Author: Tim Scheidler

Serpent Mage by Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman

Serpent Mage, book four of Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman‘s DEATH GATE CYCLE, is not as good as its immediate predecessor but also manages to be significantly superior to the first two installments in the series. For the most part, the focus on Alfred and Haplo continues to be a good move and the tension is certainly ratcheting up as we get closer to the endgame, but on the other hand this one just didn’t feel as tightly constructed as the more gripping Fire Sea.

Fire Sea by Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman

In Fire Sea, the third novel of the seven-book DEATHGATE CYCLE, authors Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman finally seem to find their footing. Where the plots of the first two novels often felt haphazard and clunky, Fire Sea has a relatively streamlined sequence of events that not only makes sense but takes care to involve its setting and characters. What’s more, the clichéd fantasy archetypes from the first two are largely set by the wayside.