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Dragon Wing (The Death Gate Cycle, Book 1)

Dragon Wing (The Death Gate Cycle, Book 1)

List Price: $7.99
Your Price: $7.19
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Beginning of an Intresting new series.
Review: This is the first book of a seven book series, collectively reffered to as the "Death Gate Cycle". Like other works by these two authors, "Dragon Wing" does not disappoint as it is filled with wonderous landscapes and memorable characters. "Dragon Wing" is full of plot twists, action and a sprinkling of comic situations. The book does a great job of raising questions as to what has happened to the world (it seems that the world has been seperated into different Elemental realms of Air, Fire, Stone and Water) and for what purpose was this done.

All in all, this was an enjoyable book and deffinetly worth giving it try.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Up to their usual high standard
Review: Dragon Wing begins with an assassin being whisked away from his own beheading by a messenger from the King. When the assassin, Hugh the Hand, is taken before the King, the King has an unusual request: he wants Hugh to kill his ten-year-old son, Bane. In the meantime, a group of dwarves (Gegs) is starting to turn from their normally peaceful lifestyle to revolt against the elves who have enslaved them for generations. And in the midst of all these subplots, we have two god-like representatives from ancient races, sworn enemies, destined to meet again. This all makes for an excellent fantasy novel, especially when written by notable fantasy writers like Weis and Hickman.

The storyline was my favorite part of this book. The plots and subplots kept the book moving with hardly any downtime between exciting events. The book skipped back and forth between characters enough to keep things interesting, but not enough that it was jarring. Although they were the usual fantasy characters, the personalities and the interactions between them made the characters come alive.

I would highly recommend this book to any epic fantasy enthusiasts. However, I believe people who don't normally read fantasy would enjoy this book as well. There's little violence and no sex, and I think the subject matter is safe for kids.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Dragon Wing-Another Winner
Review: After reading the Dragonlance Chronicles (and loving each book) I knew that I would enjoy any book written by Weis and Hickman. I am starting the second book in the Death Gate series and I can't put it down. I enjoy these books because they are fast, easy to follow and understand.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Good beginning, but series won't live up to its promise
Review: In 'Dragon Wing' Weiss and Hickman create yet another fantastic world populated by all sorts of strange beings, injected with their usual flair for humour and action. The ambitious series it begins is distinguished by its starting over three more times, as three other worlds are introduced in the sequels.

If you continue reading the series you'll will find each subsequent world as unique as the first (particularly the third, in 'Fire Sea'), but I found the closing trilogy disappointing. I had hoped for a melding of characters from each world and how they would react to one another, but they mostly remain seperate tales, the storyline continuing to jump between them.

Weiss and Hickman seem tired of the series by the fifth and especially sixth book when the characters of the second lower themselves to 'Three Stooges' humour and the lead villain loses his shine. The seventh is noticeably short but ties up loose ends sufficiently, except for the annoyingly inexplicable presence of a character from another series the team has written.

'Dragon Wing' itself lives up to the duo's previous work. The series as a whole does not, but Weiss & Hickman fans won't mind. If you are unfamiliar with the authors, I recommend starting where they did: 'Dragonlance Chronicles: Dragons of Autumn Twilight'.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Book 1 of 7 in the Death Gate Cycle
Review: Margret Weis and Tracy Hickman have done it again with this excellent start to the Deathgate Cycle series. We are introduced to the usual species...humans, elves, and dwarves (called Gegs). However centuries ago, a human race known as the Sartan sundered the world into four sections (earth, fire, air, and water) to prevent their ancient enemies the Patryns (another human race) from ruling the world. The Sartan then sent the Patryn into a special prison known as the Labyrinth. The Sartan hoped to teach them the errors of their ways as the Patryn slowly made their way to the Labyrinth's exit. Then the Sartan went about to set up the new worlds they created but before they could finish, they all just vanished.

"Dragon Wing" takes place on the world of air known as Arianus. Land masses float in various orbits in the air in one of three realms...the Low Realm (occupied by the Gegs), the Mid Realm (occupied by Elves and Humans), and the High Realm (occupied by the powerful human wizards known as Mysteriarchs).

After many centuries, the Patryn have begun to escape the Labyrinth (which after the dissappearance of the Sartan became alive and evil) and are looking for revenge. Haplo is dispactched through the discovered Death Gate into this realm of air to learn everything he can about it and if there are any Sartan present there. While here, he encounters an interesting variety of characters including the human assassin Hugh the Hand, the strange and clumsy human Alfred, the curious Geg Limbeck, the mysterious child Prince Bane, and the powerful mysteriarch Sinistrad.

This is a well written book and an exciting entry into the strange new fantasy world created by Weis and Hickman. They successfully take fantasy writing to a new level here and while this book answers a few questions, it raises many more. I recommend this book to fans of Wies and Hickman, Tolkien, and fantasy.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Best Series of Fantasy Books Ever!
Review: This is the best series of books. Since I have started reading Dragon Wing, I havn't been able to put these books down. I've never read a book so fast as the I read the books in the Death Gate Cycle. The way they develop the characters is ingenius, as soon as you think you have someone all figured out, something dramatic happens and your view of them completely cchanges. So many times in this series, I have said to myself, "This is impossible, there's no way to get out of this situation." But they always manage to surprise you and keep you hanging. The only bad thing about these books is that you will get considerably less sleep, spend all your money, and want to buy every single book ever written by these two authors. BUY THIS BOOK. Everyone deserves a chance to see what classic writing is at its best.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Dragon Wing - Death Gate Cycle Vol. 1
Review: I was reading the Dragonlance series for a while, but the friend I had borrowed the books from went to college, and took the books with her! So one day at the library, in desparate need of something to escape in, i came across Dragon Wing. It was the only volume in the Death Gate Cycle series they had, but I saw it was by Margaret and Tracey, who made a great team in the Dragonlance series. So, I checked it out. At first it irritated me that little things were different then the world of Krynn, but little more then 4 chapters into the book, I was hooked. I finished it in about a week and right away went out and bout the next book. Now a month in a half later I own all 7 books and just finished Serpent Mage. I cant seem to put the Death Gate down! Even my mom has started reading them!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Dragon Wing
Review: I found this book under my brother's bed a couple months ago and decided to read something new for a change. I've never read any fantasy-fiction novels before so this had to be my first. I really enjoyed the book. The plot of the book put me in the middle of all the action and it kept me on my toes. This book has a lot of detail in it that explained everything pretty much so that you can picture it in your head. The content in the book is alright, should've been more violent. I gave this book a fair score because I this was my first fantasy-fiction and it wasn't what I thought it would be. So, overall.... I'll give it a thumb and a half up...

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A break from all the accepted conventions
Review: This book looks truly impressive in hardcover. Alas, Amazon doesn't have it. Dragon Wing is the first in a a series of seven books of the Death Gate series. Along with wonderfully fleshed characters and grand imagery, I was pleasantly surprised to see that not one bit of standard fantasy material is to be seen, anywhere. There are no standard dragons, no standard goblins or magic. The rest of the series is all the more fascinating. This part details the journeys of Hugh, an assassin, through the world of Arianus, a land of floating land, one of the four elemental realms created by the Sartan wizards millennia ago, after the real world has suffered a horrible fate. Another trait of this book is that it's not the classic happy lit-up fantasy in the style of Ed Greenwood, but more of a chilly, muddy fantasy in the style of Norton's Witchworld, that really conveys the overall atmosphere. How wonderful to see an author break away from their regular routine (Dragonlance, in this case), and create a totally new world.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Weis and Hickman do it again!
Review: Once again, Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman pull me into a fantasy world full of magic and wonder. Once again they astound me with a wide diversity of creatures. Once again, they keep me entertained throughtout the whole series, and once again, they develop characters so well that they seem to be really alive. Thank you, Weis and Hickman!


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