Rating: 
Summary: Great Book!
Review: Ah, the fifth book of the Death Gate Series. This novel has a tough act to follow because of the Serpent Mage and Fire Sea. Although it lacks what the previous two has, this novel is important none the less.In the novel, the chaotic serpents have found their way into the Nexus and the remaining three worlds due to the fact that the Death Gate was opened. Once the serpents have entered the new worlds, a whole tangled scheme of possibilities now exists. The serpents are talking to Xar, Haplo, and the elves located on Arianus. The main purpose of the serpents is to spread their chaos, and feed off of people's fear. The novel does not contain Alfred at all, and because of that, the novel lacks some punch. But, it does revive the career of Hugh the Hand. Furthermore, Bane plays an important role in this novel as well. Haplo kind of takes a dejected back seat in this novel, because anything he wants to do will tangle him into a more chaotic web woven by the serpents. The plot in this novel is complex, yet interesting. The story is told through different viewpoints, mainly those of the dwarves, and Haplo. However, due to the apperance of the serpents, the potential chaos creates a more interesting novel. The main question is: Who is aligned with who, and for what purpose? Although this novel contains very few Sartan, and absolutely no Alfred, this novel is needed in the series. It will be essential in creating a crescendo in the final two novels. Don't expect the same enjoyment as the previous two novels, but understand it is necessary for the whole series.
Rating: 
Summary: Alas, not like book 4, but important none the less.....
Review: Ah, the fifth book of the Death Gate Series. This novel has a tough act to follow because of the Serpent Mage and Fire Sea. Although it lacks what the previous two has, this novel is important none the less. In the novel, the chaotic serpents have found their way into the Nexus and the remaining three worlds due to the fact that the Death Gate was opened. Once the serpents have entered the new worlds, a whole tangled scheme of possibilities now exists. The serpents are talking to Xar, Haplo, and the elves located on Arianus. The main purpose of the serpents is to spread their chaos, and feed off of people's fear. The novel does not contain Alfred at all, and because of that, the novel lacks some punch. But, it does revive the career of Hugh the Hand. Furthermore, Bane plays an important role in this novel as well. Haplo kind of takes a dejected back seat in this novel, because anything he wants to do will tangle him into a more chaotic web woven by the serpents. The plot in this novel is complex, yet interesting. The story is told through different viewpoints, mainly those of the dwarves, and Haplo. However, due to the apperance of the serpents, the potential chaos creates a more interesting novel. The main question is: Who is aligned with who, and for what purpose? Although this novel contains very few Sartan, and absolutely no Alfred, this novel is needed in the series. It will be essential in creating a crescendo in the final two novels. Don't expect the same enjoyment as the previous two novels, but understand it is necessary for the whole series.
Rating:
Summary: Great Book!
Review: I have to say, this was probably the best series that I've ever read. It has everything you want in a fanasty book (including a crazy mage!). I recommend it to all Weis fans and even all fanasty and/or sci-fi fans. This book and the series has many different plot twists and keeps the reader going. Enjoy!
Rating:
Summary: Chelestra, the Water World
Review: I liked this book because I got a close up look at the Sartans who had sundered the world and enjoyed the character development of the dwarven main characters, Grundle the tough female dwarf being my favorite. The giant dragon-snakes were introduced here and it was in this world that Alfred showed some potential as the Serpent Mage. Chelestra's realms are now being flooded by the dragon-snakes who wish to escape Chelestra through the Death Gate to reek havoc in the other realms as they have done in Chelestra. Haplo has been imprisoned by the Sartans but because of the flood can now escape and travel back through the Death Gate, hopefully to convince Xar that he is not a trader and to warn him about the dragon-snakes. He also has a desire to find and help Alfred some how. Alfred and his lover had been at first imprisoned by Samah in Chelestra because Alfred had found out Samah had lied about being aware of the higher power that could have prevented the sundering of their world, and feeling threatened that Alfred had this knowledge, had thrown Alfred and Orla into the Labyrinth. The strange properties of the water in Chelestra canceled out Patryn rune magic and Sartan mind magic which I found an interesting development. We also look in on Bane, the nasty widdle kid Xar found potential in and who now calls Xar Grandfather and Hugh the Hand, an assisin hired to kill Bane. Hugh now only wants his own true death and is looking for the only one who can give it to him, Alfred, an exceptional necromancer who had raised him from the dead giving him a strange and intolerable kind of immortality; he could die in a sense, feeling all the pain and suffering of his death only to be ressurected and with an added, sneaky twist...he can no longer kill. "A hell of a note for an assisin" he said. Things get complicated when Bane's mother, Iridal, and the woman Hugh loves, shows up wanting to hire him to find Bane who is being held by the elves. This was yet another well-done book in the series.
Rating:
Summary: This book is the coolest book I have ever read.
Review: I Looooooooovvvvvvveeeeeeee this book ssooooooo much. You have nooo idea
Rating: 
Summary: Death Gate - Fantasy for the masses
Review: I must say that reading Death Gate is a really pleasant experience, even though i would like to categorize the series as 'fantasy bouquet novels' (dunno if you american folks have bouquet, but hey, you know what i mean, right) Apart from that: it's only suitable the fantasy-minded! Beware the last book, by the way: it isn't all that...
Rating:
Summary: It was great
Review: I think that the Death Gate Cycle was the best series of books I have ever read. I wish they woul keep writing more of them like the Dragonlance series.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent book, great development of characters
Review: I was very pleased with this book. I had a hard time following it at first, because it was the first book in the series that I read, but the Hand of Chaos quickly draws the reader in with it's colorful description of characters and landscape. After reading this book, I was very interested in getting the rest of the series. And after reading the rest of the series(in order, this time), I feel that Hand of Chaos answers questions, develops characters nicely, and still leaves enough suspense at the end to leave me eager to read more.
Rating:
Summary: 5th 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: Hand of Chaos, Book of Frustration
Review: It's like watching one of those predictable horror movies, sitting there yelling at the young woman opening that door she really shouldn't open, but she doesn't hear you and opens it anyway. Not that the books in this series are predictable, but they are frustrating, being totally removed from you and the events being out of your control. But they are excellent, and of course end at the precise moment that leaves me wanting more. So I keep buying them. Don't pick up one of these books if you don't intend to read all of them. And for goodness' sake, start with book 1: Dragon Wing.
| 
