This Day all Gods Die
(The Gap #5)
by Stephen Donaldson
science fiction
copyright 1996
re-read in October 2017
rated 8/10: really quite good
And now... it's politics !
Each of the Gap books seems to have its own theme. The Gap into Ruin -- #5 -- has space battles, aliens, heroic space-people... and the final *political* machinations. All good fun :-)
All over the top, too... even more so than usual. The characters have been pushed, in the first four books, to their limits. Now they go even further :-)
There may, however, be a slight shift: Earlier books pushed characters to their limits. In this book the characters *choose* to go even further.
Several major characters have been tested... and succeeded... and now discover new depths. Which enable them -- or encourage them --to try even harder. Yes, it's the final book -- with loose ends being tied up and characters finally achieving their ultimate goals... Not always "winning" but reaching their personal bests.
The science is -- as usual -- over the top and rather dated. Not that it matters. (I may have mentioned this in an earlier review: Donaldson writes this "science fiction" rather like a "fantasy".) The characters are over the top. The politics...
The politics is rather unbelievable.
Why can I accept over the top science but not unbelievable politics? Because science is *expected* to develop... Yes, the Gap science is dated. Yet it is still futuristic, it's just the general approach that seems dated.
When the political discussion starts, it is as over the top as the science... and yet... And yet, I am not able to believe that the people -- the politicians -- have "advanced" so far!
Science advances, yes, use whatever ray-gun technology you like and I will accept it. People, though... I just don't expect them to change. Not so much, anyway.
The characters are overdrawn caricatures of "ordinary" people: strong, weak, greedy, honest, whatever... The physical and mental toughness -- the characteristics which drive the heroes and villains -- I can accept. It's the political cunning which seems -- to me -- to be a bit hard to accept.
But, no worries -- it's a most enjoyable book :-)
A lot of excitement, action, cunning plots -- and a very satisfying conclusion.
A great end to a great series.
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Dr Nick Lethbridge / Consulting Dexitroboper
Agamedes Consulting / Problems ? Solved
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Agamedes Consulting / Problems ? Solved
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"Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world." ... Albert Einstein
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Now much more than a clever name for a holiday journal:
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