I did not expect to like this one as much as I did. Sure, I'd heard good things about the series, and had always kinda meant to read it, but just about everyone who raved about it (or about any of Weis and Hickman's combined work) would talk about how amazing said books were when read at a relatively young age. So when I found this one used and cheap I was in a mood for epic fantasy, but wasn't considering much more than fun.Now don't get me wrong, "fun" is probably the best word to describe Dragon Wing, but it's really, really well-done fun, that's more complicated than it seems when you think about it, and expertly crafted escapism is, I've always thought, just as lofty an artistic goal as any other. (I used to insist that it was the MOST lofty, but I've finally come around to "literary" works, which isn't to say that I prefer them.)The thing about this book that really made me realize I'd been grabbed by it, was when it occurred to me, rather suddenly, that I didn't know who the hero(es) were, nor if there would even be one. Again, I'd come into it expecting well-done but generally trope-fulfilling fantasy, and I knew it began a 7 book series, so I expected that pretty soon I'd have my hero and my villain and know who I was rooting for. The style of the book is so entertaining, and at times genuinely funny and fun, that it took me quite some time before I noticed that I was following disparate characters with no idea of how this was all going to work in a plot context, nor which sides they'd be on when they collided. It doesn't call attention to its moral ambiguity like, say, A Game of Thrones does (I loved that book, by the way), but it's there nonetheless. There's only one main character who seems genuinely decent, good, and well-meaning, and he's largely useless. Within the last 20 pages or so, I finally had a handle on how I felt the series would, as a whole, go, but it was a more interesting one than I had anticipated.This is just one way that the book defied my normal fantasy expectations. It is, on the one hand, a very "classic" fantasy world, with elves and dwarves and wizards and dragons, but at the same time, it splits them up in ways that other worlds only hint at, or changes them altogether. Elves as violent bigots and dwarves as oppressed but unaware proletariat was pretty great (shades of Wagner's Ring Cycle in there, actually), and it was handled very well. I did not expect so much of the book to be caught up in dwarvish internal politics, but it was great when it did, in no small part because the dwarves -- or, excuse me, Gegs -- were great fun to follow, and the free indirect voice was good at picking the right moments to move into someone's head, and the right moments to view the whole world with ironic detachment.The characters, in general, were engrossing, and especially so because I really didn't know what each of them would actually end up doing. Certainly, not every one was amazingly well-rounded, but what was there was great and what wasn't there wasn't necessary for the story to keep bounding along. At times, the dialogue could feel a little cliche, or try a little too hard to be funny, but it was never distracting. The depth of the worldbuilding and the ambiguity of the plot keep things moving at such an entertaining clip that many times I had to stop for a moment and think, just so I could realize how dark some of the themes had gotten, and how bleak the world we were looking at actually was. Now that's good escapism.
Last year I picked one fantasy to read, reading parts of it in between my other reads. That was a success, so this year I decided to do the same thing again. I just had to pick a series (I have several waiting to be read on my shelves), and I went for The Death Gate Cycle by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman. Part one is "Dragon Wing" ("Drakevleugel" in my Dutch translation). In the Death Gate Cycle there are several races. You have your dwarfs, elves and humans. But you also have Sartrans, who've imprisoned the Patryns in a horrible labyrinth. Slowly the Patryns are escaping, and one of them, Haplo, is sent to the floating world above to spy on the Sartrans. Meanwhile, in that floating world above, a contract-killer, Hugh the Hand is given the assignment by King Stephen that will change his entire outlook on the world. The world above where Mysteriarchs (level 7 human wizards) live, the world where humans and elves live in a near-war state, and the world below where dwarves/Gegs live and mine water for those above. I was a bit disappointed in this book, I think because I expected a full-fledged fantasy world. Somehow this book never really rose above the level of young adult for me. Maybe it is marketed as YA, I'm not sure. It's not a bad book, just not very original or deep. It was a nice read and I will continue with the series. After finishing I read a review mentioning that this is the worst book of the series, so I have hope it will get better. I also want to know more about the Patryns and the Sartrans (I'm not quite sure yet who of the two are the bad guys). Three out of five stars for me, but a fun read for a young fantasy love I'd think.
What do You think about Dragon Wing (1990)?
While I have memories of enjoying the DeathGate cycle a decade ago, I've found re-reading Dragon Wing to be a tiresome experience. Maybe it's familiarity with the two authors' works which is very similar in feel and style regardless of the actual series that has left me with a less than enthusiastic feeling -- I might not re-read the entire series after all... The premise is somewhat unique but the characters and their presentation have that touch of having been run through a gamut that consists of the writers' experiences around the DnD role-playing table, which to me demonstrates lazy writing and lack of real creativity. Also, the writing itself is overly verbose and dripping with unnecessary and alternate combinations of words that mean the same thing. There was far too much padding, simply to increase the word count I suppose, that contributed to the tediousness of this re-read. Giving this three stars simply due to rounding up from the two and a half I would actually give it.
—Michael Hall
Dragon Wing is a pretty typical fantasy book (in that there are seven billion sequels, and also footnotes – I can’t tell you how much I hate footnotes in fiction!! Just stop being clever and tell the bloody story!!!!1). I have to get the negatives out of the way first. The writing was pretty rough at times - the book is littered with typos and lots of words that mean the same thing - “he fought and battled”, “solitary and alone”, he lay there “stiff and rigid” - I feel like each of the authors must have contributed their own descriptive word and they couldn’t decide between the two so they put them both in. Despite all that, I really got into this book. It achieved what fantasy stories do best - it gave me the exhilarating feeling of going on an epic, uncharted adventure. The characters and the story, on the whole, are wonderfully realised, and by the time I put the book down I had become attached to the magical, complex world the authors had created. Although it did a brilliant job of sucking me in and sparking my imagination, I probably won’t be spending the time on the other six books just now....but maybe one day!
—Katja
OK ok ok, any fantasy lover should truly consider reading this book series. It is the perfect example of what real fantasy is, as it should be, rather then this odd fad with writing bad fantasy. In my Mytholoy class we studied fantasy and there are six rules that Tolkein set for the genera and if those rules arent fallowed then it is not fantasy. Now what I am saying is not that there are rules on writing, which there should never be, but when LOTR what written there were six elements that made it fantasy and if those elements are not present or explained, ie. new hero archytypes must be explained, then it is a bad fantasy. This also take into consideraton of other generas such as sci fi ect, but if an author wishes it to be fantasy then they had better study LOTR first.The plot structure and charactor development in this book were (as to be expected) briliant and there wasnt any stepping stones skipped over. One of the worst things for me in a book or series is when suddenly the characters develpoment is stopped or that there is something missing. But in this book you can feel the charactors changing as you read and the plot makes sense even with its own mysteries in the book. The questions you are left asking make sense rather then you just sitting at the last page saying to yourself, (or in my case my mom) "What the hell? Why is _____going there?" or "Wait, wait, why did ________ happen?" But you are still intrigued by a real mystery and all the information that you have makes sense. There are no loop holes that you as the ready can identify nor is there any loop holes un explored by the charactor. I hope that this makes sense because it is hard trying to sum up 8 months of literary study in a review to explain what makes to book good or bad.
—Courtney
