Rating: 
Summary: Will read the entire series!
Review: At first I was daunted when I looked at the map at the beginning of this book (it's quite involved and complicated) - but I read the the prologue anyway and was hooked. The characters are well developed (though some mystery is left to be unraveled, presumably in future installments) as is the world in which the book is set. The story flows well and includes an interesting blend of races in different societal settings. Normally even good books will have some trait that annoys me. I couldn't find one in this book and I can't wait to read the rest of the series!
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Summary: First book in an amazing series.
Review: Dragon Wing is the first book of the DeathGate Cycle, and possibly one of the best series books on the market today. Wies and Hickman team up again to write this amazing book, full of action, adventure, intrigue, death, destruction. The main character in this book, a man named Haplo, is sent by his master to survey a world in which his master hopes to one day conquer. On this world, Haplo must face an evil mage, and must team up with a deadly assassin in order to enevitably save the world.The plot and action in this book are deeper than i could ever hope to explain, the book will keep you hooked from cover to cover. This book is definately one of the best books on the market today. Wies and Hickman show that they dont have to stay in the Dragonlance realm to write an exciting, and emotional book. If you are a fan of Wies and Hickman, or just a fan of fantasy itself, this book, and the rest in the series are a must.
Rating:
Summary: A great book, well worth the money. . .
Review: DRAGON WING marks the beginning to THE DEATH GATE CYCLE, a series where the first four novels are stand-alones and the action takes place on four seperate worlds. In DRAGON WING we are introduced to the great many races of creatures used in the cycle. There are elves, dwarves, sartyn, and patryn; each race is thouroghly introduced and there is a large aray of characters from each race that grace the story. I liked this book because it managed to go in depth into the minds of the characters, and to create a fast paced, action filled story line all at the same time. There is so much going on in this novel, with it's large and heavily detailed world, that I cannot even begin to synopsize it. All I will say is that anyone who is a fan of fantasy should pick up this book and give it a try. I'm sure you'll be satisfied
Rating:
Summary: Great book BUT BE WARNED
Review: Having just finished the final book (the seventh Gate) i am extremely pleased with this book.
When you start this book you probably are just expecting a non chalant novel...BUT NO this book really goes deeper and deeper into a immense storyline that will instantly get you hooked.
when my friend showed me this book i was just like "oh yea i guess ill read it", by thre time i finished the first book i was begging him for the next one and the next one and on and on until i finished the whole series.
so all in all
if you dont want to get into immense stories that just are mind blowing and you dont have that much time for it then dont get it, otherwise enjoy this book to te fullest becauae it is so far the best i have read.
Rating:
Summary: You gotta read this one.
Review: I first read Dragon Wing when I was in high school, my first real fantasy novel second to the Hobbit. Since then, I've read Dragon Wing two additional times, and each time has been better than the first. This time around, now that I have the complete collection of all 7 Death Gate novels, I plan to read them straight through. What I have found very impressive with this book is that each time I read it, I have a better understanding of the world that has been created, and it makes more sense than the first or second time I read through it. Though I'm reluctant to compare anything to Tolkien, I would have to say that the Death Gate Cycle comes real close to being a masterpiece. Unfortunately, the story does tend to get a little choppy near its end with many a misspelled word and grammatical errors. Whereas that alone is not enough to kill a story, it does tend to draw away from it, sort of as if Weis and Hickman were getting edgy to hurry up and finish and move on to the next in the series. Still, definately worth a read (or two or three).
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful!
Review: I love this book soo much! I liked how the book sometimes changed character focus, it gave the REader some ide a of what everyone thought of situations. Haplo was my favorite character, he was portrayed in a way that made me really like him and want to know what happened with him (even though he's slightly evil). The new worlds that the authors made are spectacular! Very creative and interesting to read about. There are 4: Air, Water, Fire, and Stone. This book takes place in Arianus, the Air World.
Haplo is a "Patryn", a man of an ancient race who controls rune magic. He's sent to Arianus by his Lord, the Lord of the Nexus (also a Patryn), to wreak chaos there ... to pave the way for his Lord's world domination. He meets a Geg (a.k.a. dwarf) who's a rebel leader, an cunning but honorable assassin named Hugh the Hand, a manipulative "prince" named Bane, and Alfred - who Haplo later discovers has a big secret.
I found the middle through the end really really exciting, just in the way to make you want to pick up the next book as quickly as possible...parts of the beginning aren't as exciting, though some of it is. As a whole, Dragon Wing, has a certain je'ne se quoi (can't spell that: jeh-nuh-say-quaw).
It is a definite must-read. Readers will find that the books get even better as you get deeper in the series (I think there are seven) the next one is Elven Star.
Rating:
Summary: A Brilliant book, stand alone or as part of a series
Review: I read quite a bit of fantasy, but never felt a strong desire to read this one; I mistakenly thought it to be more Sci-fi than Fantasy. However, I came across Dragon Wing at a garage sale, it sat around the house for a while, and one day on a whim, I picked it up. Other than popping online to order the rest of the books and a couple of bathroom breaks, I do not think I quit reading until I had finished. The characters are amazingly rendered, and true to life. I enjoy a book like this that you can read and enjoy as a stand-alone title, but has sequels so if you cannot get enough there is more story! Highly recommended to all fantasy fans, I find this a slight cut above most current fantasy in this "POST-Harry Potter" world. The story is dramatic, action packed and a bit more REAL than most of the fluff I have read lately. 5/5
Rating:
Summary: A Brilliant book, stand alone or as part of a series
Review: I read quite a bit of fantasy, but never felt a strong desire to read this one; I mistakenly thought it to be more Sci-fi than Fantasy. However, I came across Dragon Wing at a garage sale, it sat around the house for a while, and one day on a whim, I picked it up. Other than popping online to order the rest of the books and a couple of bathroom breaks, I do not think I quit reading until I had finished. The characters are amazingly rendered, and true to life. I enjoy a book like this that you can read and enjoy as a stand-alone title, but has sequels so if you cannot get enough there is more story! Highly recommended to all fantasy fans, I find this a slight cut above most current fantasy in this "POST-Harry Potter" world. The story is dramatic, action packed and a bit more REAL than most of the fluff I have read lately. 5/5
Rating: 
Summary: First Book in a Very Good Series
Review: In all probability, people who read the first of the Death Gate Cycle books and like it, are going to want to read all of the books in the series (regardless of any flucutation in the individual books' ratings). Ditto for the reverse: if people don't like the first book, then they're probably not going to want to read any of the other books in the series. Thus, instead of individual book ratings, I've rated the whole series and given a short blurb on any specifics for each book. Overall, this is a very good series. The authors were amazingly creative in coming up with this concept and the books are well-written, extremely interesting, and internally consistent (mostly -- see below for some exceptions). I highly recommend this series of books for everyone. My comments for the indidual books follow: Vol. 1 -- Dragon Wing: This book covers the exploration of Arianus: the realm of Air. It introduces us to the two main characters (Haplo and Alfred) and many of the recurring characters throughout the series. It's a well-paced, well-written book that's an excellent reresentation of what to expect in most of the rest of the series. Essentially, if you like this book, you'll like the other six books. If you don't like this book, then there's no sense in reading any of the others. Vol. 2 -- Elven Star: This book covers the exploration of Pryan: the realm of Fire. Alfred is entirely missing from this book, and Haplo isn't really the centerpiece. Instead, the book is mostly written from the perspective of the mensch and of the newly introduced (and recurring) Zifnab. The one possible weakness in the book is that Weis/Hickman wrote it such that the structure of Pryan itself is more of a mystery than Arianus was in the first book. Vol. 3 -- Fire Sea: This book covers the exploration of Abarrach: the realm of Stone. Once again, both Haplo and Alfred are present. The characters and areas presented in this book are key elements for the entire series. An interesting book, but not a very happy one at all. Vol. 4 -- Serpent Mage: This book covers the exploration of Chelestra: the realm of Water. Both Alfred and Haplo are on this world. But, for the most part, they follow separate plot lines. There's a lot of action taking place throughout the book and Weis/Hickman introduce some actual Sartan (besides Alfred). They also bring in an ancient evil to balance the ancient good introduced in the previous book. The most irritating thing about this book is that it ends in a cliff-hanger. The previous books tied up their worlds' activities fairly nicely. Not so in this book. It ends at a very inconvenient spot. Vol. 5 -- Hand of Chaos: This book returns Haplo to Arianus and the people he met there earlier. Whereas the first four books of the series cover the exploration of the four realms, this book starts the synthesis of the various threads from those books into a movement towards closure. It's a good book, but, unfortunately, it doesn't do anything with Alfred. The previous book left Alfred heading towards a bad end. This book doesn't do anything with that. So, while reading the book, you constantly have this little voice in the back of your mind going "what's happening with Alfred?" Irritating. Vol. 6 -- Into the Labyrinth: This book ranges across just about all of the worlds of the Death Gate. It brings all of the various threads from the other books to a head. Most importantly, it finally does something with Alfred. The unfortunate thing about this book is that it contains a lot of technical errors (or, more specifically, contradictions). For instance, in Dragon Wing, we're told that a person needs to be familiar with an area to use a transportation spell to get to that area. Yet, very close to the beginning of the book, one of the characters uses such a spell without ever having been to her target location. There are also several instances where the characters COULD have used such a spell, but don't. Likewise, there are problems with replication spells. In Fire Sea, Haplo and Alfred use such a spell to replicate enough food for a large group of people. Yet, in this book, no one seems to consider using a replication spell to produce more of some food. But, later on, those same people are using that same spell to replicate weapons. Plus, at one point, Xar uses a spell to just materialize both food and drink for a party. But, if such a thing is possible, why do the Patryns hunt and, apparently, farm in the Labyrinth? Also, the size of the Labyrinth seems wrong. From the previous books, it's taken hundreds (if not thousands) of years for various Patryns to traverse the hundreds of Gates in the Labryrinth. Yet, in this book, from the very beginning of the Labyrinth they can see the results of things happening at the Final Gate. There's also the problem of how people at the center of the Labyrinth would know anything about the Final Gate. Vol. 7 -- Seventh Gate: This is the conclusion of the Death Gate series. Unforunately, I didn't much care for it. Basically, it comes across as being pretty sappy. All of a sudden, Haplo and Alfred are best buds and want to teach the world to sing in perfect harmony. Most of the various threads are tied up adequately (if not very satifyingly). But, the sudden push towards liberal "peace, love, and harmony" is trite. Of the seven books in this series, this one is the least good. Once again, I didn't much care for the tone of this book. But, since it adequatly ties up most everything that needed tying up, I'm not going to downgrade the whole series because of that.
Rating:
Summary: Fun Fantasy
Review: Known mostly for their "Dragonlance" novels, Maragaret Weis and Tracy Hickman write an original and fun novel outside of that series here. "Dragon Wing" is the first book of "The Death Gate Cycle," a series of seven books. In this novel the authors open up the whole series, introduce the world, and some characters very precisely. I enjoyed this book immensely and I'm sure that the next books in this promising series will be just as good as volume one. Many things take place in "Dragon Wing." The book starts off with an assassin being rescued from being executioned and he is then presented with a task assigned by the King. He is being asked to murder the King's son, the Prince himself! Meanwhile, a Geg (Dwarf) is going against the major religon of his people and will begin to change the way the world looks at everything. From the first grabbing pages to the very last, where some of the plot is wrapped up, though the reader will be in suspense for the next novel, this extraordinary novel entertains. One of the most inventive and "cool" things about this book is the world that the story takes place in. The world is broken up into four realms, fire, stone, water, and sky. This book only takes place in the sky part of the world, but I'm sure that the future novels of this series will get into the other realms. The sky world is comprised of three different levels, the low realm, the mid realm, and the high realm. Within these realms are many islands that float in the air. People build, live, and work on these "islands in the sky" as if they were on a regular world. The three races in the book are the Gegs, Humans, and Elves. It is interesting to see how they travel in the world (using big magical ships) and how they react with one another. The main characters in this novel are very enjoyable to read about and are likeable. You actually care what will happen to these people by the end of the book, so you keep reading. However, these characters were not entirely original. One of the characters was your typical prince; his servant was heroic, so that was a bit orignal; the assassin is an adventurer type; and Limbeck was probably the most original of the characters. There are many other characters that come in between as well. An interesting thing that Weis and Hickman do is their portrayal of elves. The elves in this book are not your typical elves as they are not kind and thoughtful. These elves have an attitude and are mostly mean. With an inventive plot, fun characters, and an interesting world "Dragon Wing" doesn't disappoint. I am looking forward to reading the next book in this series. For a fantasy fan that is looking for a bit of originality in their reading this novel cannot be beat. Happy Reading!
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