Gap newbie - reassurance required!

[Cleburne]

Refresh my memory . . . did Hyland know who Angus was when he boarded?

I do not think so. From what I remember, they became suspicious of him at Com-Mine, and their concerns were confirmed when they caught him 'torching' the mining camp with his drives.

I believe Morn they were suspiciious of him and followed Angus to the mineing camp and then chased him when he blew up the mining camp.
I havent progress that far since 5 chapters or so the bit about Angus sexually assaulting poor Morn put me off for a bit ,I hope she gets her own back.
I just feel sorry for Morn suffering from the gap sickness and basically destroying her parents ship , but how could a cadet not be used to Gap travel?
Angus calling himself a coward all the time annoys me. I dont see him as a coward just a nasty piece of work

[Rigel]

Angus calling himself a coward all the time annoys me. I dont see him as a coward just a nasty piece of work

Many of his actions are really reactions to fear. In that regard, he is definitely a coward.

[thewormoftheworld'send]

Angus calling himself a coward all the time annoys me. I dont see him as a coward just a nasty piece of work

Many of his actions are really reactions to fear. In that regard, he is definitely a coward.

Angus isn't exactly courageous. And there doesn't seem to be a middle ground between courage and cowardice. Angus doesn't call himself a coward, but SRD points it out all the time as a motivation for action. Angus is a suspicious and paranoid outlaw. But he redeems himself in the end... slightly.

[StevieG]

Ki recently picked up Chaos and Order again. She's 30 pages away from

Spoiler

Nick getting killed.

I keep telling her to continue, but she is still broken-hearted about

Spoiler

Nick getting Angus's security codes

. I've been telling her that she's only 30 pages away from something really, really good happening, something that will relieve all the stress she had to endure concerning Nick. But now she's frustrated with how much time Donaldson is spending on describing Davies's plight. I can't count the times she has said, "I get it already! He is confused and thinks he's a woman! How many more times do I have to read him agonizing over this! Get on with the story!" "

How's it going? Any progress? I'm a Gap fanatic I guess, so always keen to hear if there are any new fans...

[Zarathustra]

She absolutely loved it, thought it ended perfectly, and is considering rereading the entire thing.

[Kalboyd]

That was exactly my reaction...and I've re-read it twice since. The 2nd time thru, you start catching little things early on that you can now see forshadow what is to come--very cool.


Kalboyd

[Zarathustra]

She is going to read the Chronicles next. I'm excited to see how she views Donaldson's most profitable and famous work, after reading the Gap first.

[Loredoctor]

She is going to read the Chronicles next. I'm excited to see how she views Donaldson's most profitable and famous work, after reading the Gap first.

That's how I did it; Gap then Chronicles.

[Sorus]

Same.. not to say I didn't enjoy the Chronicles, but I probably wouldn't be a fan if not for the Gap.

[Auleliel]

She is going to read the Chronicles next. I'm excited to see how she views Donaldson's most profitable and famous work, after reading the Gap first.

That's how I did it; Gap then Chronicles.

Me too, except I read Mordant's Need and Daughter of Regals before I read the Gap (a friend was trying to ease me into Donaldson).

[StevieG]

She is going to read the Chronicles next. I'm excited to see how she views Donaldson's most profitable and famous work, after reading the Gap first.

That's how I did it; Gap then Chronicles.

Me too, except I read Mordant's Need and Daughter of Regals before I read the Gap (a friend was trying to ease me into Donaldson).

I'm guessing those who read the Gap before the Chronicles are in the minority. What was your reaction to the Chronicles after reading the Gap? Is the Gap your favourite, or did you prefer the Chrons?

I'm only guessing of course, but I think it would be hard to top the Gap after reading it first. I read the Chrons first, and loved them of course, but find that my favourite series are the Gap.

(Apologies if there is a separate thread about this... I have a feeling there might be.)

[Auleliel]

I'm guessing those who read the Gap before the Chronicles are in the minority. What was your reaction to the Chronicles after reading the Gap? Is the Gap your favourite, or did you prefer the Chrons?

I had a really hard time getting into the Chrons. It wasn't until my reread of LFB that I truly understood the beauty of the Land (and I didn't reread LFB until after reading FR). I still have difficulty with reading the Chrons, I'm stuck halfway through my first rereadof TIW. Mind, I'm also stuck halfway through my first reread of Forbidden Knowledge, but that's just because homework is in the way right now. If homework magically disappeared, I think I would pick up Forbidden Knowledge before The Illearth War.
My favorites of SRD's works are actually his short stories collections, followed closely by Mordant's Need, followed even more closely by the Gap. Then come the Chrons. I'm not sure what I think about his mysteries as I haven't finished them yet.
It probably isn't surprising that I don't much care for the Last Chrons so far. I'm sure they will grow on me as I read the rest of them, as first Chrons is (and second Chrons probably will, except for the whole Linden Avery thing, which only gets worse as time progresses).
Does that answer your question?

[StevieG]

I'm guessing those who read the Gap before the Chronicles are in the minority. What was your reaction to the Chronicles after reading the Gap? Is the Gap your favourite, or did you prefer the Chrons?

I had a really hard time getting into the Chrons. It wasn't until my reread of LFB that I truly understood the beauty of the Land (and I didn't reread LFB until after reading FR). I still have difficulty with reading the Chrons, I'm stuck halfway through my first rereadof TIW. Mind, I'm also stuck halfway through my first reread of Forbidden Knowledge, but that's just because homework is in the way right now. If homework magically disappeared, I think I would pick up Forbidden Knowledge before The Illearth War.
My favorites of SRD's works are actually his short stories collections, followed closely by Mordant's Need, followed even more closely by the Gap. Then come the Chrons. I'm not sure what I think about his mysteries as I haven't finished them yet.
It probably isn't surprising that I don't much care for the Last Chrons so far. I'm sure they will grow on me as I read the rest of them, as first Chrons is (and second Chrons probably will, except for the whole Linden Avery thing, which only gets worse as time progresses).
Does that answer your question?

Of course - thanks for the answer! Sorus and Loremaster mentioned that they read Gap first, so I was interested in any opinions.

I find it interesting because SRD's work is quite diverse in feel. If you love a particular style of story sometimes it's hard to change. Some people had trouble going from Chronicles 1 & 2 to Mordant's Need, others from MN to Gap etc. Since the Gap is such a different style to the others, I thought it might be harder to change to the style of the Chrons.

I can only speak for myself of course, but I had trouble adjusting (back in the old days!) from Chronicles to Mordant's Need, but found that when I matured (older and wiser, let's say...) and re-read MN I absolutely loved it.

My fav is the Gap, followed by MN, some of the short stories, Covenant and the mysteries. I still really enjoyed the mysteries, especially Man Who Fought Alone, even though they are down the list. I haven't disliked anything that I've read of SRD really - oops, I think I might be going off-topic a bit (something to do with THOOOTP? ) - better stop!

[Cleburne]

Finished The Real Story last week and actually thought it was quiet good in the end , its wetted my appetite for Forbidden Knowledge. There is an interesting afterword by SRD in the book talking about his ideas and where is gets them from and his first idea needed a second idea to get the books rolling.Any of you remember reading that He mentions Die Walkure,Siegfried and Gotterdammerung as inspirations for the Gap series and the characters within.

[thewormoftheworld'send]

I just finished reading the Gap so all I have to offer you is reassurances and possibly some spoilers. My favorite of the series was Forbidden Knowledge.

[CovenantJr]

Finished The Real Story last week and actually thought it was quiet good in the end , its wetted my appetite for Forbidden Knowledge. There is an interesting afterword by SRD in the book talking about his ideas and where is gets them from and his first idea needed a second idea to get the books rolling.Any of you remember reading that He mentions Die Walkure,Siegfried and Gotterdammerung as inspirations for the Gap series and the characters within.

Yes, I remember reading the thing about needing pairs of ideas. I thought it was an interesting, if strange, way to go about things.

[thewormoftheworld'send]

Finished The Real Story last week and actually thought it was quiet good in the end , its wetted my appetite for Forbidden Knowledge. There is an interesting afterword by SRD in the book talking about his ideas and where is gets them from and his first idea needed a second idea to get the books rolling.Any of you remember reading that He mentions Die Walkure,Siegfried and Gotterdammerung as inspirations for the Gap series and the characters within.

Yes, I remember reading the thing about needing pairs of ideas. I thought it was an interesting, if strange, way to go about things.

SRD went through the same process before writing the first Chrons. He had the idea for a stranger from the "real" world translated to a classic fantasy world, but he couldn't make it work until he came up with the second element: the stranger also had to have leprosy.

Without this second element, Unbelief would not have been possible, or let's say, credible. It would at least have been arbitrary. Any given person in that situation from the "real" world may choose either to believe or not to believe, all else being equal. And simply not believing could not have been raised to the level of Unbelief. The element of TC's leprosy made all the difference here.

[IrrationalSanity]

My fav is the Gap, followed by MN, some of the short stories, Covenant and the mysteries. I still really enjoyed the mysteries, especially Man Who Fought Alone, even though they are down the list. I haven't disliked anything that I've read of SRD really - oops, I think I might be going off-topic a bit (something to do with THOOOTP? ) - better stop!

You are "OK".

[rdhopeca]

I think I am getting the GAP books for my birthday. Something new to read, and then I can stick my head in here with something intelligent to say (maybe)

[thewormoftheworld'send]

I think I am getting the GAP books for my birthday. Something new to read, and then I can stick my head in here with something intelligent to say (maybe)

I'm looking forward to it!