A Dark and Hungry God Arises (The Gap Cycle Book 3)

I purchased this series when it was first published in 2009, loved it, and have read it multiple times. Decided to purchase them for my Kindle. The only way for me to review is the whole series at once. It's a science fiction, fantasy and yes there is rape (which is a horrible thing), more than likely there are cuss words too, I didn't notice.The whole series tells the full story of what is really going on at the time and in everyone's life. If you really only one book then you can't really judge it because it's not the full story. I love Stephen Donaldson's writing and have almost every book he has written. Not only would I recommend this series, I have and will continue to recommend all of his books.

I had high hopes after the climax of the previous book in this series, Forbidden Knowledge. Unfortunately, I got a bit too carried away with my expectations. I expected a continuation of the climax of the previous book - I found continuation, but very little of the tension or urgency. Instead, A Dark and Hungry God Arises starts with a widening of scope. This isn't necessarily bad, but the pace gets slowed down alot, and a quicker start here would have been preferable.Again, the scope of the story is widened significantly. The main plot from the previous book is here (and I would urge anyone reading this review to see my reviews of those other books), but it's tempered a bit more with the larger arc of the second plot expanding. Complexity is quickly added in both plotlines. New deceits are spun, new mysteries are presented, a few are solved.Once again the characters are quite good. They remain, for the better part, realistic. I found a few actions of some characters pushing the bounds a little, but not too much. Most of the characters develop a bit more depth throughout the course of the novel as they're confronted with various truisms about themselves. It's still not enough to get me to really love the characters - most of them stand in the same place.Additionally, the main viewpoint character from the last book gets a very small amount of page space; about three or four chapters. However, there are alot more characters here, and alot more viewpoint characters. These are indicated with the characters name instead of a chapter number. It tends to jump around alot, and there isn't much continuity with single characters.One thing that I didn't like, however, was how several times throughout the story several characters made miraculously accurate guesses as to what other characters were doing, in extensive detail, with very little information, let alone reliable information. I just didn't believe it. Deductive reasoning only gets anyone so far.There's a climax here, and the ending is more conclusive than the previous book. As you'd expect, being the third book in a five book series, it's not really conclusive, but it serves to at least partially tie up the events of the previous books.Once again the ancillary documentation chapters are put in. I don't like them. I don't see them serving a purpose except for being infodumps, and most of the information could be omitted without any noticable effect.Themes... well, they kinda stagnated here. More of the same as the last book, but nothing definite, and any progression of the themes is slow.All in all, I felt this was a little worse than the last book. The flaws of the last book remain, and are probably a little worse here.3.5/5

First off, if you haven't read The Real Story and Forbidden Knowledge, don't even pick this book up. You'll spend too much time trying to figure out what's already transpired.Where this book picks up, the sexually abused and psychologically debilitated Morn Hyland is captive, trying to keep herself and her (also captive) son from being sold/traded to the alien Amnion for genetic experimentation by Nick Succorso, her rescuer and eventual kidnapper. On the other end of the Galaxy, Warden Dios is working his machinations to bring down his boss, Holt Fasner, and part of this involves sending Morn's initial kidnapper and rapist, Angus Thermopyle to rescue her.Have no idea what that is about? Read the first two books in the series. The series itself is dark, violent, graphically descriptive, and thoroughly nihilistic. Ironically Morn, the "heroine" of sorts throughout the series, continues to strive for some level of honor and morality amidst the depravity and betrayal resounding around her.As far as writing, movement, style, etc., Donaldson has done an incredible job, not only with this book, but with the entire series. It is a "page turner" in the classic sense, always moving, with the conflicts continuing to evolve, twist, and even fold back upon themselves. But it seems to be written from a very dark perspective of human nature.The only reason I hesitate to recommend it is because of the very intense, graphic and (ultimately) nihilistic nature of the book (and series). This specific portion of the series has finally stepped away from the sexually depraved nature of the first two, but the dark and twisted morality and motivations still remain.

Part of the Gap series. This was my first introduction to this author. I thoroughly enjoyed the series (5 books). If you are a science fiction fan this will appeal to you. The first book in the series, The Real Story, was originally written as a novelette. It is quite short and a bit slow moving. Wade through it to get to this book, the second in the set. It does deal with sexual abuse and violence, however it is not graphic.

"A Dark and Hungry God Arises" picks up where "Forbidden Knowledge" left off. The great majority of this book is set on Thanatos Minor, the illegal bootleg human-operated outpost located in Amnion space. The Amnion tolerate its presence due to the tremendous trading opportunities it affords them.Although I liked Books 2 through 5 greatly and found them almost equally pleasurable to read, I particularly enjoyed this one for a couple of reasons:- The seamy ambience of Thanatos Minor is vividly described and is probably the only setting in the series that I could visualize well.- Angus Thermopyle re-appears in the story with tremendous effect.- Further sinister engagements with the Amnion add a lot to the setting and plot.- Very exciting climax and final battle.Couldn't put this one down.

Excellent

This is my favourite author's 3rd book in a series and read before but was not disappointed I recommend these books :)

I buy a lot of these because they are so good