Customer Reviews

Death Gate Cycle

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I read the DeathGate cycle and told my friends, they said it was, from what I said, a tolkien knock-off. I just read Lord of the Rings and DeathGate is totally different and better!

I have read many, many books and still my favorite story of all of them is the Deathgate Cycle. Never have I felt so drawn into a story before. I have read the entire series 3 times now. I very highly recommend these books to anyone, the story told therein is incredibly detailed, epical, and extremely well written, (what you would expect from Wiess and Hickman). The characters are both intriguing and endearing, the magic system is very believable and well thought out, and the whole concept of the Deathgate universe is simply wonderful. Perhaps best of all is the ability of the authors to draw you into the story and enable you to feel and imagine so vividly everything that happens in the story. My one dissapointment is that the authors don't plan on any other books in the universe! I can't say enough about how excellent this series is and beleive me, it is WELL worth the time and price to read all 7 of the books. If you like Wiess and Hickmans previous works, and if you enjoy detailed epics, then you will love these books. My thanks goes out to them for so many hours of such enjoyable reading.

I cannot begin to describe how much I love Weis and Hickman's writing - while I will be first to admit that, on a most basic level, Martin, Jordan and Tolkien definitely outshine them in certain areas, I find Weis' work to be more readable on a base level. I -enjoy- reading her work. At times Martin can become a pure chore, and Jordan's dangling plot threads are a monstrous beast of their own - he even spent an entire, HUGE book going over the happenings of a 24 or 48 hour period. It was disgusting. And Tolkien was amazing, but he's unrefined iron in the face of good steel - he was great for his day and age, and is still great - but these authors have learned from their predecessor's mistakes.

I often see people ranting about Zifnab, and his seemingly out of place remarks and references to the past. While I'm not quite convinced Zifnab IS god, I would deeply believe that he is a very, very old Sartan, perhaps one of the first to be born/imbued with their power after the nuclear war that ended what we know of as contemporary society. Zifnab was undoubtedly one of the first Sartan to challenge the Council, because they found the omniscient being their leaders wanted to deny. When you're thousands of years old, probably living only because the Higher Power wills it, you're allowed to be insane, you're allowed to see the nature and pattern of the Wave, and work to correct it - and you're allowed to make references to the ancient past, like to George Lucas (and the Raistlin remarks just get a chuckle every time!).

An amazing writer, Weis will always be in my top five. Forever and always. I hear the words 'cliche' and 'regurgitated' thrown about in reference to her work - so what if they all follow the same staple characters? I find it makes the books more readable in a leisure sense. The first time I read this series, I started on Book 2, read book 5, book 6, Book 7, then went back and read them all. Years later, I've come back and am rereading them, all over again - and am greatly enjoying myself.

No, there is no doubt in my mind - Weis and Hickman will forever go down as some of the best fantasy authors of our time, even if people wish to deny it.

The finest series this side of Dragonlance Chronicles. However hey never gave the series much credibility and for that I wish they had. Deathgate has the best character development, best storyline and a great mixture of comedy and interaction from other worlds, Got to love Wiess and Hickman. Highly Recomended.

This series like all the works of Wies&Hickman are outstanding. They show a great deal of the characters thought procession. The magic is also ingenious and aslmost entirely different than the magic of Dragonlance. After reading all the Dragonlance Chronicles I was reluctant and wary of many of Fantasy Series, though this one was amzing.

I've read the entire Death Gate Cycle and it was great. The system of magic is complex and powerful. The characters are very well written. Not much else to say except you need to READ THESE BOOKS.

I loved this book! I have read the whole Death Gate Cycle, and the two other sagas by these authors. But this series is my fav. And this book is ranks in my top 3 (out of 8) in this series! It is wroth the money and wait!

Having experienced Weis & Hickmans Dragonlance books I was quite reluctant to pick up this entirely new series (how could they ever live up to the wonder of Dragonlance?). As such, I was convinced from the start that I wouldn't enjoy them. How could I have been so wrong?

It took about 3 pages of Dragon Wing to convince me that I had made an excellent investment. Reading until I couldn't keep my eyes open and resuming after a few hours of sleep I finished the first book with a hunger for more. And as each was released I found them to each to be wonderful. The characters were so "real" I could empathise with them and in some, small, way live their extraordinary lives - if only briefly.

Having read previous reviews I must say that I did not find the final books to be overly confusing and found Zifnab not only amusing, but an important component in the story - though I agree with him - he is no doubt a god ;)

A wonderful, epic, series and one which will always find a special place on my bookshelves and in my imagination. May Alfred find the peace he has long sought and Haplo the hapiness he deserves. And as for Zifnab, may he never remember that fireball spell.....for all their sakes.

This is an original high-level plot which makes the books so incredible. Different characters with different peronalities really made a huge impact on the book. The end kept you waiting....should they write another?

First of all, i would like to say that i thought that these books were for the most part, well crafted and original. the only problem was that since it was such a complicated plot, they had trouble wrapping up all the loose ends. me and my friends had to talk for long times to work everything out. i think that maybe wies and hickman ought to have read the books over, then revise them to make them more comprehendible to the readers.

another thing: while at first i was overjoyed with the prospect of the befuddled old wizard with his crooked hat and his fireball [what was his name again?] returning to wreak his havoc on the readers. but... i don't think that all the humor about george lucas and OO7 and stuff was really necessary. i suppose that the authors (who i hold in high regard) were trying to lighten up the "tragic" plot, but the whole point of the books was that it was supposed to be "tragic" and they're just contradictign themselves. maybe its just me though...

i am a firm believer that margaret weis and tracy hickman are among the most immaginative and creative authors of all time, and - wait, where is this thought going... nevermind

but overall, if you are lookin g for an interesting plot and don't mind spending lots of time sorting it all out with some people, than this is the very book for you (ooh how original)