Customer Reviews

Elven Star (Death Gate Cycle)

5 star:		(34)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is the 2nd book of the Death Gate Cycle and has only one returning character from the first book "Dragon Wing" : the Patryn Haplo. The book starts out slow as we are introduced to the Realm of Fire, Pryan. This world stays lit constantly which has made the surface a massive jungle so high that only dwarves have ever seen the ground. The story starts with our introduction to an elf family who are in the weapons business. As the best in the trade, they are the richest in the land. They are selling a new shipment of magic weapons to a pair of human traders/smugglers who in turn are smuggling them to the dwarves. The dwarves are worried due to rumors that mythical Tytans are on the move and destroying everything in their path.

It is into this scene that Zifnab (Fizban for those who've read the Dragonlance series) makes a grand entrance fighting to control a huge dragon. After gaining control of the dragon, he predicts Haplo's coming and that the Patryn will be their savior.

So when Haplo does show up, he is surprised to see he has been expected and his arrival is none to soon. The mythical Tytans have proved to be all to real and are destroying everything in their path. Much to Haplo's surprise, these Tytans know crude Sartan magic which they use with the force of a mountain and nearly kill Haplo. Haplo and a few survivors barely escape with there lives and make for one of the "stars" in the sky. It is here that Haplo learns about the creation of the Tytans but is no closer to learning what happened to his enemies, the Sartans.

Learning about the political situation of Pryan is a tad slow in the begining but Zifnab makes great comic relief and the Tytans make for an interesting creature that (IMO) helps speed the book along. This book continues to slowly show us that Haplo is not pure evil just because he's a Patryn. All-in-all an excellent read!

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.

I adore this book. Despite it's tragedy (sp?), it's hilarious! Zifnab, a Gandalf wannabe, adds an hysterical element to the story that makes him one of the most lovable characters in the series! Then there's his dragon. We have to remember him, too. Otherwise, he'll be offended and Zifnab will have to sing that drinking song all over again to charm him! Of course, Haplo's there. As usual, he's getting personally caught up in something he's supposed to just be a witness to (Mostly because of Zifnab), and instead of being a casual passerby, he's a part of that crackpot's prophecy (The usual death, doom, and..er...destruction! Yeah, that's it! Destruction!). Well, what can he do but follow along, especially if it means his own life if he doesn't? This is a must-read!

Elven Star is a GREAT book,as captivating as the first. It's a bit slow at first,As others have said before me (like book 1, Dragon Wing), but once you read for a while it's hard to put it down.Yesterday I was up all night reading it and I just finished it today. "The Death Gate Cycle" series has been great so far(I've read two books), and I'm sure it will continue this way.

Evlen Star was a great mix of suspense, action, and love. Even better than the first of the Death Gate Cycle. It was a story of segregated races coming together to save themselves from annihilation. The only small problem with Elven Star was the little relation to Dragon Wing(also an excellent book). The only relation was that of Haplo and his dog traveling to a different world. All of the other characters are new. Though they were new, the characters were well-created. Zifnab added a few laughs to a long journey, though sometimes his ramblings were not even close to funny. Another great part of the book was the constant action. There were no boring stretches of the book that were just too boring to read. There was always something happening. I always wanted to keep reading, wanting to know what would happen next. Unless the answers of Dragon Wing are answered in later wolumes, Elven Star could have been made complete with more information on the world of Arianus. After reading Dragon Wing I decided that I would try the next book in the series. After reading Elven Star I know I am going to read all seven books.

But that doesn't say much, the others are all so amazing. Elven Star introduces an almost entirely new cast of characters from Dragon Wing, (the first volume of the series), including Zifnab, the latest incarnation of Fizban, the lovable, loony wizard from Dragonlance. He is an enigmatic character, maintaining depth while still being a hysterically funny comic relief character. This book shows Weis and Hickman's sheer joy in writing, which they impart to the reader beautifully. This book is not as good as the others, the cast of characters is slightly less stellar than the first volume, though this mars the book only a little. Worth reading, and even if you don't like it as much as the first, get through it, and then you hit the real treat in the third volume, Fire Sea, which deserves more stars than are available to give.

In Elven Star you discover the second brilliantly concieved world in the Death Gate Cycle. Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman create the ultimate blend of mystery and comedy. The world is unlike any we've ever perhaps imagianed in our wildest dreams. Everlasting light provides this world with lush growth(understatement). The trees are hundreds perhaps thousands of feet in the sky. The thick moss growing between the trees provide a type of land that the humans and elves live on. Finding the dwarves in areas dug well beneath the moss. Once again the Patryn(Demi-God like magic user) whom you meet in Dragon Wing is exploring the world to find evidence of the Sartan's existance. Instead he finds a new force of great power that challanges even his own. The foreshadowing is excellent, The comedy is unbearable at times,(especially if you've read J.R.R.Tolkien or DragonLance) and once again you find that the need to read on in the series is not an option, its an requirement to satisfy your growing addiction for more Weis and Hickman brilliance

A very good story by some of the most creative spell & sword authors I've ever read, and I've far too many. It is cheesy at times, and in a way that is way out of swing with the rest of the more serious series, but it's easy to enjoy that and even easier to look passed it in appreciation for the story itself.

This book is a fantastic bit of world building, as was the first book in the Death Gate Cycle. The pacing in the beginning is a bit slow. Did I say, a bit slow? Dull and tedious explain the first almost 50 pages very well. It doesn't grab you right from the beginning and not let go. It doesn't start becoming a page turner until around page 100, so if you're not a patient reader and wants lots of action and suspense right from the beginning this book isn't for you. However, if you're reading this book it's probably because you liked Dragon Wing, and if that's the case you're hooked and will have to read this book and the rest of the series.

Luckily, even though this story starts off slow, after the first 100 pages the tension and sense of urgency really starts to grow. This book get's pretty dark. It's not some happy go lucky tale where everything turns out rosy in the end. This is probably the reason why the authors drop in a whimsical bit of comic relief that fans of their Dragonlance novels will get a real kick out of - everyone else will be completely in the dark. I don't often laugh when reading, even if something is meant to be funny - I'll understand that it's humorous but not to the point of laughing. This book had me randomly laughing out loud, followed by chuckling to myself afterwards.

Overall the writing in this book is really superb. The world is unique. The story, the immediate story and how it fits in place with the larger story, is a work of art - I found it both thought provoking and insightful. As I said, it's slow but if you give it a chance it will turn into a real delight to read.

Four stars.

This book was hilarious! Zifnab? Oh, come on! It's freaking Fizban for crying out loud. Weis is a Goddess. She can write some of the funniest awesome. Zifnab (Fizban) and his easily offended dragon made the book. I actually had to buy this one, ya'll.