Forbidden Knowledge: The Gap into Vision (The Gap, Book 2)

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.

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.

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 :) )

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.

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.