The Gap Series by Stephen R. Donaldson
The Gap Series, written by Stephen Donaldson, is a complex and ambitious science fiction work set in a future marked by significant historical change and conflict. The narrative centers around Morn Hyland, an operative of the United Mining Companies Police, whose life spirals into chaos after her father's death at the hands of pirates. Captured by the pirate captain Angus Thermopyle, Morn endures severe trauma, including abuse and the imposition of a mind-controlling implant. As the story unfolds, Morn grapples with her painful experiences and the consequences of her actions, including an unexpected pregnancy that complicates her quest for freedom.
The series also delves into the intricate dynamics between power and exploitation, featuring characters like Holt Fasner, the powerful CEO of the United Mining Companies, and Warden Dios, who seeks to counteract Fasner's authoritarian grip. The introduction of the Amnioni, an alien species with manipulative genetic engineering capabilities, adds further tension to the plot as characters navigate alliances and betrayals. Ultimately, the series explores themes of identity, autonomy, and the struggle for human agency against overwhelming forces. With its rich characterization and moral complexities, The Gap Series offers a thought-provoking reflection on humanity's potential futures.
On this Page
Subject Terms
The Gap Series
First published:The Gap into Conflict: The Real Story (1990), The Gap into Vision: Forbidden Knowledge (1991), The Gap into Power: A Dark and Hungry God Arises (1992), and The Gap into Madness: Chaos and Order (1994)
Type of work: Novels
Type of plot: Science fiction—interplanetary romance
Time of work: Around c.e. 2500
Locale: Outer space, particularly various artificial satellites
The Plot
The Gap series is an ambitious work concerning sweeping historical change far in the future. It achieves dramatic urgency by focusing on the powerful emotions of a few key characters. Through Stephen Donaldson’s detailed, complex characterization, the reader is made to reflect on what humans may be like in the future.
Morn Hyland is the daughter of the captain of the pirate-fighting ship Starmaster, functioning as an operative of the United Mining Companies Police (UMCP). When the ship is attacked by pirates and her father is killed, Morn irrationally causes the ship to self-destruct. She is taken into the custody of Angus Thermopyle, an ore pirate who is the captain of the ship Bright Beauty. Angus brutally rapes and abuses Morn and inserts a zone implant into her body. The implant enables him to inflict mental torture on Morn. Angus is arrested by the authorities at the Com-Mine satellite, but not before turning Morn over to Captain Nick Succurso of the ship Captains Fancy. Before he disposes of her, though, Angus gives her control of the zone implant.
Morn feels liberated by her escape from Angus, but she discovers that she has only exchanged one master for another. Her one defense against Nicks domineering lust is that her possession of the zone implant is secret. Her vulnerability is heightened when she realizes she is pregnant by Angus. Morn is tormented by what she believes are her betrayals of her father and her service. She is also humiliated and degraded by her ordeal.
Nick and his crew are voyaging toward a convergence with the Amnioni, an alien species. The Amnioni are interested in genetically mutating humans so they may be more easily dominated. As Nick’s ship converges with the Amnioni, he wrests control of the zone implant from Morn. Using Amnion genetic technology, Nick arranges for Morn’s child not only to be born but to enter the world as a mature sixteen-year-old male. This boy, whom Morn names Davies Hyland for her father, is given Morn’s own personality and memories by the Amnioni. This weird combination of unprepared immaturity and a tragic legacy overwhelms Davies and causes him uncertainty as he and his mother face extraordinary dilemmas.
Meanwhile, Angus Thermopyle has also suffered a fundamental alteration in personality: He has been mentally reshaped by Milos Taverner, director of Com-Mine Security, into a cyborg named Joshua. His task is to infiltrate the illegal trading station known as Billingate and destroy it. Angus struggles to find his real personality as the reader becomes aware that perhaps he is not the figure of unalloyed evil he initially had seemed.
Holt Fasner, nicknamed “the Dragon,” is the chief executive officer of the United Mining Companies (UMC) and is the most powerful human figure on Earth and in space. The Dragon has artificially prolonged his life and exerts a stranglehold on the multitude of activities under the UMC’s sway. Warden Dios, head of the UMCP, is subordinate to the Dragon, but he eventually comes to believe that Fasners power is a threat to humanity. Working in tandem with his subordinate, Min Donner, he plots to undermine Fasner by having the UMCP severed from the UMCs supervision and made an arm of the Governing Council of Earth and Space. This goal is made all the more urgent by Dios suspicion that Fasner is plotting to exploit the genetic engineering ability of the Amnioni in some way.
The key to Dios plans is Angus, who is sent to assassinate the head of Billingate, a bootleg shipyard that is crucial to Amnioni plans to infiltrate human space. He is accompanied by Taverner, who, unbeknown to Dios, is also dealing with the Amnioni. Angus infiltrates Billingate, where he rejoins Morn, Nick, and Davies. Meanwhile, Dios is trying to deceive Fasner as to his real intentions. Dios deputes Min Donner to approach Sixten Vertigus, a very old man who was the first human to make contact with the Amnioni. Donner convinces the reluctant Vertigus to sponsor a bill of severance in the Earth-Space Council.
It emerges that Angus has not been completely remade by his cyborg transformation—he still possesses a core of his old self, though drastically altered. Even as Taverner, his one-time guardian, goes completely over to the Amnioni and is mentally remade as one of them, Angus joins an uneasy alliance with Morn and Davies against both Nick and the Dragon’s forces. Vertigus sponsors a bill of severance, which fails even as a kamikaze attack is launched against the Earth-Space Council. Fasner becomes increasingly aware that forces are at work to subvert his power. The stage has been set for the final confrontation between the UMC, the Amnioni, and the humans fighting to restore freedom and honest government.