The Gap Cycle - Books in Series

Books in Series

1. The Gap into Conflict: The Real Story, Bantam/Spectra, 1990
2. The Gap into Vision: Forbidden Knowledge, Bantam/Spectra, 1991
3. The Gap into Power: A Dark and Hungry God Arises, Bantam/Spectra, 1992
4. The Gap into Madness: Chaos and Order, Bantam/Spectra, 1994
5. The Gap into Ruin: This Day All Gods Die, Bantam/Spectra, 1996

Note: the recent Gollancz (UK) reprints of the series combine the first two books into a single volume. According to Donaldson's website, this was done at the author's request.

As explained in the author's afterword in The Real Story, this series started life as a novella in which characters representing villain, victim, and rescuer would switch places during the course of the narrative. He found the result unsatisfying, and the book was shelved until he had the idea of setting a retelling of Wagner's Ring Cycle in the same universe, and casting the characters from The Real Story in roles from Wagner's opera.

The Real Story novella became Volume 1, and the rest of the series explores the Wagner theme. The series is not the Ring Cycle explicitly retold, but more an interpretation set in a future universe.

Like the author's other major work, The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, the Unbeliever, the story is characterised by a dark and bleak atmosphere. It is intended for adult readers.