The Seventh Gate - Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman

Bantam Spectra, 1994, 344 pages
ISBN: 0-553-57325-X
Read May 2015, age 37

Book 7 of The Death Gate Cycle.

Well, I've completed the series.  There aren't any more.  This one was the least painful of the bunch, but it was just ok.  This series wasn't worth the time investment.

Rating: 3

Into the Labyrinth - Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman

Bantam Spectra, 1993, 451 pages
ISBN: 0-553-56771-3
Read: April 2015, age 37

Book 6 of The Death Gate Cycle

I keep thinking that the series should be getting better.  It isn't, much.  I'm invested in the characters now, so I'll keep reading about them, but this series is just not good.

Rating: 2

The Hand of Chaos - Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman

Bantam Books, 1993, 464 pages
ISBN: 0-553-56369-6
Read March 2015, Age 36

Book 5 of The Death Gate Cycle

I'm still unhappy with this series.  There just doesn't seem to be much for plot, and I don't care much about the characters.  Despite (finally) seeing the shape of of the main storyline at the end of Book 4, Book 5 doesn't do too much to advance it.  It's just not at all engrossing.

Rating: 2

Serpent Mage - Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman

Bantam Spectra, 1992, 436 pages
ISBN: 0-553-56140-5
Read February 2015,  age 36

Book 4 of The Death Gate Cycle

There's a plot sighting in this book!  More than halfway through the series, and we're finally starting to see the shape of the main conflict.  Sigh.  As with the first three, the supporting characters were more interesting than the main duo - Alfred, the super-powerful, nice, but incompetent Sartan, and Haplo, who's continually showing that he's not as tough as he thinks he is (and the narrator is constantly telling us).  The three royal girls were much more sympathetic, and also clearer with their intentions.  The series is getting better, but I'm really unimpressed so far.

Rating: 3

Fire Sea - Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman

Bantam Spectra, 1991, 364 pages
ISBN: 0-553-07406-7
Read February 2015,  age 36

Book 3 of The Death Gate Cycle

Still waiting on that story.  Book three is still pretty much "go to that place and see what's there."  This is the third incarnation of that story, and at least the attached story had a bit more meat to it than before.  Part of it was that the main character seemed like he could be threatened a bit in this one.  Still, though, the characters are still incredibly passive, existing merely to show off the setting that was developed.  The payoff is going to have to be pretty big to justify the slog through all the exposition.  I guess we'll see where it goes.

Rating: 3

Elven Star - Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman

Bantam Spectra, 1990, 367 pages
ISBN: 0-553-29098-3
Read January 2015, age 36

Book 2 of The Death Gate Cycle

After book two, I'm still waiting for the story to start.  This is book two of setting exploration, where the main thing to do is "go to that place, and see what's there", with no real sense of movement in any kind of greater story line.  At least in this book, it felt like there was the potential for some of the characters developed to play some sort of role in the actual story, which will probably start sometime in book 5, if the pattern I'm seeing develop holds true.

As far as it went, the setting was interesting, and the societies... well, the authors don't seem to have much trouble destroying all the world building that went into the prep of this book.  It's just too bad that the setting exposition wasn't attached to a better story.

Rating: 3

Dragon Wing - Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman

Bantam Spectra, copyright 1990, 430 pages

ISBN 0-555-28693-0

Read December 2014 (age 36)

First time read

What to expect:

Book one of a seven book cycle, it's a high fantasy with a steep learning curve.

From the back cover:

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.

My reactions after the jump.

XDM X-treme Dungeon Mastery – Tracy & Curtis Hickman

Illustrated by Howard Taylor

Editors: Stacy L. Whitman, Sandra Taylor, Josh Peltier

Read: July 2010 (at age 32)

First time read.

What to Expect:

This is a treatise on good game-mastering, written by some people who seem to be good GMs.  It’s a bit over-generalized for what I was looking for, and way too silly for my taste in places.  It’s short, the illustrations really add to the text (often, they’re the best part of the page), and there were large irrelevant sections.  It’s better read as a discussion of gaming by a couple of guys who’ve been there, done that, than as a technical reference.

Reactions after the break.  There aren't any spoilers in a book like this.