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discussions > Stephen Donaldson's "The Gap" series

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message 1: by Suzana (new)

Suzana Vuksanovic (svukic) | 8 comments Hi! I am a great fan of Stephen Donaldson's fantasy books - his 'Chronicles of Thomas Covenant' both first and second (six books in all) helped me get through a lonely childhood and young adulthood.
I have owned all five books of his "Gap" series for awhile but finally felt I was ready to come back around from all my other interests back to Sci/Fi and Fantasy (I think these books are more to do with the former than the latter) and am enjoying the series very much...I am now onto the second book - The Gap into Vision: Forbidden Knowledge".
Has anyone else read this series? what do you think?


message 2: by Carl (new)

Carl | 38 comments I've been wanting to read that! Glad to hear it's enjoyable. I have only read the first of his Thomas Covenant books, and have also been meaning to get back to that. I recently heard that the "Gap" series was based on Volsunga saga, or rather Wagner's Ring cycle version-- being a Norse mythologist as well as a sci-fi fan, I'm REALLY interested in seeing that! Hm, I may see if I can pick up the series today-- have been planning on getting to a bookstore soon anyway.


message 3: by Simon (last edited Apr 19, 2010 01:27AM) (new)

Simon (friedegg) I read this series years ago and absolutely loved it. Far better, in my opinion, than the Thomas Covenant books (although they are very different to be fair).

What this series does have in common with his other works is the theme of redemption. Donaldson seems to love creating dispicable characters who do terrible things at the beginning and then he goes about the long process of redeeming them.

After reading book one of this series, it may seem impossible to believe that the character Angus Thermapyle can be made likeable after what he has done but, by the end of the series, you may even find yourself cheering for him...


message 4: by Stutty (new)

Stutty | 1 comments I just realized that it's been nearly eighteen years I think since I started this series. It must be time to start it again; and it is my all time favorite. Except for THE REAL STORY, which could have been left unwritten as far as I'm concerned. Yes, it is a twist on the Ring saga, and it is an amazingly powerful blending of so many threads and characters.


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