest for complexity of characters within the plot, Donaldson has, in fact, created a story full of anti-heroes, with the one character who has potential for truly heroic motivations and/or actions having her character broken, twisted, and hopelessly distorted at the initiation of the original story.

Overall, it is an incredibly well-written story, with complex characters and a completely intriguing plot. But I find myself hesitant to recommend it due to the distorted sexual themes and overtones.

After the 'Real Story', the atmosphere of Forbidden Knowledge comes as a relief to readers fond of his previous works. His theme of individual victory against overwhelming odds is soon brought to the fore. There is an intriguing backstory of Angus' fate and the even more intriguing Amnion to help things along.

Those sorry he didn't remain in fantasy will be relieved to discover this is space opera, not really science fiction; higher on character development, lower on technical details. Includes scenes I still clearly see months later.

The one thing that really stands out for me are the elements this book shares with his Covenant books. He seems to be at his best with battered, anguished, mentally unstable characters - though in the first Covenant series his lead was surrounded by much more stable, sane characters. In Gap, Morn Hyland is tossed into the nuttery with the oddest cast of cracked eggs . . . hehe, mixed metaphors. The book is a descent into madness and I loved it. I can't believe how fast I ripped through this novel.

To call this Soap Opera is a stretch for me. Morn is not a damsel in distress - that's a rather insulting label to apply to a lead character, dontcha think? She is in distress and she is distressed to the breaking point and beyond and survives and more. Nick is a bad, bad man with few heroic qualities. At one point I was thinking to myself, "If only they could go back and rewrite Star Wars like this!" Nick is a more realistic anti-hero (when he rises to hero status at all). He's absolutely vile. I found myself loathing him. This quys idea of a witty quip is to beat you into a bloody pulp . . . and smile.

Now, that's strong story telling. Can't wait to read the next in this series.

NOW we are into the story. Humans are threatened by some of the creepiest aliens ever conceived. They are not after mass genocide or the destruction of Earth. No, they want a chilling "partnership" that also happens to include the loss of our humanity.

This is another space opera where the swashbuckling hero (Nick) meets the damsel in distress (Morn). But Morn has evolved into a strong-willed character on her own. I loved the interplay between the two and then there's evil but intriguing Angus involved in playing both ends against the middle. The mood again is dark, almost industrial, like Guidi Prime, the machine world of the Harkonen's in DUNE.

While I enjoyed The Real Story, it left much to be desired--there were only three characters of any relevance in the book: Nick, Angus, and Morn. What we learned about Nick was mostly through his reputation, not through confrontation in the book, further narrowing the available characters down to two. Morn and Angus's story was compelling yet hindered due to the compressed nature of the book. I'm happy to report that The Gap Into Vision has started spiraling into the epic that I hear this series is.

Nick and Morn are the main characters this time around, though there are ~15 shipmates that are significant, some of whom are very well developed. Then there are the skulking Amnion, the alien race that strives for domination through genetic mutation via drug injections.

As with the first book in the series, this isn't for the faint of heart--Morn went through hell with Angus in The Real Story, and in this version she's going through even worse with Nick. Only the aid of her zone implant keeps her from collapsing into a writhing body of agony.

This book is equally dark as its predecessor, though it's a much better story due to the vastly increased number of characters and the jacked-up stakes.

C'mon guys ! Can't you just marvel at the way Donaldson manages to make impossible situations resolve into the only plausible, if distasteful, solution. Sure, the rest of the series rambles - but this is an amazing tour of the decisions the human race has to take if faced with the cliched fate worse than death. Always infuiantingly plausible.