Rating: 
Summary: the real HUMAN story
Review: Reading the reviews of 'The Real Story', it's obviously a polarizing book - either you give it one star or five. Five was the only choice I could imagine. Yes, the book is bleak, depressing and there is no better word for Angus than "depraved". But that's what is fascinating about the book. There are no heroes in the 'Gap...' series. In a sense, 'The Real Story' would have been a better work without the four books that follow it, allowing the characters redemption. Angus rotting in jail with the real story left untold has a reality, an honesty almost, that few SciFi books convey. The remaining books appeal to our desire for closure, for justice, for a happy ending...but 'The Real Story' gives us the brutal truth. To anyone who loved Thomas Covenant for his flawed humanity and his imperfection, instead of seeing him as only the hero to save the world...if you connected with his pain, read this book. If you just liked the heroism and the victory of good over evil...don't bother.
Rating: 
Summary: Current criticisms of this book are uncalled for. Yet...
Review: Many of the reviews on this book complain that it is "too cynical." I find this to be a ridiculous criticism of a book. This is the same sort of nonsensical flagellating that Thomas Hardy once said "cured him of novel-writing" (Hardy certainly being accused of, among other things, too cynical). But I'm not out to write a review of other reviews, but of this book. Donaldson's universe is not as deep or compelling as say, Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman's Starshield Universe, or their delightful space-operatic setting of the Star of the Guardians trilogy, or even the relatively sparse celestial settings of some of Harlan Ellison's sci-fi work. I don't think by this point in the series Donaldson is working on sweeping us away in typical space-opera grandiosity (be forewarned if this is what you seek -- you will not find a classically defined "epic" in this story.) What you will find is a compact, tightly written, and disturbingly personal piece of fiction. If you're an empathetic person you'll be able to relate to even the monstrous Angus is some detached way. There are no heroes in this story, and if you consider it, no true villains. The story is about a kidnapping, but the simplicity ends there. Yet, I have to admit, I would have preferred the epic sci-fi sweep of the aforementioned authors in places opposed to the personal, introspective (and often) slow-paced tone of this novel. Give it a try, it only takes you about 4 hours to read.
Rating: 
Summary: A spectacular disappointment
Review: Having now read the first book in the series and most of the reviews here, I have to agree with those who hated it. I too loved the Thomas Covenant books and hoped to find novels of similar depth and skill here. I was sorely disappointed. Even allowing for typical sci-fi conventions, not one scene rang true to me. I thought the dialogue was often terrible. I failed to buy into the characters and their supposed motivations throughout the entire book. I was completely unable to suspend my disbelief for even so much as a page. Based on the other reviews I did try the second book, but gave up about a hundred pages in when all I encountered was more of the same. Add to that the oft-commented upon bleak storyline and unrelenting depravity and/or stupidity of ALL of the characters in this book, and this does not make for particularly compelling reading. Another reviewer compared this series to Dan Simmons' Hyperion books. NOT! If you want to read truly excellent science fiction do try the Hyperion novels. If you want to be endlessly frustrated by hack science fiction at its absolute worst, read 'The Real Story.'
Rating:
Summary: Life is too short to wait for the "good part"
Review: I should have read the Amazon reviews before buying this book. Instead, I picked up this book solely because I enjoyed Donaldson's Thomas Covenant titles. When just about every reviewer tells you to try and get through this slow-moving and rape-filled story because the rest of the series gets better, ask yourself one question: "Am I that patient?" I wasn't.
Rating: 
Summary: Do not pass go, go directly to Forbidden Knowledge
Review: I approach this book from a different perspective than most of the readers here. I read it last, whereas it is supposed to be the first book in the series. The problem with this book is that it has very little to do with the central conflict of the rest of the series. You could say it resembles Tolkien's _the Hobbit_, a lightweight story that serves as an introduction to a more serious epic. People seem to be commenting a lot on the supposed misogyny of the book. Unfortunately, this is merely pointing to a creative problem which Donaldson had with this book, which he notes in his afterword. In fact, he considered leaving this book unpublished because he recognized this flaw, though he corrected it in later books. Donaldson's problem was that he couldn't seem to flesh out his other characters in the context of this book, and concentrated on Angus (who is a much smaller character in the rest of the series.) I never have problems with books, plays or films in which the protagonists are evil. If I did, I'd have to dismiss most of Shakespeare (Othello is a good example of what I mean) and much other great literature. The real problem with this book is the fact that Morn Hyland, the central protagonist of the rest of the series, isn't very well developed in this book. The book focuses exclusively on Angus, an unpleasant and evil character. (Of course, some people feel that rape shouldn't be discussed in books at all. If so, they should stay far away from Donaldson who writes about depressing and taboo topics. He also writes them far differently than, say Heinlein, you could easily compare Morn in later books to Heinlein's Friday, but the way the author's handle rape is different. I wonder if the reaction to a male protagonist being raped would be similar? Of course, I've yet to see that taboo broken in a space opera...) I honestly believe that if Donaldson had published this book later, after the rest of the gap books had been out for a while, people who are hostile to the series would probably only be hostile to this particular book. I think frankly people are more comfortable with rape when it is part of a characters past than when it is part of a current timeline in a story. The rape scenes are entirely unpleasant, but they don't try to glamorize it and indeed seem to try to make it unsexual. This is not an S&M book (indeed, the people angry at this book should note that the rape scenes are about as detailed as what you hear on the TV news, in which the crimes are described... but very little detail is given, just enough to convey the horror of the crimes.)
Rating:
Summary: Made me reconsider Sci-fi as a genre
Review: Sure, I had read other science fiction(Asimov, Bear, Quite a few unknowns and Names I Can't Remember), but nothing prepared me for this book. I came into it off the Thomas Covenant series, trusting that since it was Donaldson, it would probably be at least an ok read, and besides, its short. If I don't like it I don't have to read the others. What I found when I opened the book was a drama of such depth and with so many realistic characters that it changed my views on science fiction. The bleakness of the rape scenes and the depravity served as an excellent counterpoint to the characters' struggle to survive. You can only have as much good in a book as you admit bad. This book has a lot of bad, but it only serves to make the characters' simplest actions heroic in proportion. Morn's struggle to survive in the face of all that happens to her is heartbreaking - it shows both the strengths and the weaknesses inherent in human nature. Overcoming those weaknesses and the depravities that are forced upon her is a seemingly impossible task, and so every score in her favor means so much more than it would if she was merely kidnapped and yelled at. The other characters are equally depthy, but that depth is developed more over the rest of the series. I even found myself sympathizing with the characters on the dark side of the spectrum, although I would never agree with their actions. These characters are not inherently evil, they were twisted by their childhood, by the events that surrounded them. This can never make their actions forgivable in any society, but it can convert anger at them into sadness for them. If you read the first book and never pick up the second, you will be losing one of the best, if not the best, sci-fi series out there, and also one of the best reflections on the nature of the human soul. The ideas expressed are not pretty, if they were they would not be an accurate reflection of reality. Give it a chance.
Rating:
Summary: A riveting introduction to an incredible series
Review: I picked up this book because I loved the Thomas Covenant series, and I admit, I was at first perplexed by what seemed to be a radical change in Donaldson's writing. The book was a short synopsis of the events in two character's life, and the ending leaves much to be desired. Then, however, I read the afterword by Donaldson, and the style began to make sense: he intended each book in the series to concentrate on developing different characters in different ways (the first develops Angus and Morn, the second develops Morn and Nick, etc). Don't read this book unless you intend to read the whole series; to do otherwise would undermine the author's vision of this book. And yes, as some have pointed out, this book contains disturbing images of rape and sexual perversions; but it is not the prevalent theme of the series, nor does it make the book a pornographic work. These events are used to set a tone of desperation for the two main characters, as well as exposing their weaknesses and vulnerabilities (a trademark of Donaldson). The series gets better - don't miss out on one of the best fantasy sagas in years.
Rating:
Summary: Donaldson a Master at Depth of Character
Review: I can think of few authors in any genre who are better at creating depth of character. He takes the reader on a roller-coaster ride into the extremes of human nature. While this may be the "least excellent" of the series, I rated the series as a whole. Enjoy!
Rating: 
Summary: What a great story RUINED by the consistant rape theme :-(
Review: Excellent story, incredible insight into the characters, and then it all gets dulled by Mr. Donaldson's preoccupation with rape and sexual humiliation and torture. Similar themes run through the Thomas Covenant series and now plays a major thread here - and why! It doesn't add anything, sheesh. It doesn't have to be soooooo vile- does it? Sex in the story = good. Torture perversion = bad.
Rating:
Summary: The hype is overblown
Review: I read this book because I was told of how disturbing it was. My thinking was that anything that could inspire such revulsion in hard-core readers must be worth a look, if nothing else than to see what the fuss was about. Besides that, I heard it was a decent story. My hope is that the remainder of the series is stronger. The story itself was marginally interesting - but there was really no likable character to root for. Even Morn was hard for me to embrace. As to the vile acts committed in the book - yes, they are somewhat unsettling. However, the acts here did not disturb me as much as, say, the rape scene in Burgess' "A Clockwork Orange". There are numerous mentions of deviant behavior, but they are described in a detached, unemotional sense and without any detail, so they really failed to impact me. Maybe I'm jaded, but I was not really that shocked. Donaldson is a good storyteller and builds characters well. My hope is that in the next book (have not read it yet) Morn and her new captain will be developed more fully and challenged to do more.
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