wies & hickman
Jason Murray
Fizban, oops I mean Zifnab.
--
"You eight the sandbox?!"
J
Pamela Cowen
: Is anyone reading the Death Gate Cycle? If so what are your thoughts on
The Death Gate Cycle is odd... i've liked about every other book, Elven
Star being my favorit. And Zifnab/Fizban is a nice touch. He's the same
loony old god he was in the DragonLance books... I'm still not sure what
the heck he's doing in that world though.
ZarehHoneyLangridge
I always suspected that Fizban was actually Paladine myself. Anyone
agree with that ?
--
za...@Smallworld.co.uk (Zareh Langridge)
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Dip me in honey and throw me to the lesbians
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
The opinions expressed above are purely personal and not those of my employer
Laura
>
>Jason Murray (JMU...@ELECTRICAL.watstar.uwaterloo.ca) wrote:
>: Is anyone reading the Death Gate Cycle? If so what are your thoughts on
>: Fizban, oops I mean Zifnab.
>: --
>: "You eight the sandbox?!"
>: J
>
>
get a little "bogged down" with all this inter-world travel and meeting
new characters along the way. I like the maturation process Haplo goes
through, and I absolutely LOVE that dog. My feelings on this series is
that it is very complex and integrated; not something to skim through.
You really have to pay attention to what is going on or you forget
where you are and who you are with. :-)
Laura Lance / All that is gold does not glitter.
Food Science Dept., UGA / Not all those who wander are lost.
Athens, GA 30602 / --- J.R.R. Tolkien
har...@uga.cc.uga.edu /
*******************************************************************
Yield to temptation; it might not pass your way again.
--- Lazuras Long
sem...@alpha.hendrix.edu
<314lpp$1...@solano.community.net>:
>Jason Murray (JMU...@ELECTRICAL.watstar.uwaterloo.ca) wrote:
> : Is anyone reading the Death Gate Cycle? If so what are your thoughts on
> : Fizban, oops I mean Zifnab.
[stuff deleted]
>The Death Gate Cycle is odd... i've liked about every other book, Elven
> Star being my favorit. And Zifnab/Fizban is a nice touch. He's the same
> loony old god he was in the DragonLance books... I'm still not sure what
> the heck he's doing in that world though.
I agree. I like Zifnab. My only guess is of course that he's at least a
partial embodiement (sp?) of the "higher power" that Haplo thinks he's
discovered. (The details of the earlier books are a bit fuzzy.) I must
admit, I guess the Death Gate Cycle is ok, it is not (IMHO) in the same league
as the DragonLance or the Jordan series. (I'm not trying to compare the DL and
Jordan series, so please no flames about this -- I just like both of them.)
Lars
"We are only immortal for a limited time" -n. peart, "Dreamline"
Pamela Cowen
: In article <314lpp$1...@solano.community.net>,
: eil...@solano.community.net (Pamela Cowen) writes:
: > Jason Murray (JMU...@ELECTRICAL.watstar.uwaterloo.ca) wrote:
: > : Is anyone reading the Death Gate Cycle? If so what are your thoughts
: > on
: > : Fizban, oops I mean Zifnab.
: > : --
: > : "You eight the sandbox?!"
: > : J
:
: > The Death Gate Cycle is odd... i've liked about every other book,
: > Elven
: > Star being my favorit. And Zifnab/Fizban is a nice touch. He's the
: > same
: > loony old god he was in the DragonLance books... I'm still not sure
: > what
: > the heck he's doing in that world though.
:
:
: I always suspected that Fizban was actually Paladine myself. Anyone
: agree with that ?
: --
i thought that was made pretty clear that he was at the end of Spring
Dawning.
ZarehHoneyLangridge
Rose of the Prophet etc ?
And do you think that Margeret Weiss writes better alone or better with
Hickman ?
Bryce Koike
A really stupid thing to do. As writers they're not that good.
Their imaginations are nothing spectacular. Fizban, or whatever you
want to call him, in his cameo role was disappointing. Okay if
you're a Dragonlance fan (fanatic? well, if you really, really got
off on the books), but as a casual reader, I thought that was
annoying in a very stupid sort of way.
I'm sure a lot of W&H fans jumped up and down in their seats (how
soon before they throw Tasselhoff the Greatest Of Annoying
Characters into their books?) in excitement when they saw Fizban,
and normally characters who cross over into other books don't bother
me, but Fizban is, essentially, just a stupid comedic character,
and...well...oh well.
In a sense, I'm kinda horrified that people still buy their books,
but they are better than that 100% terrible Darksword Trilogy.
I guess I'm just disappointed that they're completely incapable of
breaking away from the AD&D-style fiction that launched them into
the bigtime. Even the ideas which I think are really good simply
aren't executed in a way which retains the same impressiveness.
Instead, they portray it in the typical D&D sort of fashion and kill
the intrigue, exoticness, or whatever it may be that impressed me to
begin with.
But Fizban...ah...Fizban must die. :) (j/k!)
David Thomas Richard Given
Chris Wild <CJW...@civy.demon.co.uk> wrote:
>In article <JMURRAY.9...@ELECTRICAL.watstar.uwaterloo.ca>
> JMU...@ELECTRICAL.watstar.uwaterloo.ca "Jason Murray" writes:
>
>> Is anyone reading the Death Gate Cycle? If so what are your thoughts on
>> Fizban, oops I mean Zifnab.
>> --
>are self imposed by using AD&D rules (as it were). Weis & Hickman should dump
>these.
A few comments (please don't stop at the next sentence!):
(asbestos underwear on)
I hate Weiss and Hickmann.
(asbestos underwear off)
Usually.
I read two (2) of their earlier stuff -- _Test of the Twins_ (-5 out of
10) and _Forging the Darksword_ (4 out of 10 -- readable, not brilliant).
I originally picked up _Dragon Wing_ in a library because there wasn't
much else and the scenraio was interesting. Now I'm hooked. The Death
Gate Cycle is much, much better than any of their other work; their magic
is relatively logical and well thought-out (I love the appendices) and
the five (six? seven?) linked worlds, each with their own brand of
magic/technology are fascinating. I particularly like the way they use
magic as a handwaving way of making technology work -- the water world's
seaships, for example, complete with airlock, gravity generators,
thrusters and tractor beams.
However, they could be improved considerably by junking the elves and
dwarves. They would have done better by have Patryn, Sartan and a generic
mensch race, probably all human, rather than, as you say, making links to
AD&D; luckily they don't use AD&D magic, or the whole thing would be
abysmal. As for Zifnab... well, let's wait and see, shall we? (I'm still
waiting for the book(s) after #5) :)
--
__ _ _ _ _ | GCS -d+(?)(++) p(-+)(---) c++++ !l+(+)
| \ /_\\ /| | \ / |\ /|_ |\ | | u++ e*(++) m*(++) s !n h+(++) f+ g+
|_/ | | V | |_/ \_| | V |_ | \| | w+(+++) t--(+) r y? (Archimedes owner)
dt...@st-andrews.ac.uk | ***In search of better V's***
Chris Wild
JMU...@ELECTRICAL.watstar.uwaterloo.ca "Jason Murray" writes:
> Is anyone reading the Death Gate Cycle? If so what are your thoughts on
> Fizban, oops I mean Zifnab.
> --
I'm enjoying the Death Gate Cycle (Email me if you wish to discuss it).
*** Sticking my neck out :-) ***
I think the Death Gate Cycle is a far better story than Dragonlance.
Dragonlance was a very good read. It's characterisations were very good but the
story was weak. Death Gate is a more substantial story.
As an earlier post mentioned the AD&D link. I also hate the constraints that
are self imposed by using AD&D rules (as it were). Weis & Hickman should dump
these.
***
I like the way that using Zifnab suggests a link in the higher powers, but I
don't want any other characters from Dragonlance turning up though!
--
Regards
Chris Wild
----------
CJW...@civy.demon.co.uk
** DISCLAIMER: Grammar, spelling and views are *as is* You won't lose any
** sleep over it. It will not alter you life. Nor will it induce a premature
** death. SO please, no flames!
Paul D Droubie
>Since we're talking about Weiss & Hickman, what do people reckon to The
>Rose of the Prophet etc ?
I enjoyed it, but I also thought it was rather standard fantasy writing.
Better than a lot, but not at a level with Jordan, Williams, Tolkien and
a couple others. But definitely better than pulp fantasty.
I also thought it was better than the sword (Dark Sword maybe?) books, I
couldn't even finish the first one I hated it so bad. But I liked
the Chronicals and Legends (DL) better.
The Mad Giggler (Hee!Hee!Hee!)
drou...@gold.tc.umn.edu
aka Paul Droubie
Michael Handler
> Hickman ?
Weis writes much better with Hickman. For evidence, I offer one
of Weis's solo works, _The Star Of The Guardians_ trilogy. Feh. Very
badly written and conceived. IMAO, of course.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Michael Brandt Handler <gre...@netaxs.com>
Philadelphia, PA <mh...@andrew.cmu.edu>
Currently at CMU, Pittsburgh, PA PGP v2.6 public key on request
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