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Summary: I love his book!
Review: This is easily one of the best books i have read in my entire life! I was over at my friends house and he was reading the whole series for the 3rd time and i borrowed the book. I got so hooked on it I couldnt put it down! I finished it in less than a week! Tracy Hickman and Margaret Weis pair up to make an awesome duo and right the best books in history! The characters are realistic, think normaly, and they're easy to understand. I always thought magic and stuff was not my type of book because I didnt like the funky names they called things, places, times, eras, and themselves. There are all those different names of species of man like: Humans, Patryns, Sartans, Gegs/Dwarves, and Elves. But after reading just the first page I knew I was going to love it. After reading the first book i went out and bought the whole series. I like the way the Hickman and Weis made different views according to a number of important characters and eventually brought them together. I dont care if you think it isnt "Youre kind of book" cuz its a book everyone can enjoy! I recommend it to everyone!
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Summary: An awesome beginning to the Cycle
Review: I bought this some time ago, read a few pages, and put it down. Then, about a year later, I was pressed for something to read, so I gave it another shot. I am very glad that I did. This book is the first of seven, and those seven quickly became the most favored books of my collection. The vastness of these sundered worlds is amazing. The great thing about this book, and the series, is the immersion into the world. The humor of the Gegs (dwarves) is unrivaled because of its innocence. The wars between elven and human are colorful, because the war is for water. A nice irony, since there is ice above the elves and humans (beyond their reach), and the Gegs below are constantly wracked by fierce thunderstorms. The plot is excellent because so many lines are running at once. And then, too, there are mysteries that are resolved, and others that are carried over. (Example: We learn what the Kicksey-Winsey is designed for, but we aren't told exactly how it operates.) If you liked Dragonlance, you MUST read this book. The reason, you ask? There is this strange befuddled old man in mouse colored robes in the second book. Let's see, what was his name? . . . Oh yes! It's Zifnab!
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Summary: Stunning Novel: Be prepared to be blown away
Review: This book is absolutely amazing! I have been an avid fantasy and fiction reader since I was a child, and there are very few books that can compare to this novel. Margaret Wise and Tracy Hickman have done a wonderful job at writing the Dragonlance series and this series is equal, if not better, than the Dragonlance books. The plot is well developed and amazingly intricate, and everytime the reader begins to understand something, that supposed "truth" is swept from their grasp. It constantly makes you think and try to understand what is going on in the book. However, even better than the develpment of the plot is the development of the characters. The main character of the series is Haplo, a Patryn who is trying to secure the four worlds for his master. Haplo is an amazingly complicated character and the first book only begins to delve into his intricacy. However, Weis and Hickman use this character to display deep and meaningful truths about humankind. Haplo's race, the Patryns, have grown up in a place where what we consider vices have been switched to virtues in the battle to stay alive. Anger is used to fuel a body so that it may continue fighting to the bitter end; lust has taken the place of love because of the fact that your loved one may not survive until the morning; pride makes a person seek perfection so that he may live through the day. All these are viewed in a negative light to us readers, but in the Labrynth, these emotions are needed to survive. However, with Weis and Hickman's skilled writing, a sense of understanding rather than loathedness can be felt while reading about the Patryns. Why, though, can we feel good about what occurs in the Labrynth if all those virtues are horrible sins in our eyes? This is where the authors slip in their message: we cannot judge anyone because we can never and will never know the entire situation that they have gone through. Another charater used to portray a theme is the bumbling Alfred. The poor butler can never seem to make his body do his bidding, and he is always passing out at the first signs of danger. However, later in the book it is revealed that Alfred is part of a race like the Patryns. Both are a type of demi-god race with powers incomprehensible to the average human's mind. The Sartans, as his race is called, had been fighting the Patryns for centuries until the world was sundered into the four realms. The Sartans put the Patryns in a type of prison to help them become less evil (which later turned into the deadly Labrynth) and started to rule the four realms. However, the lesser beings, the dwarves humans and elves, did not respond kindly to even the unimposing rule of the Sartans. The elves and humans began to fight while the dwarves turned into a helpless race. The Sartans could not do anything to stop this chaos, for they had trouble of their own. They couldn't communicate with the other realms and decided to wait for a while for a message from the other realms. The went into an enchanted sleep and never awoke, except for Alfred. This is such a powerful message that every reader should be able to understand: we are not in ultimate control, no matter how strong we think we are. "The best laid plans of mice and men/Gang aft aglay."
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Summary: The start of an amazing series
Review: Dragon Wing begins perhaps one of the most imaginative fantasy series of all time. The ideas, the themes, and the worlds themselves show to be the result of an incredible talent and imagination. It's the story of a race of humans known as Patryns, who are capable of powerful magic, equaled only by their enemies the Sartan. The Sartan sundered the world and imprisoned the Patryns in the Labyrinth, but now the Patryns are free and eager for revenge. But the story is not that simple. Throughout the series, one finds that good and evil are purely based on point of view. The line between good and evil is blurred in the traditional Weis-Hickman style. A wonderful series of books, full of action, suspense, and wonder. I would recommend no book higher.
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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
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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.
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Summary: thought it was a joke
Review: Well all I have to say is that,"what the heck were they thinking when they wrote this book." The characters were very bland, Stupid,annoying,and couldnt even stand up to a fight. They had a assasian leading there party that was stupid enoguh to drink some kind of liquid that he didnt know what it was from a bowl that somone else gave him, Hmmm... let me think would such a excperinced assasian do that of course not, But this one dose and gets poisoned , almost dies.thats one example of a dumb character.There is also a monk/wizard that is banes (the little annoying,stubborn prince child ,that you wish would just keep quiet.)servant that is constantly fainting from being frightend and screwwing everything up.He eventully starts to show his powers at the end of the book, why the heck didnt you use your powers in the begning you moron. Well other than the terrible characters that just complian and run away from every fight, the plot is another dribble of an aspect to look at.I'm not going to get into that because i can go on for ever about how every chapter was boring and ridculous.oh and one more thing the so called dwarves in this book,but known as gegs in this one are more like the dwarves from snow white,so if your used to the stubborn,arragont,kick somenes but with big battle axes and warhammers, dont read this because these dwarves are scared,wimpy beings that live in one of the lower realms and refuse to revolt and fight for freedom,what kind of dwarves are those?.well to pretty much some it all up this book totaly goes againsnt all other fantasy creations.Basically its the oppisite of all others.
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Summary: There are better fantasy titles available, do not waste your
Review: I am a huge fan of Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman, and have read their other books. DragonLance (AWESOME), DarkSword (NO) and DeathGate (NO). This is a seven book set and if you can think the first books in this series are good then you may like them all. I thought this book (and the rest) were not even close to the stories of Dragonlance, and read all the books in this series thinking the story would get better. My friend also is a big fan of DragonLance and the LOTR an he agreed this series was a BIG disappointment. Read this book if you want, but don't blame me when you finish all seven and go..what a waste of my time, Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman went from telling possibly the greatest story with the Dragonlance series to having writers block and producing seven volumes of blah!!
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Summary: Top-Notch Fantasy
Review: This series (starting with Dragon Wing, of course) was the first fantasy novel I'd ever read. My husband was "into" fantasy and recommended it to me. It was not what I expected at all and I have read the entire series twice since then. Dragon Wing is the first of seven novels in the "Death Gate Series." Long ago powerful sorcerers called the Sartans sundered Earth as we know it into four separate planets -- air, fire, stone, and water. Onto each planet they placed dwarves, elves, and humans, and of course many of their kind to watch over everything. They also created a prison world for their ancient enemy, the Patryns. I don't want to give away anything from the novel, but that is the set-up for the series. A problem with most fantasy novels is the "good vs. evil" plot. It's all so formulaic. Evil is dark, good is light. Even "The Wheel of Time" series and the "Lord of the Rings" series, the two most popular fantasy series, succumb to this pitfalll of fantasy writing. The Death Gate series has a much more intricate plot. There's no "dark one" trying to take over the world. It's more true to life in that there is no clear-cut right and wrong. If you decide to start this book, I want you to know what you're committing to: after the first fifty pages, you will be sucked in and forced to read the entire series. All other aspects of your life will seem trivial except for what is happening in your book. The plot becomes more and more intricate until everything will suddenly come together marvelously for a beautiful climactic ending. But I'm getting ahead of myself. This is just a review of the first book. There's only one real problem with the first book: it's not clear who the main character is. First I thought it was the dwarf, then Hugh the Hand. But ignore the review that says it's just a set-up for the series. Actually, the world on which this book takes place is my favorite of the four, because it is the most developed. This is an excellent book to start reading fantasy. The only problem is that it will spoil you. I haven't found any fantasy novel or series that is better, and since The Death Gate Series I have read a lot. Bottom line: read it, but know what you're getting into and make sure you have plenty of time to be addicted.
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Summary: DRAGON WING COULD SPOIL YOU - Death Gate Cycle Vol 1
Review: Even though this is a paragon of contemporary fantasy, there are a couple good reasons not to read this book. Don't read this book if you are looking for a simple uncomplicated story that you can read in single digit sittings. This book will absorb you and you will eventually end up reading all seven Death Gate Cycle series volumes. And definitely do not read this book if you are satisfied with the fantasy novels you have been reading. What you're currently reading may not measure up. The Authors The Death Gate Series was written by renown Fantasy and Science Fiction authors Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman. This is the first installment of the most impressive fantasy series I have ever read. In fact the seven volume Death Gate Cycle has set a standard so high, it has spoiled fantasy for me. Hence my title. They created such a unique and creative concept and their writing was so clear and easy to follow (Readers of Tolkien take note)that after ten chapters I was hooked. Death Gate Cycle The Setting The Death Gate Cycle is a seven book series about four mythical Realms, actually five, that were created untold ages ago when a powerful magical race, known as the Sartans, sundered the single world into four realms named after the four elements, Sky, Stone, Fire and Water and a fifth realm, the Nexus, which is a Penal colony for the Sartans vanquished rivals, the almost equally powerful Patryns. The Main Characters in order of appearance. Haplo - A Paytryn, explorer/spy
Hugh the Hand - A Human, mercenary/hired sword
Bane - A Human prince
Limbeck - A revolutionary Geg
Jarre - His revolutionary wife
Alfred - Bane's man servant
Haplo's Dog Background Good vs Evil The story revolves around the Sartan and the Patryns. Both races are powerful magicians, the Satan a beneficent people who respect all beings and the nefarious Patryns who want to conquer and subjugate all the races of the world. Eons ago these great and powerful races fought and the Sartan were victorious. Based on some lost plan the Sartan sundered the world creating five realms revolving around the Death Gate. On one of these realms, Nexus, was created a penal colony called the Labyrinth to which the Patryns were exiled. The Labyrinth, which apparently has a life of its own, is a cruel hostile place in which most of the patryns have been exterminated. But finally one great wizard, The Lord of Nexus, escapes into the city(prebuilt by the Sartan) Nexus and starts to help others. And so our story begins; The Plot The Patryns are gradually escaping their tortuous prison, The Labyrinth and are now plotting their revenge against their implacable enemies, the all powerful Sartan. Haplo, the great Lords trusted emissary, is being sent out to cause destabilization in the realms, surreptitiously search for the Sartan and to report back all findings to the Lord. But Haplo is unable to find any Sartan. Where have they gone? Volume I, Dragon Wing Arianus, Mid Realm Hugh the Hand was framed but it doesn't matter. He's about to be beheaded by Three-Chop Nick, an executioner renown for his bungling beheading, when an envoy from King Steven arrives, by Dragon, to save his life. It seems King Steven has a job for Hugh, a reputed assassin.
Who is the target of this assignment? Why, it's King Steven's own son, Bane. Meanwhile: Arianus, Low Realm Limbeck the Geg is also in a predicament. What got him in hot water was that he repeated what he saw. The Gegs are a race of small people, similar to the Hobbits from another more obscure novel. They are the sole inhabitants of the lower realm of Arianus and their only purpose in life seems to be to mine coralite by use of an enormous, extraordinary machine, the Gegs call Kicksey Winsey, thats just always been there. The real purpose of the machine is unknown but it manages to allow the Gegs to mine coralite and to sell it to the Godlike Elves from the upper realms. Lembeck, who sees injustice in toiling away for the Elves, saw one of the Elves get killed in an accident taking delivery of a shipment of coralite and informed everyone that the Elves are not Gods, they die just like Gegs, therefore they no longer need to take orders from the Elves. This of course is heresy and leads his banishment to the Steps (the very small islands just below Drevlin, the main island, that are mined for coralite. This is tantamount to a sentence of death as no one ever returns. Meanwhile; Arianus, Mid Realm Back with Hugh, who is ambivilent about his new contract, especially after meeting the seeminly endearing youngster 912 year old), takes Prince Bane on a dragon to another location from which they can hike a couple days to Hugh's Elfen dragon ship, "Dragon Wing", however Hugh notices that someone is following. So Hugh waylays his follower and captures Alfred, Price Bane's loyal but timid, clumsy and bumbling chamberlain. But is Alfred what he seems? Hugh begins to wonder when an accident occurs involving a deadly Crystal Tree in which neither Prince Bane or Alfred get even so much as a cut and later when they are airborne on the Dragon Wing, Bane poisons Hugh (he knows Hugh's Mission)with a deadly poison only to be awakened(from death?) by Alfred, primarily,so he can stabilize the falling ship. Meanwhile; Arianus, Lower Realm, The Steps Lembeck is Marooned on one of the small unnamed step islands but manages to get his Initials on one of the dig claws to let Jarre, his loyal, loving wife, know where he is. In the meantime the whole island is shaken by something and Lembeck goes to investigate and finds some unknown type of airship has crashed and the occupants, some kind of manlike person, who is severely injured, and a dog, are in imminent danger of getting crushed by a dig claw. Once Lembeck effects their rescue he examines the manlike person(Haplo)and discovers he has tattoos(actually runes) over his entire body and decides, despite the fact the he is near death, that Haplo is a true God. Luckily Jarre is able to send a "help hand" down to Lembeck to rescue him and he brings back Haplo and the dog with him. Meanwhile; Arianus, Deepsky Descending Bane's poisoning of Hugh has caused a crisis. It seems Bane is only the step son of King Stephen and is the biological son of Sinistrad, an arrogant mysteriarch of the upper realms, who maintains contact with bane through a feather amulet he wears. It was Sinistrad who instructed Bane to poison Hugh and now the ship is hurtling toward the perpetual storm known as the Malestrom. The Rest of the Story Eventually our main characters will all meet up at Drevlin in the Lower Realm and procede to the Upper Realms, where the action and intrigue continue unabated to the climax, which isn't really the climax since there are six subsequent novels, each one, I think is more exciting than the previous. Authors Note As you can tell, this is a purposely involved and complex story. The writing is excellent, as is the character development of two of the characters, Hugh the Hand a reputed noblemans son, orphaned and left in the care of the strange austere Kir Monks, and Haplo whose parents were killed in the Labyrinth, while Haplo played dead. As for the other characters, the authors have not deemed much detail other than necessary items such as Lembeck's nearsightedness. Alfred is a central character and an enigma and meant to stay that way at least for a while. If you decide to tackle this series, Good Reading!
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