Rating: 
Summary: Perhaps the best of the series, but also the most cryptic.
Review: Abarrach. World of Stone, and the third world to be visited by the Patryn Haplo. However, on his journey to this third world, he is joined by the Sartan Alfred.Unfortunately, the journey through this world is unexpectedly filled with horror. Upon this world, are found a few Sartan. However, these Sartan are nothing compared to what Alfred is used to, and what Haplo has grown to hate. These Sartan have become twisted; they are more interested in death than in life. Instead to working to provide a better life, they have become entrenched in necromancy. Everytime a Sartan dies, they are brought back from the dead three days later. Perhaps the most moving part of this novel, is the fact that Alfred finds out what has happened to all the other Sartan. It causes him great depression and lack of understanding how something so good can be twisted. Essentially this world is dead, and is on the verge of taking Haplo and Alfred with it. During their trek through the land, they make an important discovery in a room called the Chamber of the Damned. It is quite essential to the rest of the series. Overall, this book was highly enjoyable. The character development was great, because you can actually feel the pain that Alfred has when he realizes what has been going on. Haplo has also grown a conscience, which only adds to his inner turmoil as to what he should do with Alfred. The novel can be viewed as cryptic because it is centered around death. But the importance of this novel to the whole series can not be overlooked. So far, it has been the best novel of the series. It also leaves you hanging as to what will happen in later books. So get the next novel ready when you are done reading this one!
Rating:
Summary: Awesome!
Review: alright, a definite five-star book! First of all, a great, original storyline in an amazing new world is one of the greater points in this novel. Here, we introduce quite a few mysterious things to be answered in the following books (One of the elements that makes the DGC awesome is the amount of secrets etc...) The imagery in this book is amazing, as well. It's great to see Haplo the Patryn and Alfred the Sartan back together as well...
Rating:
Summary: The Darkest Book of the Series
Review: As the Patryn Haplo prepares to enter the Death Gate, he is surprised when the Sartan Alfred suddenly appears on his ship. As they pass through the Death's Gate, Haplo experience's Alfred's life after Alfred first awoke and Alfred experiences Haplo's life in the Labyrinth when Haplo's parents were killed. Meanwhile on this Realm of Stone (earth), Abarrach, the desendants of the Sartan are all that survive in a realm that is completely underground and is lit and heated by magma. To Alfred's horror, these Sartan practice the forbidden art of Necromancy. While Haplo is repulsed, he intends to tell his lord about this art. However things start to go awry when the lazar (undead who know they are undead) start multiplying with one purpose...to kill all living things. The lazar now control all the undead and the living are on the run for their lives. It is here that Alfred shows himself to be more powerful than he let on as he 'kills' an undead...making the corpse unable to be raised again. This comes as a great shock to all but Alfred claims not to remember how he did it. As they run for their lives, Alfred leads them to ancient an Sartan section where he, Haplo, and a friendly necromancer learn more about the ancient Sartan and are shown the possible exsistance of a higher power than the Sartan and Patryn. The friendly necromancer is killed but when he is raised as a lazar, he now has the power to 'kill' the undead and this he begings to do which turns the tide. Haplo and Alfred escape and Haplo allows Alfred to escape rather than deal with Haplo's lord. This by far is the darkest book in the series with the undead and the way these Sartan blindly destroy themselves by continually raising the dead (as undead). I think this was the hardest book to put down! Read it and find out.
Rating:
Summary: The most important book of the series
Review: Dragon Wing was okay - Elven Star was good - I picked up Fire Sea more out of curiosity than out of a burning desire to find out what happened next. This is the book that finally got me swept into the series. More is learned about the history of the sundered realms, and the characters of Haplo and Alfred are developed further. I think the most interesting thing about this series is that it is, at least initially, written mainly from the point of view of those who would normally be considered "the bad guys" - the Patryns. Eventually, of course, good and bad get all muddled up as the *true* evil is discovered, and although this doesn't really happen until later on in the series, it begins in Fire Sea. The book is full of revelations that don't really make that much sense until the later books, but that give you enough of a taste of what's going on to get you completely hooked. It is a dark, macabre story, that holds a faint promise of redemption.
Rating:
Summary: Fire Sea is a great story that leads you on to the next one.
Review: Fire Sea happened to be one of my favorites in the Death Gate Cycles because it was an action packed story that rarely had a lapse in the action. Also this novel really starts to show the true power of the Rune magic that has me completly blown away, the authors with their use of the possibilities for the basis of magic was ingenious. This story also starts to develop the characters of Haplo and his dog along with Alfred the bumbling sartan. This novel is just a prelude of what is to come in the later novels suck as Into the Labyrinth and Seventh Gate. My opinion is to keep on reading the series to the end, this is one of the all time great series in fantasy writing.
Rating:
Summary: Wow...Extremely Creative and Revolutionary Fantasy!
Review: Fire Sea is the third book in the Death Gate Cycle series. This book explores the third of the four worlds: Abarrach the world of stone. This world has a core of magma with rivers flowing out to the surface. The Sartan and the humans, elves, and dwarves (mensch) were settled below the surface where the magma rivers heated the great caves called kairns. Water was also present, coming from rivers from the Celestial Sea. All was going well, with light and other energy came from the collosus, the energy being provided by the "green" world of Pyran. Things started going awry. The Sartan(they are self-proclaimed 'gods') were able to defend theirselves with their magic against the fumes, but the mensch were susceptible and eventually they all died out. The collosuses were failing, their range weakening and their strength diminishing, the magma seas and rivers were receding, and the temperature was falling, causing parts of Abarrach to be frozen and uninhabitable. The Sartan, desparate, began the use of necromancy (resurrecting the dead) and made the dead cadavers to do menial tasks while they used their magic on more important matters. Even so, their power was increasingly being spent on solely surviving, and much of their former strength was lost... The book begins, however, when the Sartan in the cave of Kairn Telest can no longer live their and trek off to the only place they know may be inhabitable: Kairn Necros. Haplo (the Patryn), meanwhile, after his "success" on Pyran, begins his journey to Abarrach on Dragon Wing. There is a ripple effect and the rival Sartan Alfred is tossed on board (he went through Death's Gate by falling into the DG by the dig claws of the Kicksey-winsey machine on the world of Arianus). Haplo, determined to carry on and unsettled with his experience in Death's Gate, takes Alfred with him instead of bringing him to his master and lands in Safe Harbour beside Necropolis, capital of Kairn Necros. They meet the people of Kairn Telest and learn (to Alfred's horror) that they are practising the black art of necromancy. Haplo sees this as an oppurtunity of immortality and great strength for the Patryns. They are then taken by escort with the prince of Kairn Telest to Necropolis to see the Sartan DYNAST (if you are unfamiliar with Sartan behaviour, they try to be fair and considerate and peaceful to one another. Now they have a ruler which hints at massive change in their ways because of unhospitable world)!!!! Haplo hopes to have his revenge on these weakened Sartan, and Alfred tries to figure out the puzzles of the land, and there is a battle between the living and the dead. The book is great on many levels. You see Alfred evolve from a bumbling fool to something more. Although he is still like that, you KNOW why he is doing so. Alfred is extremely powerful and doesn't have the confidence (unless in dire cases) to use it lest somebody take advantage of him. Haplo's character also evolves. He begins to doubt his master and he begins to form a relationship with Alfred. The development of Haplo is all important in the coming books, especially in book 4, as there is further proof of the Higher Power existing. The Patryns and Sartan both believe that they are the higher power, and they will stop at nothing to cover the evidence up. (Sartan how believed in the higher power were thrown into the Labyrinth during the Sundering and The Chamber of the Blessed, used to contact the other worlds but instead it contacted the Higher Power, was sealed and named the Chamber of the Damned. The themes were also great. Things about life and death, necromancy, the cost of power, contrasting between the Sartan on Abarrach and what they are supposed to be like, and the evidence of the 'Higher Power' that gives another dimension to the book. The book also has many twists, turns, complications, and a completely suprising ending.What is also suprising is this scrolled on his report(by Xar, the Lord of the Patryns):Haplo, my loyal and devoted son, YOU ARE A LIAR." If that doesn't make you read Serpent Mage, then nothing will!
Rating:
Summary: Fire Sea - not for the faint of heart!
Review: Fire Sea was a wonderful book - I enjoyed it immensely! Dragon Wing (the first Death Gate book) was kind of slow, but if you can get past it, get ready for some great fantasy adventure! Elven Star and Fire Sea will blow you out of the water and leave you begging for more! Fire Sea is an extremely serious book - morbid, bloody, depressing - all of these words describe it well. Fire Sea is also one of the most important books in the Death Gate Cycle because Haplo and Alfred discover that there IS a higher power in the universe. If it wasn't for this important discovery, the war might have been lost. I'll stop there, so I don't give anything away! You should read it
Rating:
Summary: Fire Sea (Death Gate Cycle, Vol. 3)
Review: Haplo the Patryn and his dog leave the Nexus on their third journey, this time to Abarrach, Realm of Stone. Haplo tours the four elemental worlds at his lord's command, preparing the sundered realms for the coming of the Patryn leader and for an easy conquest of the worlds by the Patryns. Haplo also searches for traces of the Sartan, the godly wizards who are the ancient enemies of the Patryns and who, except for one weak survivor in the realm of Air, seem to have died out. It is this very Sartan, the clumsy and apologetic Alfred Montbank, who, while Haplo crosses Death's Gate to Abarrach, materializes on Haplo's ship. Haplo must grudgingly accept the presence of his sworn enemy at his side as he enters a world in which the two must combine their powers simply to survive. In the dying world of Abarrach, the Mensch races have all died out long ago, leaving only corrupt, powerless remnants of the Sartan, weakened by many generations of living in a world of caverns, fuming lava and noxious gases. Haplo and Alfred soon discover that the Sartan on Abarrach practice the forbidden art of necromancy - raising all their dead for everyday use in menial tasks and chores. Our two protagonists come in contact with a young Sartan prince and his people, who have travelled from their barren land in the colder parts of the world in search of a long-lost colony on the edge of the great fire sea, nearer to the core of the world. This land is ruled by a crafty Sartan wizard, Kleitus, who knows of the world's peril and wishes to find Death's Gate, and through it not only salvation from his dying world but also the power of other worlds. Haplo and Alfred find themselves embroiled in a civil war between Kleitus's city and the prince's people. But when a young man, in grief over his lost love, raises her from the dead far too soon, the world is plunged into a wave of mass killing and death by horrid, vengeful undead creatures. Haplo, wishing to bring the knowledge of resurrection back to his lord to benefit the Patryns' cause, must come to realize the horrifying consequences of the Sartan's use of this dark art on Abarrach, as both he and Alfred fight to stay alive in a dying world, slowly taken over by the living dead.
Rating: 
Summary: The third book of the Death Gate Cycle
Review: Haplo's third trip through Death's Gate is to Abarrach, world of stone. The bumbling Sartin, Alfred, boards Haplo's ship at the last moment before entering Death's Gate. The series takes a dark turn in this book. A planet inhabited only by the demigods, known as the Sartin. Haplo and Alfred discover that the Sartins are here and that they are practicing necromancy (to Alfred's utter dismay). They also discover that the dead outnumber the living. An interesting plot, but not much action. I still recommend reading this.
Rating:
Summary: The Best Part of Death Gate!!!!!
Review: I don't know about you guys but I think this was the best book in the whole series because this is the part where Haplo and Alfred start to understand what the "higher power" wants of them. They start to see things the way that things are. And I still don't fully comprehend (although I have read it 2 times) those chapters that they are in the Chamber of the Damned (and like its sort of a mystery to me I like it more). Definetly a MUST in your book collection.....
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