''The Gap Cycle'' is a series of

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

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 Pres ...

. The series was originally published between

1991 It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...

and

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

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. K ...

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, essayist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most o ...

's Ring cycle.

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 Thermopylae. 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 Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...

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

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

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

# ''The Gap into Madness: Chaos and Order'', Bantam/Spectra,

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

# ''The Gap into Ruin: This Day All Gods Die'', 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 novelettes and short stories. The English word ''novella'' derives from the Italian meaning a short story related to true (or apparently so) ...

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 . The compo ...

'' 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