SF-LOVERS Digest V19 #689

[Ozgur Sahin]

I found the Death Gate Cycle series to be the best series yet
written by Weis and Hickman. This isn't to say that it was, on the whole,
good. The first book had a lot of interesting - and later important -
material, but I found that many parts of it dragged on. The second book
(which I actually read first) was more action-based, but none of the
material was very good. The third and fourth books were absolutely
brilliant. This was largely because a) Weis and Hickman temporarily layed
off of the cheap romance subplots that I previously found to be
characteristic of their works, and b) the characters and their
motives/viewpoints underwent extensive development. The plot began to
really come together with the third book, Fire Sea. The fifth book was
much the same as the first, except that the developments in the previous
books made some material in the Hand of Chaos more interesting. I also
loved the line, "I lied. I'm not a mysteriarch - I'm a god."
The sixth book, Into the Labyrinth, was a disappointment for me.
I thought that a lot of time was wasted on dead-end subplots and
unimportant descriptions. I was very disappointed in the fact and
account of Orla's death. "By the way, Orla's dead." "Oh, well. Let's go."
(To imitate another reviewer on this line). It also began to seem as if
everyone was "worshipping" Alfred/Coren a little too much. I found
things much more interesting when Alfred and Haplo were *equal* and
opposite, as well as friends.
I have not yet read the Seventh Gate, as I'm unwilling to pay the
hardcover price. From what everyone is saying about the book, it's
probably just as well. Hugh the Hand was one of the coolest characters,
and if that's the way they "describe" his death, then it's third rate
writing with NO excuse. Xar's death should be treated like the big deal
it is, although the I find the fact that Hugh the Hand killed him to be
rather interesting and I think it works. I'm also very tired of Dragons,
mostly because of Weis and Hickman. Dragons are not what Fantasy writing
is all about, and they should not be necessary for a good story. By
using them so many times, Weis and Hickman are actually hurting their
stories. Still, I plan to read the seventh book when the paperback comes
out.
I think that the story should have taken 5 to 6 books, but it was
pre-planned that the series would consist of 7 books. I think that after 5
books, Weis and Hickman began to run out of material. Sometimes I wonder
if the good parts of the series aren't written by just one author, while
the rest is written by the other. In any case, I would recommend the
series, mainly for books 3 through 5. The others are necessary to make
the series complete, but that's all they really do.

-Ozzy

"A little patience goes a long way."
"Yes. Too much patience goes absolutely nowhere."
-Doctor Who, Full Circle.

[Petter Nilsen]

In article <Pine.3.89.94092816...@acs.bu.edu>, oz...@acs.bu.edu

(Ozgur Sahin) wrote:
> I found the Death Gate Cycle series to be the best series yet
> written by Weis and Hickman. This isn't to say that it was, on the whole,

You haven't read Dragonlance Cronicles and Legends then?

---
\\\\\\ Petter Nilsen - Ultima Thule Software - pet...@powertech.no |\
>>>>>>===============================================================| >
////// IRC: Mitchman - Using THOR 1.3 beta with the SOUP format |/

Eat any good books lately?