As the planetoid Thanatos Minor explodes into atoms, a specially-fitted cruiser escapes the mass destruction and hurtles into space only a step ahead of hostile pursuit. On board Trumpet are a handful of bedraggled fugitives from an outlaw world - old enemies suddenly and violently thrown together in a desperate bid for survival. Among this unlikely crew of allies are Morn Hyland, once a UMC cop, now a prisoner to the electrodes implanted in her brain; her son, Davies, "force-grown" to adulthood by the alien Amnion and struggling to understand his true identity; the amoral space buccaneer Nick Succorso, whose most daring act of piracy could be his last; and Angus Thermopyle, unstoppable cyborg struggling to wrest control of his own mind from his UMC programmers.
Chaos and Order: The Gap Into Madness
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Punisher is on the run from Billingate Space Station, as well as other predators that follow: UMCP Enforcement Division director Min Donner aboard a crippled Punisher, Nick's archenemy (and slave to the aliens) Sorus Chatelaine aboard Soar, and the mysterious hired gun, Free Lunch. Corrupt cyborg Angus Thermopyle and ruthless Nick Succorso battle for control of the ship and the situation. Their trail leads to Valdor Industrial, where geneticist/engineer Vector Shaheed seeks to redeem himself by manufacturing an antidote to the mutagen used by the alien Amnioni to mutate human beings against their will. Brutalized yet resilient Morn Hyland, her clone/son Davies, tough officer Mikki, Pup, Sib, and the rest continue their suffering and sacrificing.
Meanwhile, back in Earth space, police and politicians battle for power as UMCP director Dios continues his grim revolution against the Dragon. Assassin kazes, political fears, and provocative bills threaten to paralyze the Governing Council for Earth and Space.
Ships battling in space? Laboratory space stations developing antimutagen antidotes against the aliens who seek to conquer humankind by mutation? Outrage, brutality, betrayal, and secrets? Donaldson lays it all out with sharp dialogue, tense scenes, and zippy action.
From Publishers Weekly
This fourth installment of Donaldson's Gap series may at first confuse even those who have read the previous volumes, since there's no summary of what has gone before and the plot is extremely convoluted. Once it gets going, though, the action moves forward like a juggernaut. Pursued by a police battle cruiser, by a bounty hunter and by a ship commanded by human agents of the dreaded Amnion, an alien race, Angus Thermopyle heads his ship, Trumpet , for an illegal lab hidden in a chaotic asteroid belt. There, Thermopyle, once a fearsome pirate, now a cyborg partially controlled by police programming, plans to have the secret "antimutagen," which protects humans against the forced mutation practiced by the Amnion, replicated for mass distribution. Aboard Trumpet are the survivors from the pirate ship Captain's Fancy , including Morn Hyland (the series' long-suffering heroine) and her erstwhile tormentor, Nick Succorso. The larger conflict between Warden Dios, head of the United Mining Companies police, and Holt Fasner, CEO of the powerful megacorporation, moves closer to its climax; but the real excitement comes with the extended chase and battle in the asteroid swarm. Series readers will be glad to see that this installment, which at last begins to resolve the overall plot, offers plenty of thrills and an exciting finish that will leave them eager for the fifth and final volume.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
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Most helpful customer reviews
By A. Yaeger
Format:Mass Market Paperback
One of the reasons that I liked the gap series and other novels by Donaldson are that his main characters aren't always good. In most other novels written in this era the main characters are always battling depression and other "bad" feelings but in the gap series the main characters are tough vicious and would eat you alive if you didn't beat them to the punch. The simple fact is that "good" people just wouldn't survive in the worlds that science fiction and fantasy authors create. Most authors depict the main character as someone who at their core is honorable and the simple fact of the matter is honorable people don't stand a chance of a snowball in hell in the situations that they are usually painted in. The concept of you have to use fire to fight fire is hundreds if not thousands of years old and I always find it refreshing to see authors use this concept when depicting characters that have to challenge each other.
Format:Mass Market Paperback
While "Chaos and Order" isn't as tightly plotted and intricate as "A Dark and Hungry God Arises", it is still rippingly good. The tale is a rollercoaster from following-on beginning to incomplete end, unlike the previous book, which more amounted to an examination of shifting alliances and intrigue amid the profound psychology of its characters, all concentrating and shifting onto one place, accruing to a kind of psychological "critical mass", at which point Thanatos Minor explodes. One of the core themes of Chaos and Order - running about through a maelstrom of rock, the hurtling debris of shattered plans, shattering and coalescing into new forms - follows on from the diametrically opposing theme of the previous story brilliantly.
As the web of intrigue and murder in and around Earth is expanded to a fully-fledged political thriller, we have the important characters from the previous story - Nick, Morn, Angus, Davies, Vector, Mikka, and with them the rather incidental Sib and Pup - all saved from the storm of Thanatos Minor's ruin and flung off just ahead of half a dozen people who want them alive; or, if they can't have them alive, then blown to atoms like Billingate. Everyone else - from *Captain's Fancy* - is dead. While this may seem like a bit of a *deus ex machina* (subtle nod towards Angus, I'm sure), in practice it works out fine.
They are now on the run, the most explosive body of information in Human Space, and seeking to make themselves even more explosive by letting Vector Shaheed, the geneticist, complete the anti-mutagen drug which the United Mining Companies Police suppressed, which will give humankind a defence against alien absorption, however temporary. Everyone - the cops, the aliens, people working for the cops and people working for the aliens - are after them, and the scene is set for ever-tenuous alliances and furious desperation to lead to a lot of shooting and bloodshed, and even greater extremity by the survivors.
This is an intermediate tale. As with all the others except "The Real Story", it is successfully diametric and harmonious in its many balancing qualities. It is a masterpiece, in a way opposite to how the previous book in the story is - and again this is an intentional contrast. I swear again, this series will significantly improve your life. I'm normally so damn analytical, and it has me ranting!
The marking of four out of five and not five is rather a personal opinion. I preferred the rigid and less scattered nature of the plot in and around Billingate, and this made me like the fourth book somewhat less than the third. The horror of the first, second and somewhat the third books as gone, or at least vastly reduced and changed in character. It is no longer an issue. The squeamish will have been well and truly left behind by now, anyway.
Each book in the Gap Series up to this one expands on the author's complex mind-game universe by a power of two. It is this story which opens Donaldson's future to its fullest extent. The final book is an examination of that universe, now that the previous four books have detailed it in full and lavish detail, bringing the story to an ultimate conclusion. This fourth book is the last time you will see the fun "Ancillary Documentation" - but Donalson's story-advancing characters will have captivated you utterly by now, if you've got this far, so you won't mind that in the slightest as you rapidly and nervously go out for the fifth book, hand shaking as you hand the money over and wonder whether it can possibly live up to what's gone before.
By Chaon
Format:Mass Market Paperback
This book pales in comparison to the first two books of the series, and is about as bad as the third. Gone are the fascinating character developments- in their place you get hack writing, bad science, and literary drudgery. Go ahead and read it if you are a Donaldson devotee, otherwise don't waste your time.
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4.2 out of 5 stars
Most recent customer reviews
3.0 out of 5 stars
Donaldson is a great writer
I haven't read this particular book, but if it is anything like the other books he has written then I will be sure to like it. Read more
Published on July 21 2001
2.0 out of 5 stars
A disappointment
Donaldson can tell a story, but this series was weak. Character development is excellent; but theme clarity is muddy; and there is no climax - in fact - there is no ending, just... Read more
Published on May 3 2001 by S. Hammill
5.0 out of 5 stars
Breathtaking!
Unplug your phone, lock your doors and practice holding your breath. Like the previous volumes in the Gap series, this one is impossible to put down, once you start. Read more
Published on Jan 24 2001 by E. Jensen
5.0 out of 5 stars
Like all of Donaldson's books, excellent
This book is not so much about the world that the characters are living in, but the characters themselves. Read more
Published on Aug 2 2000 by Dylan Bruzenak
5.0 out of 5 stars
Empowerment everywhere
I think this book is the most compelling and powerful in the entire Gap Cycle. All the main characters come into their own power fully in this book. Read more
Published on Dec 24 1999
5.0 out of 5 stars
Another Masterpiece
Donaldson continues to write the most engaging, thought provoking, mind-blowing science fiction around. This series is not for the lazy. Read more
Published on Nov 3 1999 by John A
5.0 out of 5 stars
Convoluted, fast, exciting. Fasten your seat-belts!
The fourth book in the Gap Series is nearly as excellent as its predecessor, "A Dark and Hungry God Arises". Read more
Published on Aug 13 1999 by Loren Rosson III
5.0 out of 5 stars
Really Smart Science-Fiction
It is seldom that one sees Sci-Fi with as much attention to detail as the Gap cycle. More to the point, it is not often that one sees Sci-Fi, with the possible exception of... Read more
Published on Oct 21 1998
5.0 out of 5 stars
Horribly fascinating !
Donaldson has a very special way of describing his caracters. He descibes perfectly the most hideous and vile persons/creature ... but is it the bad guy or the hero ... Read more
Published on Sep 16 1998
2.0 out of 5 stars
Maddening and Chaotic
Although I am a Donaldson fan, I confess my infatuation with his work is at best ambivalent. "Chaos" I found to be entirely too chaotic. Read more
Published on Aug 13 1998
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