''The Gap Cycle'' is a series of

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

novels by Stephen R. Donaldson, more usually known for his works of

epic fantasy High fantasy, or epic fantasy, is a subgenre of fantasy defined by the epic nature of its setting or by the epic stature of its characters, themes, or plot.Brian Stableford, ''The A to Z of Fantasy Literature'', (p. 198), Scarecrow Press, Pl ...

. The series was originally published between

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phil ...

and

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...

Bantam Books Bantam Books is an American publishing house owned entirely by parent company Random House, a subsidiary of Penguin Random House; it is an imprint of the Random House Publishing Group. It was formed in 1945 by Walter B. Pitkin, Jr., Sidney B. ...

and was reprinted by Gollancz in 2008 in the UK. Here, Donaldson gave a loose retelling of

Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most op ...

Ring cycle (''The Ring of the Nibelung''), WWV 86, is a cycle of four German-language epic music dramas composed by Richard Wagner. The works are based loosely on characters from Germanic heroic legend, namely Norse legendary sagas and the ''Nibelung ...

Premise

It is an epic work set in a future where humans have pushed far out into space in the name of commerce. The series follows two concurrent story arcs. The first concerns an ensign in the United Mining Companies Police (UMCP), Morn Hyland, who is attempting to stay alive after being captured by a marauder named Angus Thermopyle. The second follows the fate of three people who are affected by the Byzantine political maneuvering of the head of the UMCP, Warden Dios, as he attempts to thwart the machinations of his boss, the CEO of United Mining Companies (UMC) itself, Holt Fasner.

Books in series

# ''The Gap into Conflict: The Real Story'', Bantam/Spectra,

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...

# ''The Gap into Vision: Forbidden Knowledge'', Bantam/Spectra,

# ''The Gap into Power: A Dark and Hungry God Arises'', Bantam/Spectra,

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...

# ''The Gap into Madness:

Chaos and Order ''Chaos and Order'' (or officially ''The Gap into Madness: Chaos and Order'') is a science fiction novel by American writer Stephen R. Donaldson, the fourth book of '' The Gap Cycle'' series. Plot summary Following the assassination of Godsen ...

'', Bantam/Spectra,

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which Sinking of the MS Estonia, sank in ...

# ''The Gap into Ruin:

This Day All Gods Die ''This Day All Gods Die'', officially ''The Gap into Ruin: This Day All Gods Die'', is a science fiction novel by American writer Stephen R. Donaldson, being the final book of ''The Gap Cycle ''The Gap Cycle'' is a series of science fiction n ...

'', Bantam/Spectra,

The Victor Gollancz Ltd (UK) reprints combine the first two books into a single volume. This was, according to Donaldson's official website, at his request.

Origins

According to the author's afterword in '' The Gap Into Conflict: The Real Story'' (1990), the series was originally envisioned as a

novella A novella is a narrative prose fiction whose length is shorter than most novels, but longer than most short stories. The English word ''novella'' derives from the Italian ''novella'' meaning a short story related to true (or apparently so) facts ...

in which characters representing villain, victim, and rescuer would switch places during the course of the narrative. When Donaldson found the result unsatisfying, the book was shelved until he thought of now retelling of

's ''

Der Ring des Nibelungen (''The Ring of the Nibelung''), WWV 86, is a cycle of four German-language epic music dramas composed by Richard Wagner. The works are based loosely on characters from Germanic heroic legend, namely Norse legendary sagas and the '' Nibe ...

'' in the same universe and casting the characters from the first novel in roles based on those from Wagner's opera.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gap Cycle, The Science fiction book series 1990s science fiction novels Novels by Stephen R. Donaldson Bantam Books books Space opera novels