Customer Reviews

Dragon Wing, Volume 1 (The Death Gate Cycle)

5 star:		(92)
4 star:		(30)
3 star:		(12)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(10)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

I'd first read this series back when it came out and I was a teenager, and I remember them only being so-so back then. I decided to give them another try, and after reading Dragonwing I'm not sure I'm going to make it through the rest again. It shouldn't come as any surprise to me, but the characters are pretty one-dimensional and the dialogue doesn't sound real. And how many times does Alfred need to trip or Limbeck start rattling off a speech while no one's listening? We get that Alfred is clumsy after the first 15 times he trips... it doesn't need to keep happening every other page!

Anyway, the real reason I wanted to write this review wasn't to complain about the content of the book, but rather how the Kindle version turned out. There are a lot of problems with text that got garbled and came out with the wrong characters. For example, if there's a line in the book that says "I'll go get it.", it might appear in the Kindle version as "I'11 go get it". There's also quite a few cases of words with letters missing. It's impossible to go more than 2 pages without hitting an error like this, and in some cases you might see 5 or 6 on a page. It's not a huge deal since you can still tell what the word is supposed to be, but it's pretty annoying that this was such a low-quality digital conversion.

I am totally addicted to fantasy. I simply can't get enough of it, with the unfortunate result that nothing's really original anymore. You'll find a trace of Tolkien in practically every story and since I find it unlikely that Tolkien will be surpassed, other fantasy simply doesn't match up.

Well, that's what I thought before I read Death Gate Cycle. This series is original in every aspect! The setting, the characters, the plot, even the races. Weis and Hickman don't stop at humans, dwarves and elves... The thing I like the most about this series is the convincing characters. They are so real and diverse and 'colourful' that they really pull you into the story. They will keep on amazing with unexpected behaviour.

Another point to note is the lenght of the books. I can appreciate a long book (because I love reading!) but I know there are those who would prefer something shorter. All seven books are of a decent lenght, not too long but long enough to hold a complicated story. I don't feel that the authors left anything out to keep it short -there's nothing worse than a crammed in story- but I personally could do with even more. I'm currently in the sixth book and it is a sad thought that it will have to end soon.

I recommend this series to all fantasy fans, especially if you're looking for something fresh and stimulating.

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.

First off, let me just say that some of the reviews that you read here say this book is choppy, hard to read, and not worth your trouble. These people would be wrong. Although the book is challenging to read for most people, those who read it and put some effort into it can comprehend and grasp the concepts pretty easily. This being said, not everything is revealed at once, which is why people might be confused. But not knowing everything adds to the suspence and thrill of reading Dragon Wing, and the entire Death Gate Cycle series.

Now that we've gotten that out of the way, let's move onto the review, shall we?

Dragon Wing is one of the most amazing books I've ever read. The beginning, although not action packed, soon draws you into the world of Arianus, The Realm of Air. Switching stories from the Gegs and their problems with rebellion, to Hugh the Hand and Bane, assassin and prince, traveling together as murderer and victim. This soon changes as Alfred, the prince's caretaker, follows them and enters the picture. As the stories progress, the central character for the entire series, Haplo enters the picture with a world of mystery around him. As the stories entertwine and the suspence and action builds, you cannot put the book down. The central conflict tied up nicely, the book ends and the groundwork for the next 3 books are laid out. (I could elaborate more on the plot of the book for hours, but I don't beleve in spoiling other people, so sorry for the lack of details.)

All in all, Dragon Wing is an amazing book that I would reccomend to anybodywho enjoys fantasy, or even reading in general. So what are you waiting for?! Go order it now!

PS: Make sure to read the appencicies at the end. They're important!

This book is a wonderful intro to the world of the Death Gate Cycle. The book, in my opinion, moved just fast enough to keep one interested and yet still develop those crucial characters.

I used to think that the Wheel of Time was the best series out there. Then I thought Lord of the Rings was the best. Now, I believe that Death Gate is better than either of these. I have also read numerous other fantasy serieses (this a word? heh) and this one tops them all. David Eddings, eat your heart out.

Everyone should read this entire seiries, not only because it is a grand work of art, but because it shows us insight into the essence of humanity. Read it!

Feel free to spam me with bashings.

Having just finished the final book (the seventh Gate) i am extremely pleased with this book.

When you start this book you probably are just expecting a non chalant novel...BUT NO this book really goes deeper and deeper into a immense storyline that will instantly get you hooked.

when my friend showed me this book i was just like "oh yea i guess ill read it", by thre time i finished the first book i was begging him for the next one and the next one and on and on until i finished the whole series.

so all in all
if you dont want to get into immense stories that just are mind blowing and you dont have that much time for it then dont get it, otherwise enjoy this book to te fullest becauae it is so far the best i have read.

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!