It certainly seems the case that Donaldson is a love/hate thing as Gollum says. I'm a fan but I have to say that I prefer his Gap Series - and this series itself generates it's very own fair share of love and hate from the readership. It's a space saga that is full of extremes and many people don't get past volume one but, if you are a Donaldson fan, I'd say persevere as (in my opinion) it evolves into one of the finest SF works of recent years.
