Into The Labyrinth (The Death Gate Cycle, Vol 6)

Rating:
Summary: A Shoddy Mess of Subplots
Review: As I trudged my way through the overwhelmingly long and tedious mess of pointless subplots that is the Death Gate Cycle I became more and more convinced that Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman were out to kill me. The main plot of the story, when all the numerous other, often pointless, subplots are boiled away is a rather weak attempt at depth. While there are many unique and interesting fantasy concepts in the story that often make one say "whoa man, that's cool," the way they are put together remind me of a man going into a junkyard and attempting to build a Jaguar using only a roll of duct tape. The result is a mishmash of formula fantasy stories piled together in a confusing pile of dime-novel quality writing that leaves the reader crying "GET ON WITH THE PLOT!" Where previous reviewers praise the complexity of the characters, I disparage their simplicity. They are simply caricatures put into difficult situations. For those seeking inspiration for tabletop roleplaying, I recommend this pile of concepts. For those seeking epic fantasy in the vein of Tolkien and Lewis, avoid Weis and Hickman.

Rating:
Summary: Great Plot Twists to be Found in the Labyrinth
Review: I enjoyed this book in the series because it let me see inside Haplo more than any of the others. This is the book where real changes were happening to him...where he finally was letting go of his hatred of the dreaded Sartan enemy that had forced his people into the Labyrinth. Here he found Sartan AND Patryns living and fighting the Labyrinth together, a startling revelation for Haplo and me both! Here gentle, sweet, bumbling Alfred found courage, letting go of the guilt that had plagued him since he had awoken from his deep sleep.

Here, too, we meet up again with the giant serpents that saw a real opportunity in closing off and trapping everyone within the Labyrinth, forever feeding on the fear, hatred and hopeless that the Labyrinth pounded into its victims.

Xar, Haplo's mentor and "father", had already been convinced by lies that Haplo was a trader which was just what the serpents wanted...a divided people meant a weakened army and an easier foe to conquer on the battlefield. From here on the book focuses on the war with the serpents and Xar's belated realization that he has been fooled.

Exciting story-telling!

Rating:
Summary: Superb fantasy/adventure
Review: I find this book, and the entire Death Gate series, awesome. Great characters, intricate plots, dark humour, suspense, all here; better than any other fantasy book/series I've read, except Tolkien. Each book is filled with tons of imaginative dialog, plot twists, action, and the fantasy worlds are just way detailed and fantastic. The writing style perfectly fits the dark fantasy/adventure theme. And its true you must read all the books in the series to understand it. A must read for anyone who likes imaginative things.

Rating:
Summary: 5 stars, the minimum you can give a Deathgate Cycle book.
Review: I have never been very much into reviews, but some books just call for it, and Deathgate Cycle's just one of those series. I of course, give Into the Labyrinth five stars for many reasons, other than plot and character development which are always strong throughout the series. As the sixth book of the series, Ino the Labyrinth still manages to surprise the reader and make the "answer" to the story even more confusing than it previously was. And of course, the presence of Zifnab is a plus, as I maintain he is the best character in the entire series. And for those who don't appreciate his references to James Bond and other characters, let me remind you that the four worlds of the Deathgate Cycle were sundered from the Earth which is the world that WE live in now, though it was sundered in a futuristic era. To back this up without having to quote deeply into the book, just let me remind you that Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman indicate that the name "Xar" is derived from "Czar" and ultimately, Caesar from ancient Roman times. But in any case, one thing for sure is: Throughout all of Into the Labyrinth, you'll be wondering how the hell the heroes can possibly save the worlds from the chaos that the Sartans and Patryns created, with the help of the Dragon-Snakes.

Rating:
Summary: Book Earns High Spot
Review: Ignore all of the bad comments and listen to the good ones. If you have ever wondered what it would be like to find love in the darkest of times, here is the book for you. This book reveals that the series isn't about Haplo trying to help Lord Xar take over the world or about Alfred being sad about his past or the effects that being dead has on a person. It is about Haplo growing into a person and how all of the people he has met along the way have effected his life as well as how he has effected theirs. By the time one reads the series up to this book it can be concluded that it belongs in the same status as LOTR. They too have spent much time on developing their own world.
So if you consider reading this series or are even just considering to carry on with it, I strongly suggest that you do.

Rating:
Summary: 6th 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: Lose the old dude...
Review: Number six in the Death Gate series Into the labyrinth from Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman is as good as any of the books in this serie, which means it is pretty good. It's not brilliant though. One of the things I really don't like in a fantasy book is when the authors don't take the book serious. Unfortunately this is the case in the Death Gate cycle. One of the characters in the book, an old man by the name Zifnab, keeps refering to the James Bond movies. This of course is meant to be funny. I don't like it. One of the best aspects of the book is the story which is really nice. If you want to know the story just read the cover of one of the books. I am not going to recommend this book, neither discourage you. The fact that I already read six of them says something but not everything.

Rating:
Summary: OUSTANDING! (Is it historical fiction?)
Review: This is probably the best series of books I have ever read (I haven't read Tolkien yet. I KNOW, I'm sorry!). I just cannot say enough good things about this book series. I literally read it 3 times through, and each time I can relate to a different character and come to see it from their perspective.

The way that Tracy and Margaret bring the characters to life significantly contributes to the reason this series of books is so great. By the end of the 1st book, Hugh the Hand (Best Assassin in the world), Alfred(Sartan Mage), Haplo(Patryn Mage), Bane(son of most powerful human mage alive), and the rest of the characters have almost come to life in your mind.

If you're going to read Fantasy(Or SciFi) start with this! The sense of depth these books have to them makes you wonder if it's actually historical fiction that Margaret and Tracy are writing about and the index each book has is absolutely amazing. Whenever you're confused about something the characters are making reference to (or if you 'missed' [skipped, lol] the part when the character's were discussing it) you can simply look it up in the back index and you'll understand it better than you would have just reading straight through. (THEY EVEN HAVE DIAGRAMS OF EVERYTHING!)

Margaret and Tracy together are unparalleled writers equal to only a few such as Tolkien, Piers Anthony, Knaak, Louis Lamour(SP?) and the like.

I won't be suprised when this series becomes the next movie series. Except for the fact that since the book's environs are so diverse (they 'literally' create whole worlds with flora and fauna and a whole system of language [actually I think it might be latin]) the movie industry right now might not be up to it.

Finally, if you're worried about it being too advanced or too intellectual, don't. The characters are incredably deep, but like real people, are revealed to you slowly through the actions they take and throughout the series, so you're not overwhelmed all at once.

All the books are great, and I will read the series a 4th, 5th, and maybe a 6th time. Although one of the middle books does drag a little because it's mostly about the humans, dwarves, and elves (Mensch: Patryn/Sartan(Magus) word for humans, dwarves, and elves or anyone else who doesn't live thousands of years).

Rating:
Summary: OUSTANDING! (Is it historical fiction?)
Review: This is probably the best series of books I have ever read (I haven't read Tolkien yet. I KNOW, I'm sorry!). I just cannot say enough good things about this book series. I literally read it 3 times through, and each time I can relate to a different character and come to see it from their perspective.

The way that Tracy and Margaret bring the characters to life significantly contributes to the reason this series of books is so great. By the end of the 1st book, Hugh the Hand (Best Assassin in the world), Alfred(Sartan Mage), Haplo(Patryn Mage), Bane(son of most powerful human mage alive), and the rest of the characters have almost come to life in your mind.

If you're going to read Fantasy(Or SciFi) start with this! The sense of depth these books have to them makes you wonder if it's actually historical fiction that Margaret and Tracy are writing about and the index each book has is absolutely amazing. Whenever you're confused about something the characters are making reference to (or if you 'missed' [skipped, lol] the part when the character's were discussing it) you can simply look it up in the back index and you'll understand it better than you would have just reading straight through. (THEY EVEN HAVE DIAGRAMS OF EVERYTHING!)

Margaret and Tracy together are unparalleled writers equal to only a few such as Tolkien, Piers Anthony, Knaak, Louis Lamour(SP?) and the like.

I won't be suprised when this series becomes the next movie series. Except for the fact that since the book's environs are so diverse (they 'literally' create whole worlds with flora and fauna and a whole system of language [actually I think it might be latin]) the movie industry right now might not be up to it.

Finally, if you're worried about it being too advanced or too intellectual, don't. The characters are incredably deep, but like real people, are revealed to you slowly through the actions they take and throughout the series, so you're not overwhelmed all at once.

All the books are great, and I will read the series a 4th, 5th, and maybe a 6th time. Although one of the middle books does drag a little because it's mostly about the humans, dwarves, and elves (Mensch: Patryn/Sartan(Magus) word for humans, dwarves, and elves or anyone else who doesn't live thousands of years).

Rating:
Summary: Excellent!!! Finally, you get to see the Labyrinth!
Review: This novel is the sixth book of the Death Gate Series. And, it is quite possibly one of the most complex, intense, enjoyable reads of this series.

Haplo is joined by Marit, his former lover, and Hugh the Hand as he travels through Arianus. Marit has been sent by Xar to kill Haplo, and Hugh the Hand has been sent by the Kenkari to kill Haplo also. But, the trio end up back in the Labyrinth, where Alfred is waiting for them.

Once Marit and Haplo realize where they are, they are even more stunned to find that they are at the BEGINNING of the Labyrinth. The four party memebers decide that they must try and complete the Labyrinth, since it is the only way out.

After narrowly escaping the first gate, the group comes across something that the Patyrns have never seen before in the Labyrinth; a city. Once in the city, Alfred and the gang learn some lessons on what happened to the Sartan sent to the Labyrinth, and more importantly, what a Serpent Mage is.

This novel is unreal, and fast paced. The reader finally gets to experience the triumph and tragedy associated with the Labyrinth. There are new characters to the series, and further character development of the old characters. The novel is a page turner, and keeps you interested from the beginning. Perhaps the greatest part of this novel is the battle that takes place at the end of the book, when the Labyrinth decides to attack a city. With the ending of this novel, you will want to RACE to get the final novel in this series!!