The Real Story (Bantam spectra book)

Rating:
Summary: (series review) Brilliantly twisted roller-coaster ride
Review: This is the first of five books centering around three central characters, each balanced and very well developed (with serious weaknesses, as all of Donaldson's characters seem to have). At times, you might find yourself sympathizing for the antagonist, and feeling unsure of who you want to "root" for. While each book is separate on its own (and each has a prologue summarizing prior books, like Covenant), it is best treated as a single story.

There is sexual content in the series that some may find offensive, especially in the first book. It definitely adds to the story, and the emotional ride Donaldson delivers. If you read the "Thomas Covenant" series, you know how his books sometimes make you feel like you were run over by a Mack-Truck, and this series will definitely do that to you - but there are highs as well as lows (compared to Covenant, which was mostly depressing to me).

The story line of the series is fascinating - much like Strachzynski's "Babylon 5" series, the characters are greatly influenced by political events, maneuvered like pawns until they move in unexpected manners. The first book is a "quickie", more of an introduction to the series. As the series progresses, it becomes increasingly complicated (in a delicious way). It's not hard-core sci-fi, in that the technology is not the focus of the story - it could take place in submarines or pirate ships in the ocean almost as easily.

I enjoyed this series a lot more than The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant. Another good read by Donaldson is his collection of short stories, "Daughter of the Regal", which I'd highly recommend.

Rating:
Summary: S&M Fantasy as Space Opera
Review: This series is a straightforward space opera (interplanetary traders, pirates, space police, icky aliens) with a nod to high opera--Wagner's Ring des Nibelungen cycle, to be precise. Unfortunately, Donaldson, whose writing sparkles here as it has in his other books (particularly the first Thomas Covenant series) has latched on to a genre that is stale and leavens it with touches that are creepy at best and at work downright unpleasant.

This volume (which is the best in the series) follows the misadventures of a young space cadet named Morn Hyland. She's a junior pilot on a huge family-owned freighter. When her ship comes out of 'the Gap' (read warp/lightspeed/whatever), everyone on the ship but her is killed. A pirate/scavenger named Angus Thermopyle, a sleeze-ball of the first order, take her aboard, has his way with her, and is eventually arrested when he pulls in to a space station for repairs. That's the "Real Story".... or is it? Donaldson plays a Rashomon-like game, going back and retelling the story in greater depth, more close to the character's point of view, revealing that what really happened may have been something quite different. We get to watch Morn raped and degraded. And Morn raped and degraded. And Morn raped and degraded. Angus displays all sorts of neurotic soul, so we're supposed to come to sympathise with him--that we almost do is a tribute to Donaldson's writing skills, which is why I even give The Real Story 2 stars--but the fact of the matter is that this is a book about abusing a woman who never appears as more than a victim or a cypher. I read, somewhere, that Donaldson wrote this series during and immediately following his divorce. If so, I feel his pain, but I really would rather that I hadn't read the book. I went on to read the rest of the series, waiting for some kind of redemption, but aside from the fun of identifying characters from the Ring cycle in various spacers and magnates, it's more scenes of Morn being raped and degraded, literally or figuratively.

As science fiction, it's stale; as softcore S&M porn (a genre I must admit to being much less well read in) it's flat. For either, go elsewhere.

Rating:
Summary: Obscenely Compelling
Review: This was not what I expected - a sorta soft porn adventure soap opera among the stars. In this case, the science fiction is only a backdrop to the "real" book, a study in characters. A dark and dreary mood permeates this story (and the following ones). Sure, you don't want a steady diet but for a change of pace...

I loved Morn and in a perverse way, came to feel something for Angus. Their relationship was more than master-slave, involving a deeply disturbing complexity. Actually, I had no trouble getting through the book although I admit that the following works were better.