Dragon Wing

by Margaret Weis

Other authorsTracy Hickman (Author), Jeffrey L. Ward (Maps), Keith Parkenson (Cover artist)
Paperback, 1990-11

Status

Available

Call number

PS3573.E3978 D66

Publication

Bantam Spectra (New York, 1990). Bantam paperback edition, 32nd printing. 465 pages. $7.99.

Description

Ages ago, sorcerers of unmatched power sundered a world into four realms--sky, stone, fire, and water--then vanished. Over time, magicians learned to work spells only in their own realms and forgot the others. Now only the few who have survived the Labyrinth and crossed the Death Gate know of the presence of all four realms--and even they have yet to unravel the mysteries of their severed world. . . .  In Arianus, Realm of Sky, humans, elves, and dwarves battle for control of precious water--traversing a world of airborne islands on currents of elven magic and the backs of mammoth dragons. But soon great magical forces will begin to rend the fabric of this delicate land. An assassin will be hired to kill a royal prince--by the king himself. A dwarf will challenge the beliefs of his people--and lead them in rebellion. And a sinister wizard will enact his plan to rule Arianus--a plan that may be felt far beyond the Realm of Sky and into the Death Gate itself.… (more)

User reviews

LibraryThing member reading_fox
The beginning of the saga of Haplo and his dog, as they attempt revenge on the race (the Sartan) than imprisoned his people in a deadly labyrinth. After generations a few of them made them our. Haplo was one of those and is a disciple of the First to escape. They'd been at war with the Sartan
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forever, and were close to winning when the Sartan executed a master stroke, Sundering the world. From the rubble they remade four realms of Earth Air Fire and Water, plus of course the prison. The worlds' were peopled with Dwarves Elves and Humans, (and dragons crept in too), but Haplo's people have no idea what happened in the interim, only now does Haplo's master feel strong enough to attempt to emerge and regain their control. Haplo's task is to explore Air, ferment condition suitable to his Lord's takeover and report back - keeping hidden from the Sartan of course.

There are no Sartan to be seen, but the harsh environment nearly does for Haplo, he crashlands at the very bottom of the world where the gegs (Dwarfs) slave for their Eleven and human masters who live on floating islands above.

TBC
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LibraryThing member coffeesucker
This is the beginning of a great series - loved the writing and the characters. And the humor was a pleasant surprise.
LibraryThing member meersan
On a planet of airships and drought an assassin hired to kill a young prince teams up with a demigod who secretly wants to tip the entire world into war.
LibraryThing member weedge507
Amazing book! A little slow at first but Weis and Hickman are fantastic writers...they took the story farther than any one else could. The first book was a great introduction.
LibraryThing member Loptsson
The first chapters seemed to be a good start but the story bogged down for a while. The dwarf somewhat reminded me of the kender from dragonlance. There are number of spots where I shook my head and said what the #$&%^( but it worked out by the last quarter of the book, where it was decidedly
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better. The ending was disappointing and partway expected, partway. It is the first volume though something has to set up the series so I hope the future volumes are better.
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LibraryThing member xerxe
I had played, a long time ago, the old DOS game - Deathgate.
Reading one of the books that inspired it was a grand experience.

The style of writing is a bit monotonous, repetitive. The action is great, the plot complex, descriptions not particularly thorough, but sufficient.
The peak action passages
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really get the heart beating.
The world is a set of islands floating in the air. The "science" (more like magic) that describes the various phenomena is a nice touch.

Overall, an excellent book describing an original fantasy world.
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LibraryThing member ChadCottle
Oddly enough, I enjoyed the first book of this series. It had some great moments and the writing was not too bad.
LibraryThing member awoods187
I didnt finish this book. There were definitely some cool parts of the book but I just didnt find it engaging. It seemed like a really shitty car with a brand new paint job, there were parts to like but the substance wasnt there.
LibraryThing member donalbane26
I liked the book. I didn't feel it was anything super special. I will probably continue to read the series.
LibraryThing member melydia
It took me an incredibly long time to get through this book. It starts with some bits about Hugh the Hand, an assassin saved from execution with an assignment to kill the young prince. Then there's some stuff about revolutionary dwarves, who find a guy and his dog, recently escaped from the
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Labyrinth. And somehow elves are involved, and an evil wizard, and possibly some people more powerful than the evil wizard. The stories eventually intertwine, but I had difficulty figuring out what happened to whom. Reading the wikipedia summary confirmed that I hadn't actually missed anything plotwise, but I think the main problem was that there were a lot of races and I had trouble keeping track of their individual politics and histories. The fact that several of them call each other by differing names (Dwarves vs. Gegs, for example) didn't help either. The only reason I pushed my way through to the end is because I was told that this first book is by far the worst in the series, and once you've gotten past it (and the requisite backstory), the rest of the series is excellent. Let's hope so.
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LibraryThing member NovaStalker
An interesting world and set of racial tensions going on. I also count it as a positive that I can't see how the series would develop over 6 more books other than to assume things will get worse before they get better.
LibraryThing member jimmaclachlan
I read this when it first came out & it didn't wow me, but I was probably getting burned out on their books by then. I'd read a fair few.
LibraryThing member pennylane78
Overall I enjoyed the story, however, the book took me a long time to finish. Usually I can breeze through books, but this one had a lot of build-up before it got really good. I liked the story line with Hugh the Hand who is hired by the King to assassinate the prince. There were several chapters
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with the Gegs, which I could've done without. However, by the end, it left me wanting more. I'm giving it 3 stars, but would much rather give it 3 1/2 stars. Took a little getting used to the writing style, but mostly a good fantasy read, and worth a shot if you enjoy the genre.
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LibraryThing member Toast.x2
Okay. So over beers, I suggested to a good friend, Rich, that he should invest time in the Hyperion Cantos (Dan Simmons). I swear, Rich got a twinkle of evil in his eye, and he made a devilish deal. If I wanted him to read The Hyperion Cantos, I would have to agree to read The Death Gate Cycles, a
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series by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman. I generally trust Rich's perspective, so the fact he was exchanging a 7 book series for my suggested 4 book series never read false to me.


Book one of seven: Dragon Wing, where to start.


Well, let it be known that I am not a reader of DragonLance novels. The fantasy genre just isn't my cup of tea, there are some authors I have enjoyed, but fantasy tends to be more miss than hit when I am concerned.


My reading experience:

- It took me two months+ to slog through through three hundred and forty pages
- Even with access to appendices, I wanted to strangle Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman. The number of concepts and words that were unexplained drove me bonkers.
- I very nearly lit this book on fire and peed on it's ashes. My deal with Rich was the only thing that pushed me to completion.
- I still do not know what the root words for 'Kicksey-Winsey' are, even though Managers, etc all became clear.
- The big protagonist (cheekily named the Sinistrad) and culmination of plot were a huge let down, approx four pages all wrapped in a bow? Exaggeration, yes, but not much of one.
- The Gegs (Dwarves). They are as annoying as Jar Jar Binks.

With all that said, it turned out pretty good... What's that? Well, yeah, my reviews are always honest and in this case the first three quarters made my soul bleed, where the last hundred pages were quite good. I sailed through them pretty quickly. Most of my questions were answered. Characters solidified, story became understandable, and it clicked. After all that pain it clicked. I would never read this book twice (you couldn't pay me), but I do feel confident that my frame of reference is now large enough to enjoy book two. I will read the remainder of the Death Gate Cycle series, much to my own surprise.

Reblurb - this novel undoubtably required a new blurb as the Publisher's description is a waste, an absolute waste in all aspects. Are they selling this purely off the fact that the authors are apparent novel writing machines?

"The Sartans are well intentioned meddlers, attempting to help those on earth by imposing their will on the planet as a whole, each time they meddle, something gets worse. Before they disappeared completely, the Earth was shattered into several crippled pieces.

Hugh the Hand, an assassin, has been hired by the king of the mid-realm. The war between the Elves and Humans is in a lull, and the King is cleaning house, starting with the death of his own son. Hugh is hired to murder the Prince and blame it on the elves.

Unfortunately for everyone involved, nothing in the realms is simple, leading Hugh, the prince, and various others into the world of the Gegs, a revolution, and a battle for their own survival.

Readers of the DragonLance series pay special attention as preeminent storytellers Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman continue to redefine epic fantasy."


Publisher's Description:

"Preeminent storytellers Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman have redefined epic fantasy. Since the publication of their Dragonlance series, millions of readers have enjoyed their imaginative world-building, rich characterization, and intricate storylines. Now these bestselling authors bring their talents to one of the most innovative fantasy creations ever in Dragon Wing, the first volume in The Death Gate Cycle.
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LibraryThing member hhornblower
You really can't go back again. I still remember when the Dragonlance series first came out, I bought the first book and devoured it in about 2 days (Which is great for me, I've always been a reader, but always a slow-ish reader). Then had to wait 6 months for the next book to come out. I would
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re-read the previous one and then start on the new one. I continued that process for the next four books.
Jump forward 35+ year later and a friend is cleaning out his house and offers the complete set of The Death Gate series. Well, if I were still 14, I probably would have really enjoyed this. Now that I'm not, this really didn't do it for me. The writing is simple and basic. The characters are just not that interesting (two of the principle characters are named Sinistrad and Bane...hmm, I wonder if they're the good guys?).
There are allusions to a great battle and chaos in the past, causing the current separations of the various realms in the sky. I imagine this will be covered in the next bunch of books. I'll never know...
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Language

Original language

English

Original publication date

1990-02-01

Physical description

465 p.; 4.16 inches

ISBN

0553286390 / 9780553286397
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