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!
Rating: 
Summary: This was an excellent book! I love Alfred!
Review: I loved this book. It was totally awesome. I even compared it to my other favorite authors, Katherine Kerr and Anne McCaffery, authors of the Deverry and Pern series. I just loved Alfred! I felt so sorry for him...especially in the mausoleum! Poor Alfred! I suspected that he was a Sartan from the very beginning!
Rating: 
Summary: Good start to a great series
Review: I read this book, and the rest of the series when it first came out and I was about 14 years old. (About 10 years ago I think). Back then, I thought it was the best series ever, etc etc. After reading Dragon Wing again, I liked a lot of it, but still felt some things were not done so well. The overall story is really great, and the characters are believable. The dog steals the show, and Hugh the Hand is great as the story's "reluctant hero". We only get a tiny glimpse of the Lord of the Nexus, who will later play a vital role in the series. In this novel, Weis and Hickamn set the stage for a complex story, and leave behind just enough clues to make you want to know the FULL story (which you don't learn until the last few books in the series of course). The world they created--a world of floating continents--is intriguing and interesting. As I read it, I hungrily devoured every bit of info that they gave regarding how the world works, why some islands float higher than others, and other such explanations. Unfortunately though, there is too much that is never answered here. A lot of the "science" of the world is not explained, even though they tried hard to do just that. We never discover how exactly Solaris works, where it is, how big it is. Death Gate is only shown in vague terms, although later in the series it's more apparent). Despite the fact that the Mid-Realms are the most inhabited, I never felt like they were described well enough and it was tough for me to understand what life would be like there. I had a much better idea of how the Low and High realms worked. Overall, the word that comes to mind when reading this book is "intriguing". It's a fun book to read, and it sets up a lot of the mystery that drives the entire series. After reading this one, I didn't feel "forced" to read the second, but my curiosity got the better of me. So now I will indeed travel with Haplo through Death's Gate to the second book. (Again)
Rating:
Summary: Weiss and Hickman ae excellent world builders
Review: This review is for the entire series. The story ia about a furure human world that is divided into humans, elves and dwarfs. There are two waring races of super humans called Sartans and Patryns. The Sartans imprison the Patryns in a horrible Laberynth. The Sartans then divide the world into four forms. The story centers on Haplo , who was sent by his master to find out about these four worlds and to seek revenge on the Sartans. In Dragon Wing he visits the first world that consists of floating Islands. In the first four books of the series Haplo goes to each of the four worlds. The final three books basically close out the series. The death gate cycle is a very and complex fanatasy series about Humans, Elves and Dwarves as they fight to restore thier world.
Rating:
Summary: I hate Fantasy - But Not These Books!
Review: I have never been a big fan of Fantasy books... I'm a Stephen King reader mostly, and enjoy crime novels as well. I've never been into Dragonlance and all that - in fact, usually I think it's boring... But these books KICK ... Like many of the other folks here, when I picked up the first one, I couldn't put it down, and I had to run out and get the rest of the series! I didn't stop reading til I was done, I brought the books with me everywhere I went. I don't want to go too much into the plot (others have done that well enough here) but I have to stress again that these books are WONDERFUL! Very well written and quite entertaining!! Buy them today, you won't be disappointed!
Rating:
Summary: Superb...
Review: "Dragon Wing" is the first book in the seven-book DEATH GATE CYCLE, a story full of intrigue, romance, mystery, humor, action and a definite philosophical tone pervading the entire series. It adds up to give the reader one of the finest works of fantasy fiction to date.
The story chiefly concerns two characters, Alfred and Haplo, who belong to opposing races that are very hostile to each other. Yet, they forge a formidable friendship and set about saving the world.
Yes, the plot is decidedly generic, but the power of this cycle lies in the superb character development, and interesting side plots (each of the first four books contributes to the overriding plot, but mainly concern other stories), as well as the fluid and interesting writing. There are also several innovations made into their concept of fantasy, as well as a very, very well-developed world, showing the love and care the authors put into this story.
The entire series is very good, though I think the first five were the best, with the last two still being very good, but dropping off somewhat from the first five.
Highly recommended.
Rating:
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: The Death Gate Cycle: What a SAGA!
Review: This review can be very short.. the story is incredible! It moves like waves and just keeps coming at you at tremendous speed which keeps you reading until you finish it. It can very easily compete with the famous Lord of the Rings story for sure and the division into seven parts is well done and easily readable. You MUST try this one!!
Rating:
Summary: BEGINNING BEST FANTASY EPIC EVER
Review: When I first read Dragon Wing it was primarily for the cool-looking covers that the illustrator (who did a GREAT job, btw) had drawn. Now I have not only read all of the Death Gate Cycle, but read it TWICE, and the second time felt just like the first. Dragon Wing starts out with a slow plot, but readers will soon find out that this is a plot device used by Weis and Hickman to build the story for the later books. Though each of the first four books are autonomous, I HIGHLY SUGGEST you read this as it makes the occurences in the following books THAT MUCH BETTER! Enjoy!
Rating:
Summary: If I could give it more stars, I would.
Review: I'm going to keep this review short for those of you who gave this book less than 4 stars. That's probably the only way you'll read it. But anyway... This has to be the best series of books that I've ever read. I'm actually reading them a second time. If you like anything, you'll like this book. Just give them a try.
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