Some of you have been asking me what my next shameless plug would be, so here it is!;-) And with wonderful cover art of Fire Sea by Keith Parkinson to boot! You can see more at www.keithparkinson.com.
After Guy Gavriel Kay, R. Scott Bakker and Steven Erikson, this time I elected to go with the authors which made me fall in love with the fantasy genre. Many people from my generation were introduced to the genre by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman's Dragonlance novels. I was only 12 years old at that time, and we could say that I never looked back!
Like many boys and girls my age, we followed Weis and Hickman through the Dragonlance Chronicles and Legends, and then onto the Tales and beyond. When they signed with Bantam Spectra, most of us continued to buy their books, of course. After two trilogies, Weis and Hickman came up with the most ambitious project on the market at that point: a 7-book cycle.
The Deathgate Cycle remains to this day one of my favorite fantasy series of all time. Without the shadow of a doubt, this was Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman at their peak. Ambitious, fun, entertaining, thought-provoking -- it's one hell of a series. For those of you looking for something special, something you don't have to wait for the next volume, something you can get in paperback and thus good for every budget, you can't go wrong with The Deathgate Cycle. Check it out! You won't be disappointed!:-)
Join Haplo and his dog, the assassin Hugh the Hand, Alfred, and the rest of this nice cast of disparate characters in one of the most entertaining series I've ever read!
13 commentaires:
I <3 Death Gate Cycle. It's one series that I try to read every year. There is so much great writing and wonderful character development in it. Once I'd read The Hobbit, those were the next books I picked up at the library back in the 80s. I still recommend them to people who haven't read a lot of fantasy. When they look at me like I'm nuts (because it's 7 books), I tell them they won't regret it.
Thanks for the recommendation Pat. Sounds interesting.
Pat, I was wondering if you posted any info on your own fantacy novel and I missed it? I was eagerly waiting to see if any house bought it. That is one novel I'm gonna pre-order first chance!
Best...
No new information to speak of, I'm afraid. But these things can take months, so don't hold your breath!
After all, it took Patrick Rothfuss two years to find a publisher...
I never did read the last two in that series, might have to give it a go sometime soon. I also haven't read the first trilogy in the Dragonlance books but have read the Twins trlogy and a few others, must give them a go too.
'Twas David Eddings after Tolkein that got me into Fantasy and haven't looked back since!
I love this series!!!
Once I read the first one, I was scouring the library every week to find the rest. I still don't own the whole thing, but it's on my list of things to get, for sure. The thing that caught my memory the most was when the old wizard started muttering about Raistlin. I thought it was great how they'd put in a few inside jokes for those who had read their Dragonlance work. Absolutely awesome.
They actually wanted to name him Fizban, but due to copyright reasons they couldnt, but in their heads and writing, it's basically the same character.
I have all these sitting on my shelf. I haven't read them in years, so it might be time to revisit them. Thanks for the memories. ;)
This was the first fantasy series I read (well after Tolkien, and C.S. Lewis). I read it when I was about 14 I guess, and it was at the time the greatest reading experience I'd ever had. It's what really got me into fantasy and reading in general. I haven't dared to go back to it since, for fear of tarnishing those memories.
I'm wondering if The Death Gate Cycle is better than their newer stuff like The Bronze Canticles which I thought was pretty weak and didn't make it half-way through the 2nd book (Mystic Quest). Anyone read both series and have an opinion?
This series had tons of potential but I think Weis/Hickman spit the bit in book four and completely lost their way. Worse yet, the ending was completely unsatisfying (much like the Darksword trilogy) without any real resolution.
Books 1-3 were very good, and the rampaging giants from Elven Star could have been the best wild card in the Patryn/Sartan vengeance concept, but instead the authors turned in a different direction and lost their momentum. The final scenes were too reminiscent of the climax of their first Dragonlance trilogy.
All in all, a bit of a disappointment after the rousing start and great concept.
That previous comment is totally on the money. I was all over this for the first three books - Fire Sea was the best by far - and then things fell all apart in Book Four, exactly like you say. It's as if they started getting tired with the series and became a bit lazy. In the final trilogy, which could have been the amazing collision of four well-realized worlds, we have respectable characters needlessly hamming it up stooges style, and the villain lost his menace. I wasn't pleased with how it went down at all.
I really enjoyed the series, and can even get behind the path that there were going, and I've read the series several times. The ending though, it haunts me. Its like coming to the end of a season of your favorite show, with a loving and well written cliffhanger prepared, only to find out the next day that it is cancelled.
Thoughts on the series now ?
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