Serpent Mage (The Death Gate Cycle, Vol 4) (Paperback)

~ (Author), Tracy Hickman (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The fourth volume of the authors' Death Gate Cycle, begun with Dragon Wing , moves to Chelestra, Realm of Sea, last of the four worlds created by the Sartan during the Sundering in their battle against the Patryns. The inhabitants of this world--dwarves, elves and humans--are in grave danger: the seasun, source of light and life to the seamoons on which they dwell, is moving away. When the vessels in which they were to escape are destroyed by malignant, highly intelligent dragon-snakes, three children, scions of the ruling families, undergo adventures and encounter Haplo, the Patryn escaped from imprisonment in the Labyrinth who has been traveling the worlds of the Death's Gate fomenting discord. Meanwhile, Alfred, the last remaining Sartan, also translated to the water world, is reunited with others of his kind, including Samah, who initiated the Sundering and has been in suspended animation since. The stage for escalated conflict is set. The worlds created by Weis and Hickman become more attractively complex with each book of the series. The deepening characterizations of Haplo and Alfred, with the underlying mysteries surrounding both, provide the necessary glue binding this opus, which promises three more volumes.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Kirkus Reviews

Fourth of the projected seven-book series (most recently Fire Sea, not seen), continuing the adventures of Haplo the Patryn and his rival, Albert the Sartan. Haplo arrives on Chelestra, a water-world whose construction makes no geometric, physical, or narrative sense, only to find that the local seawater quenches the tattoos that are the source of his Patryn magic. Meanwhile, Alfred, the clumsy, bumbling Sartan, also arrives and by accident reawakens the slumbering ancient, arrogant Sartan ruling council, who regard askance Alfred's growing friendship with Haplo. Also on Chelestra live some superpowerful dragon-snakes, whose purpose is to stir up trouble, force the Sartan to open the Death Gate, and allow them to escape. Haplo befriends a trio of ``mensch,'' the human, dwarf, and elf subclasses oppressed by the mighty Sartan, and eventually comes to trust Alfred--he turns out to be the Serpent Mage (whatever that is, and not that it makes a shred of difference to anything)--more than his nominal master, the Patryn Xar. Yet another futile exercise, with the implausible backdrop, absurd plotting, and vacuous dramatics highlighting the authors' inability to narrate in other than a pedestrian monotone. -- Copyright ©1992, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 480 pages
• Publisher: Spectra; 1st THUS edition (March 1, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0553561405
• ISBN-13: 978-0553561401
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #142,097 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Evil Runs Rampant, June 26, 2000

By	AstroNerdBoy "AstroNerdBoy" (Colorado) - See all my reviews

This is the fourth book of the Death Gate series and final book of the Death Gate Cycle and takes place on the Realm of Water, Chelestra. Alfred emerges from the Death Gate (having just fled Haplo's ship) find's himself in a Sartan chamber similar to the one on the Realm of Air. This chamber is filled with living Sartan which Alfred awakes. He soon discoveres that these are the original Sartan who sundered the world but for some reason can not bring himself to trust them.

Meanwhile Haplo attempt to go to Chelestra without meeting with his lord, Xar. Xar has other plans and manages to get the information about necromancy and the possibility of a higher power out of Haplo. Xar punishes Haplo for his considering the possibility of a higher power as well as punishing him for allowing Alfred to escape. Once his punishment is done, Xar notes with satisfaction that Haplo's mysterious dog is now missing.

On Chelestra, Alfred is surprised by Haplo's dogs appearance at his side. He is also concerned that the Sartan leader refuses to believe there is a higher power and his attempts to hide the truth from Alfred. Haplo makes his way into this world of water when he is shocked to discover that the oceans negate ALL of his magic. Haplo is rescued by a human, elf, and dwarf child who are captives of the powerful and mysterious Dragon-Snakes.

As Haplo learns the truth about the Dragon-Snakes, Alfred learns the truth behind the Sundering. The Dragon-Snakes lead Haplo, the humans, elves, and dwarves to the Sartan and the Sartan leader reacts by threatening to destroy these 'invaders.' As the Dragon-Snakes flood the Sartan city with the rune magic negating ocean water, the leader of the Sartan opens the Death Gate and allows the Dragon-Snakes into the other realms.

This book makes it clear that not all Sartan are good and not all Patryn are evil. Learning more about the past and the fight over whether God (the higher power) really exist proves more interesting than I've made it sound. Fear and arrogance seems to rule both the Patryn leader and the Sartan leader. An excellent read!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another Great Novel in the Death Gate, October 24, 2000

By	Jason Moll (Reading, PA United States) - See all my reviews

Serpent Mage takes you to the fourth world of the Death Gate Series. It takes you to the world of Water, known as Chelstra. Here, in the beginning of the novel, Alfred finds himself in the crystal tombs of the Sartan.........AND they are still living. Once Alfred wakes up his fellow Sartan, he realizes that he is talking to the one and only Samah.

Samah is the lead Sartan in a council of Sartan that had Sundered the world. He and his fellow Sartan have been left asleep for thousands of years. They can not believe the corruption that has taken place on the other worlds. In due time, Alfred is ostricized by his own Sartan.

Haplo has entered the world to find that the saltwater on this world has a debilitating effect on his magic. He comes across some of the Mensch on this world to find that they are unique here on Chelstra......they are at peace. However, Haplo comes across some "creatures" that are more evil than the Sartan, and they are the serpents.

This novel is excellent due to the complex nature of the whole story. On one hand, you have the totally evil serpents who thrive off of chaos. And on the other you have Alfred and Haplo, who are the only ones who truly understand the dreadful power of the serpents.

Alfred has finally found his greatest desire, and that is living Sartan. However, he realizes that he is nothing like the original Sartan. Unfortunately, Alfred does not have similar opinions as the original council created by Samah. As a restult, Alfred faces the same punishment by Samah for those Sartan who opposed Samah. The punishment is stunning, and shocking.

Again, this novel is excellent, because you further understand both Alfred and Haplo, and what the whole purpose of the Death Gate is. It is fast paced, and chaotic in nature, but the enjoyment level is high. Overall, this novel is very informative as to what is occuring in the present and the past. With the addition of the serpents, this should leave to a stunning conclusion in this series.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Now we are getting somewhere, March 25, 2003

By	J. K. Given (Houston, TX) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is book four in the series...
Book 1 was pretty good : Book 2 was pretty good as well : Book 3 was really slow

But all three books were laying important ground work.

Book 4 was a good read (I probably read it the fastest of the books so far). Without going into specifics, Book 4 "Serpent Mage" started to give us some of the really important background information that had been missing. A very elaborate job has been done in painting a picture of some key characters and expanding even more on previously introduced characters. Plus, depending on the twists and turns that MW & TH have instore for the readers, we can start to see a picture of the future story line that will be covered in the final three books. I am really looking forward to them.