Into the Labyrinth

Rating:
Summary: Overwhelmingly great
Review: If you don't read all seven books in order, you'll never get it. "Into the Labyrinth" is totally dependant on the other books. (So are the rest) Everything flows into each other so that I can't quite remember where each book began and ended. They'll blow you away. Really well-developed characters, intricately carved plot, and a frustratingly real writing style make these books the best I've ever read.

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: 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: Fantastic
Review: The book was very, very, very, very, good. I started readingthis and just couldn't stop. I read the book thru night on onesitting. After I had finished it, I ate breakfast and went to my maths exam. Well you can guess how the exam went...

Rating:
Summary: The best series I have ever read!!
Review: The Death Gate Cycle was the first series of books I had ever read. Since these, I haven't been able to find a book or series that had such an impact on me. I love the whole "idea" of the Death Gate. The way they presented Haplo and Alfred was fantastic. Even the detail they went into on the other characters like Bane, Iridal, Limbeck, Ciang-The Arm, and definately Hugh-The Hand. I heard there was another book comming out after the Seventh Gate. If it's true, someone please write me back and let me know if I should continue searching for the book. Thanks for the reading pleasure Tracy and Margaret.

Rating:
Summary: The best series I have ever read!!
Review: The Death Gate Cycle was the first series of books I had ever read. Since these, I haven't been able to find a book or series that had such an impact on me. I love the whole "idea" of the Death Gate. The way they presented Haplo and Alfred was fantastic. Even the detail they went into on the other characters like Bane, Iridal, Limbeck, Ciang-The Arm, and definately Hugh-The Hand. I heard there was another book comming out after the Seventh Gate. If it's true, someone please write me back and let me know if I should continue searching for the book. Thanks for the reading pleasure Tracy and Margaret.

Rating:
Summary: A great 6th book in a 7 book series...start with volume 1!
Review: This book answers alot of questions which had been left open from previous books. Many chapters are told from the perspective of Xar, Lord of the Nexus, allowing the reader to see into the mind of this previously mysterious character. In addition, by the end if this book, Haplo comes to terms with who he is, what he stands for, and what he wants to accomplish. I would give this series the highest possible recommendation. The Death Gate Cycle is thoroughly readable and a ton of fun.

Rating:
Summary: The age old enemies stuggle to discover their destiny
Review: This book brings together the various particpants that of the previous work and adds additional complexity to the trechery proposed by the two "Godlike" groups. The misterioius XAR now becomes a prime character and his desire to learn more about the armies of the undead and use them to rule the 4 worlds. The addition of the power of the surpents is being realized and the trechery that they provide complicates the previous straighforward battle of the "Gods". The character development is very outstanding and of the first 5 books this is by far the finest and most exciting . One of the best works I have ever read.