Chaos and Order: The Gap into Madness

The Gap Cycle, Book 4

By: Stephen R. Donaldson

Narrated by: Scott Brick

An audio version of the fourth book in the best-selling five-volume sci-fi series created by the world-famous author of the Thomas Covenant Chronicles - and acclaimed as the "best work of his career"...

Events were not moving as the Amnion had intended. Once again, humans had been false in their dealings with the aliens. As the planetoid Thanatos Minor exploded into atoms, the Trumpet hurtled into space only one step ahead of hostile pursuers. On board were Morn Hyland and her force-grown son Davies, cyborg Angus Thermopyle, and Captain Nick Succorso - old enemies thrown together in a desperate bid for survival.

For both the Amnion and the UMCP, the immediate capture of the fleeing ship and the secrets it contained was imperative. But for Trumpet's exhausted crew the only hope lay in an illegal lab in the distant binary solar system of Valdor Industrial. It would be a journey of unpredictable danger - from which not all would return....

©1994 Stephen R. Donaldson (P)2012 Audible, Inc.

You'll be going mad with grittiness

I like to start this review as all my reviews, half drunk and with nothing to lose. I love this series, on my long drives I find that nothing keeps me awake more than dark scifi. This series is by far one of the best (perhaps 2nd best) and I've read plenty of them. Now you'll have noticed in book 3 "dark hungry god" that we are starting to see a little more of the politics that follows our love/hate triangle of heroes and villains. Ole Morn has had it pretty rough but the girl keeps on trucking. Angus ain't having much of a better go of it, but if you believe in karma you'd kind of expect it. As i said in my review of book three. You'll get more and more characters introduced, but the writing and narration will make you care for them as much as our space faring group aboard the trumpet. Personally I don't mind the "ancillary documentation" parts or the "political espionage" parts that much. They play much more of a role in book 4, but I feel it is to make the portions of Morn/Nick/Davies/Angus all the better. If you've come this far in the series you will not be disappointed. Keep on trucking guys. Run-on-Sentence man Awaaaaaaaay!!!!

-UD

what a series!

A terrible foe like the Thing: The Amnion now Believe they have a winning Gambit! Capture Morn's son: Davies Highland.

I love this entire series.

Scott Brick is the perfect narrator for this captivating tale of corruption, redemption, and heroism in the most unlikely places. Stephen R. Donaldson is a master of crafting stories with characters that have such depth that the line between good and evil is blurred beyond recognition.

Gap Cycle #4 raises the stakes

This one starts slowly as the Machiavellian schemes of Holt Fasner and Warden Dios are flushed out in great detail. However, when the story finally transitions back to the main characters aboard the ship Trumpet things really pick up speed. Fasner and Dios are locked in a battle of plots and schemes that puts the very government of Earth, and their own lives, in great peril. With a new bill being proposed that would move the UMCP (the human police) out from under Holt Fasner and over to the government itself, Fasner is willing to go to any length to stop such an action, including terrorist actions against the government. At the same time, the two of them are also manipulating events as they relate to Trumpet who is on the run from the Amnioni with multiple other ships in pursuit.

As is par for the course in this series, the three main protagonists are at each other's throats and vying for control of Trumpet while they run from the Amnioni and their other pursuers. They eventually head to an asteroid swarm that houses an illegal lab where they will attempt to unlock the formula behind the mutagen immunity drug that Dios and Fasner have kept secret for years. This might give them a weapon they can use to get back at the men behind the scenes that are making their lives miserable, but it is also the reason that the Amnioni will risk anything to stop them, including an overall war with humanity. The mutagens are the Amnioni's best weapon and an immunity drug could allow humanity to essentially wipe them out of existence.

Many lesser characters are flushed out in greater detail as the cast of impactful characters grows immensely and it all makes for a tense story that builds to a giant crescendo of a confrontation. Stephen R. Donaldson once again tells a very compelling story while his characters remain subjected to unending amounts of suffering and mental abuse. This series is extremely dark and gritty but it is well written and I am glad I finally gave it a try after ignoring it for so many years. 

Scott Brick delivers another excellent performance and with one book left in the series I am totally hooked. At this point, I must know how it all plays out.

Gripping, intense, the best!

I read this book years ago and just found the audiobooks. After listening to this one, I was on the edge of my seat cheering, in tears, and left breathless by the ending. Of all the books that I have devoured in print and by audio, this is the greatest…

Yummy

Great read, uh listen. Upholstery clinching all the way through. Wonderful delineation of the characters. Thank you!

Unbearable

This book is unbearable. You like books were the evil people always win no matter what read this book.

Maybe 2nd worst book I’ve read?

I kept reading these books because it seems like the plot is about to take off, but I keep getting fooled. There’s enough material in this book to fill a short novella and the rest is just characters saying the same thing to themselves over and over or quoting things other characters have said. I really don’t think I’m exaggerating when I say that it’s about 75% of the content of this book. It’s pretty incredible. Only one book left in the series but I just don’t think I can sit through it again.