THE DEATH GATE CYCLE By Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman Review by JAMES JILLIANS INFO: I Dragon Wing : Bantam Paperback : œ4.99 II Elven Star : Bantam Paperback : œ4.99 III Fire Sea : Bantam Paperback : œ4.99 IV Serpent Mage : Bantam Paperback : œ4.99 V The Hand of Chaos : Hardback : œ14.99 Any keen fantasy reader must surely have heard of Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman and their world-famous DragonLance books, Darksword Trilogy, Rose of the Prophet novels, Margaret's Star of the Guardians Series, and now the Death Gate Cycle. After reading one of their books I've never been less than completely satisfied (and I think I've read them all!). So, with great expectations, I plunged into their latest saga... The story is set in a world that was sundered by mighty sorcerers called the Sartan into four elemental realms: air, earth, fire and water. Each of the realms was connected to the others by a rift in the fabric of the universe known as Death Gate. Many thousands of years later the Sartan have disappeared and their carefully thought out plans have started to go dreadfully wrong... The Patryn, a race of beings of equal power and mortal enemies to the Sartan, are beginning to escape from the deadly labyrinth in which they were imprisoned at the time of the sundering. The Lord of the Nexus, the first Patryn to escape and now the established leader, has begun to plan his conquest of the realms. Another Patryn, Haplo, has been sent to investigate each of the realms and discover useful information. The Death Gate Cycle will consist of seven books, although as yet only five have been published, one of which is still in hardback. The first four books deal mainly with Haplo and his adventures on each of the four realms, whilst in the later novels the realms will begin to interact, with a supreme battle for world dominance taking place in the final book. The world that the book is set in is probably one of the most well thought out and complex fantasy creations that I have come across. In fact, reading is a bit frustrating to begin with because as there is so much depth to the scenario there are thousands of questions you are dying to ask, but the answers aren't revealed until later on in the cycle. Gradually as the story goes on, bits of information are given and the history of the realms is revealed, leaving you thinking, "oh, so that's how it happened!". There's a surprise hidden around every corner - you mustn't take anything at face value. These books are as intriguing as any good detective story! Weis and Hickman are renowned for their excellent handling of emotion in their novels. Such issues as love, fear, hope and trust are all incorporated. Characters and their feelings are vividly portrayed, you even begin to feel for them! I hate to admit it, but I had to wipe away a tear at one point! The novels, especially books 3 and 4, are gripping. I was on the edge of my seat chapter after chapter, hoping desperately that good would triumph over evil and that my favourite characters would survive. The story isn't over-full of action-packed fight scenes, but it manages nevertheless to be incredibly exciting. The books are well written - they'll grab your attention and never let go. There is a good mix of first person and third person accounts. At the end of each book there are one or two appendixes explaining a few of the more technical details such as how magic works in the realms and how different devices operate. There's also a song for each novel but none of them sound particularly good. J.J. ROUND-UP A great series of books that should not be missed by anyone. There's a complex plot with vividly portrayed characters that seem to come alive inside your mind. The novels are full of surprises, there's always a little titbit of information at the end of a book which twists your line of thinking completely around. The books are well-written and keep you enthralled right until the end. The suspense is legendary. Brilliant - read the books - NOW! JILLI-READ RATINGS DEPTH : 10 out of 10 INTRIGUE : 9 out of 10 EMOTIONAL VALUE : 9 out of 10 EXCITEMENT RATING: 9 out of 10 SUSPENSE : 10 out of 10 READ-ABILITY : 10 out of 10 N.B. I heartily recommend all the other books by Weis and Hickman - they're just as good!