Elven Star

The Death Gate Cycle #2

by Margaret Weis, Tracy Hickman

On steamy Pryan, never-ending sunlight and plentiful rain have created a jungle so vast that humans and elves dwell high in the trees and only dwarves live anywhere near the ground. From the treetops the aristocratic elves sell weapons to the other races, whose incessant warfare sends a steady steam of profits and essential resources skyward. Now, generations of dissent and race hatred will not heal -- not even under the threat of annihilation at the hands of legendary Titans. Armed with little more than their wits and prophecy, an elf, a human, and a dwarf must unite to try to save the world from destruction.

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Epic Fantasy, Science Fiction Fantasy, High Fantasy, Dragons, Science Fiction

367 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published October 1, 1990

About the author

Margaret Edith Weis is an American fantasy and science fiction author of dozens of novels and short stories. At TSR, Inc., she teamed with Tracy Hickman to create the Dragonlance role-playing game (RPG) world. She is founding CEO and owner of Sovereign Press, Inc and Margaret Weis Productions, licensing several popular television and movie franchises to make RPG series in addition to their own.
In 1999, Pyramid magazine named Weis one of The Millennium's Most Influential Persons, saying she and Hickman are "basically responsible for the entire gaming fiction genre". In 2002, she was inducted into the Origins Hall of Fame in part for Dragonlance.

Reviews

[Arminion · Rating 1 out of 5]

I loved the first book. I gave it five stars. The characters, story and the world were all interesting and compelling. So, how did this series went from 5 stars to 1? That's a good question. It's like somebody else wrote this, and not the original authors.
The book was so bad, that I didn't even finish it. There were several reasons why:
1) Zifnab character. I hated him. He was supposed to be a funny, comedy relief character, but to me he was just annoying and unnecessary. I cringed every time he appeared.
2) The world. It's called Realm of Fire, but there is no real fire here. It's just a jungle-covered world where the rain almost never stops. Wow, really?
3) None of the characters from the first book are here. They are just... forgotten and instead we have this bland, unlikable characters. I did read that Haplo makes an appearance later in the book, but I just couldn't pass all that drivel to actually see his appearance.

It's a shame. I really liked the first book and I have a feeling that this series has potential. Maybe I will finish it one day, but with books like this, the entire saga suffers.

17/11/2016 EDIT: Having continued with the series, all I have to say is that the next books are amazing! If you are like me and didn't like this one, I recommend you to skip it and continue reading (the events of this one will be re-told in a future book anyway). Death Gate cycle is currently my favorite fantasy series.

[Garden Reads · Rating 1 out of 5]

Segunda novela de la saga "El Ciclo de la Puerta de la Muerte" y quizá la peor, o una de las peores, novelas que he leído en mi vida, culpable de que abandonará la idea de leer está saga completa por cerca de dos años.

La trama se centra principalmente en Paithan, un elfo idiota por donde se le mire, y algunos otros miembros de su familia como Eliatha, una elfa sin cerebro más preocupada de verse linda y deseable que de los trágicos sucesos que la rodean, junto a ellos se suman otros cuántos personajes más, casi tan molestos e irrelevantes como ellos, que terminarán por conocer a Happlo, el único personaje de la novela anterior, "Ala de Dragón", en aparecer en ésta historia cuya contribución solo se hace presente para el final y es tan intrascendente que termina resultando molesta...

Sin mencionar al odioso personaje de Zifnab, con el que los autores se esfuerzan por mostrar un alivio cómico, pero es tan odioso e irrelevante que sufría y me "sacaba de onda" cada vez que lanzaba una de sus numerosas bromitas "cultura pop"... ¿James Bond? ¿Centrales termonucleares? ¿Gandalf? ¿¡EN SERIO!? Entiendo que su conocimiento respecto a estos temas se justifique en entregas posteriores, pero lanzarlas así cómo así en una novela de fantasía ¿¡EN SERIO!? Que contraproducente...

Y es que cada vez que lo pienso creo que mejor hubiera sido dejar que los colosos, los enemigos de ésta novela, arrasarán con todo, pues al final de cuentas el único que realmente termina siendo algún aporte es el enano con su collar al abrir las puertas de la ciudad Sartan. Del resto, nada, absolutamente nada, sus pequeños dramas y vueltas son solo paja y más paja... nada de aporte sustancial o significativo... y es muy sencillo de ver; si los sacaramos de la historia ésta funcionaría de igual manera y sin alteraciones, lo que los hace personajes por completo inutiles e innecesarios... ¿Y el enano? Bueno, un personaje poco interesante, relegado a un segundo plano, que se pasa media novela hablando ridiculamente de venganza y más venganza, para luego... ¡Pum! mágicamente cambiar de opinión... ¡Por favor!

Del mundo de Pryan, lo mismo, totalmente irrelevante. Al inicio se nos da una descripción más menos interesante de este selvatico mundo, haciéndonos creer que se hará un gran viaje de exploración o algo por el estilo, pero no... al final casi toda la acción se traslada a una de las estrellas de este mundo que, bueno, resulta no ser una estrella. Dejándote esa desagradable sensación de oportunidad perdida, aventura frustada.

Por último, como lector, he de decir que cada vez que leo una novela, por muy mala que sea, intento concentrarme en hallarle lo poco bueno que pueda tener. De lo contrario, la abandono. No obstante, aquí no pude ni abandonar ni hallar algo lo suficientemente bueno para sostenerla, pues de partida ésta novela es parte de una saga que pretendía leer en su totalidad, por lo que me vi forzado a terminarla... Pensando, pensando... tal vez lo poco bueno sea que conocemos algo más de Happlo y su pasado, pero aún así no es suficiente para siquiera darle media estrella más porque la aparición de este personaje es tán mínima y poco relevante que, a diferencia del primer libro, se siente un personaje secundario y deslucido... Por lo demas, aquellas confidencias de su pasado se vuelven a abordar en futuras entregas, haciendo que la información de este libro termine resultando practicamente inutil.

En fin, una novela basura, con todas sus letras, que si no formará parte de una saga mayor la recomendaría dejar en el más completo olvido.

Sin embargo, también he de recalcar qué a pesar de lo mala qué es esta segunda parte, ésta saga en general ha valido la pena, por lo que si estás pensando iniciarte en ella, te diría que no te dejes guiar por mi opinión de esta segunda parte y sin dudarlo lo hicieras, pues en sus futuras entregas mejora bastante. Eso sí, cómo he escrito en mi anterior reseña, "Ala de Dragón", no esperes un "Canción de Hielo y Fuego" o un "Señor de los Anillos" porque en cuanto a calidad están muy por debajo. En especial esta segunda novela. Pese a esto, estoy seguro que lograrás entretenerte, al menos con el resto de los libros y la supertrama Patryn-Sartan.

LA ESTRELLA DE LOS ELFOS
¡Probablemente el peor libro que he leido en mi vida!

[Matthew · Rating 4 out of 5]

You know, whenever I'm lucky enough to find a reasonably literate person who has read some fantasy novels, I'm always surprised by the fact that - as far as I can recall - none of them have read The Death Gate Cycle. Granted, I had some holdover nostalgia from the Dragonlance Chronicles for Weis and Hickman, and so I probably had more cause to read them than most, but, even solely on their own merits, these are really excellent books. They're filled with interesting and nuanced characters - Hugh the Hand is still one of my favorite characters ever - and the plotlines are expertly interwoven. The real mastery, though, is in the novels' 5 distinct - geographically, sociologically, politically, ethnically - worlds.

People who enjoyed Harry Potter or Tolkein should give these books a shot.

[Dirk Grobbelaar · Rating 2 out of 5]

In the first few pages of reading this, at least one thing became apparent: I probably didn’t pay enough attention when reading Dragon Wing, because much of what I understood, or thought I understood about the worlds of the Death Gate Cycle was incorrect. On the other hand, perhaps it was the intention of the authors to reveal the worlds in this fashion, altering reader perceptions with each novel.

There are a number of things that bothered me about Elven Star. The forced humour was something I just couldn’t get myself to appreciate. The romance and seduction sequences were just silly beyond belief, and there’s quite a lot of that going on. Many of the characters annoyed me. No Hugh the Hand this time round. Yet, despite all this I found myself finishing the novel at a trot. Not much wrong with the pacing then.

As was the case with its predecessor, the world building in this novel is truly fascinating. Pryan is a really, really cool world, and there are some awesome “sense of wonder” revelations later in the book. Unfortunately, this in itself isn’t enough to make the novel truly great, although it goes a long, long way in restoring credibility. The few tantalising glimpses into the Nexus and the Labyrinth also hinted at awesome-ness. Oh, and the Tytans were super scary and creepy.

I really wanted to like Elven Star more. It’s not bad, but it should have been better. I think the “Death Gate” and “Elemental Realm” concepts are really something special, so I will continue reading the series, with this in mind.

[Lurino · Rating 5 out of 5]

fastread it in 5 short hours. Zifnab is the best of all crazy mages the Weis-Hickman duo ever came up with. better than fizban, and definitely far funnier than gandalf the grey. the duet between zifnab and his dragon provides the much too needed comic relief in this extra long story of seven books.

[Allen Walker · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don't think this book is very good.

Haplo is still awesome but not in it nearly enough.

Zifnab is the literal worst.

[Nimrod Daniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's a great book, even better than the first one. The worldbuilding is superbly crafted, the plot is excellent, and Fiznab (Fizban) is a very funny character.

5/5

[kingshearte · Rating 1 out of 5]

Don warned me that this was his least favourite book in the series, and yep. It pretty much sucked. Everything that made the first book so good was basically absent from this one.

Plot: In Dragon Wing, the plot started early, and it was interesting right from the beginning. Political intrigue, backstabbing, revolution, and everything all intertwined into an engrossing, twisty plot. In Elven Star, the plot took forever to get going, and when it did, it was clunky, awkward, and uninteresting. I mean, really, giants pretty much destroying the entire world and its population lacks a certain subtlety. And as for the elf, human and dwarf uniting to save the world? That doesn't even make sense. For starters, there never was such a grouping. At one point, there was an elf, a dwarf, and two humans, but by the end, it was quite a band, with a few more elves, some humans, and Haplo. And as for saving the world, they made no such attempt. They pretty much just made a run for it and escaped with their own lives. So the plot? Not good.

Characters: The characters in Dragon Wing were interesting. They had dimension and depth, and you cared about them. Several of them sort of evolved as you learn new information about who they really were and where they came from. The characters in Elven Star were dull and flat. They turned out to be exactly who and what you thought they were the moment they were introduced. Each of them basically had one dominant personality trait (if that), and that's all there was to them. The only one with even any hint of more than one level (and we're pretty much talking about two levels here, nothing more profound than that) was Aleatha, and she was really more of a secondary character.

And don't even get me started on the great passionate love affair between Paithan and Rega. Sure, I was told often enough by the narrative how much they loved each other, but I never really saw it. I didn't see it develop; it was just all of a sudden there, because the author told me it was. And despite the great controversy it caused among their respective people (he was an elf and she was a human), I felt nothing for it. Be together or don't. I don't care. There was more depth and genuineness in the brief hints at the attraction between Hugh and Iridal in the final pages of Dragon Wing than there was in the whole book's worth of the Paithan-Rega romance. Roland and Aleatha, if cliched and also not that interesting, was at least mildly entertaining.

Setting: In Dragon Wing, the setting was crucial to the plot. Getting from one island to the next was a major issue, and where in the strata of islands one happened to live made a huge impact on one's life. The eternal sun and rain of this world was almost irrelevant for most of the book. At the beginning, there was a mention of fans, which was just about the only nod to the fact that it's bloody hot on this world. And occasionally, the fact that they have no darkness was brought up, but barely, and it really only became really relevant near the end when they find the citadel, which has night. I just feel that a world referred to as "Realm of Fire" should be a hell of a lot hotter, maybe even with some actual fire (not endless rain. What is that about?), and there really shouldn't be a different book, set in a different realm, that actually has the word "fire" in its title, but that's a whole other issue. In any case, the point is, this story could have taken place just about anywhere, in any setting, and it wouldn't have made any difference. And if you're going to go to the trouble of creating four different worlds, each supposedly with a dominant element, that element should really play into things a whole lot more than it did here.

Zifnab: He wasn't in Dragon Wing, and that alone made it much better. I'm told that Zifnab is pretty much an inside-joke type nod to a character from the Dragonlance books, and he was a big mistake, as far as I'm concerned. He added nothing except asshattery, and his constant real-earth pop culture references were not cute, funny, or endearing; they were merely stupid. I could maybe almost forgive it if real earth actually came into the picture at some point, but apparently it doesn't, so there's absolutely no excuse, and I dearly hope that Don's right in his recollection that when we see this character again later, he quits that shit.

So yeah. A bunch of boring characters having a boring adventure on a boring planet, with a character who makes Jar Jar Binks seem awesome? If I ever for some reason find myself re-reading this series, I think I'll skip this one. Anything important will be re-iterated in the subsequent books, so I won't miss anything.

One interesting pattern that is either developing or is coincidence: in both books, the first major character we're introduced to doesn't survive the book. Will that go anywhere? I don't know. But I'll be watching for it.

[Oldman_JE]

The gleam at the start wore off. Though not expecting a lot, my interest did wane. I have the next five, but don't know if I'll continue. Zifnab the wizard was the highlight(at the beginning, anyway), everything else was just too much...

[Jersy · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is so readable and overall an enjoyable time that I considered giving it 3 stars, however there is just much more it does badly than well that it didn't feel justified.
I liked the feel of it, though, the tone and the world. The beginning reminded me a bit of these loosly historical, humorous novels, think Gail Carriger or Lady Janies. That the novel doesn't take itself too serious made me, in general, enjoy reading the dialogs and helped over several of its issues.
The biggest one being the character's and their dynamics: most read more like badly handled types than people, there is a lot of slut shaming and the racial issues at the center of this world are made light of. Also, the comic relief wizard character is more annoying than fun, the beginning, middle and end didn't feel like the same story and I kinda stopped caring towards the end. Even the world, which I found pleasant, wasn't really fleshed out that well.
I haven't read book one and you can enjoy most of the book on it's own, you'll just be missing context for one of the characters, which maybe also contributed to me not being super into the last bit.

[Tom Quinn · Rating 1 out of 5]

Easily the worst in the series, the hurried prose is lackluster and the characters are flat and dull. It feels phoned-in and halfhearted, as well as transparently irrelevant to the rest of books. It's as though they adopted this story from some other project. Even the Dragonlance fan service crossover doesn't lift its sails.

1.5 stars. Read it quickly and move on - the series gets better again after this unfortunate lull.

[Margaret · Rating 3 out of 5]

While there is a definitive charm to this series that I quite enjoy, I don’t think this structure is for me given that each book (I’m assuming) will take place with distinct characters and circumstances despite a few key figures. As such a character driven reader, I felt a little disconnected.

That being said, I will definitely continue working my way through the catalogue of this author duo because I enjoyed the writing and world created.

[Lena_en_libros · Rating 5 out of 5]

Siglos atrás, unos brujos de gran poder dividieron el mundo en cuatro reinos (cielo, piedra, fuego y mar), y a continuación desaparecieron. Hoy únicamente los pocos que han sobrevivido al Laberinto y han atravesado La puerta de la muerte conocen la existencia de los cuatro reinos.
Con "La Estrella de los Elfos" visitaremos Pryan, el mundo de fuego, que no es otra cosa que un pequeño mundo selvático, plagado de vegetación, donde viven unos elfos que tienen poco que ver con los típicos elfos "de manual". En este mundo conoceremos al delirante mago Zifnab, que parece sacado de una novela de Terry Pratchett.
Seguimos conociendo a Haplo, mientras viaja por los mundos sembrando el caos. Esta segunda novela mejora respecto a la primera que era mas introductoria, aquí desde el inicio ya estas enganchado.

[Jim C · Rating 4 out of 5]

Actual rating is 4.5 stars.

This is the second book of a series and it can be read as a stand alone novel. There is a little background information but not enough that the reader will be lost. That being said, the reader does need to read the first one because they will all eventually tie in with each other. In this one, Haplo and his dog continue their journey. His journey leads him to Pryan where a looming menace threatens all races.

I thought this book was better than the first one and I really am enjoying this series. One thing I am enjoying about this series is that we get two different layers of storytelling. The first layer is concerned with one planet and its inhabitants. We also get a huge overall arc where each book will tie in with each other and during the story we get little hints to this arc. In this character arc, we have three races that include elves, dwarfs, and humans. All three races hate each other and we have rampant racism. Can these races put aside their racism or do they risk extinction because of the threat? Obviously, these issues are prevalent in today's society.

I have read the reviews on this site and the character Zifnab seems to be a divisive one. My theory whether one enjoys this character depends if the reader has read these author's other works of Dragonlance. Zifnab is Fizban from that world. If he is new to you I can see why he would be irritating. If you are a fan of Dragonlance you will love him here.

This is shaping up to be a great series. The storytelling of a complete arc wrapped in an overall arc that is a mystery is well done and enticing me to continue with this well thought out series.

[Belinda Vlasbaard · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 sterren - Nederlandse hardcover

Een magisch duo, deze schrijfsters. Het tweede deel in deze reeks is opnieuw een voltreffer. Ik zou wel eerst deel één in de reeks lezen.

We ontmoeten Haplo opnieuw die een belangrijke rol speelt, naar Alfred wordt wel vaak verwezen maar die speelt niet echt mee dit keer. Door het eerste deel te lezen weet je wel meer over deze karakters en is het boek beter te volgen.

Het onderliggende thema blijft de "strijd" van de ontsnapte Patrynen tegen de verdwenen Sartanen.

We komen meer te weten over het doel en de achtergrond van de grote splitsing en krijgen ook een hint over hoe het fout liep en waar de Sartanen zichzelf duidelijk overschat hebben en daarmee het ganse planeetsysteem eigenlijk verdoemden met alles en iedereen die er op of in leeft. Herkenbaar?

De eigenlijke hoofdrollen van deze episode worden gespeeld door enkele elven, een paar mensen, een dwerg en een tovenaar en zijn draak. Weer een leuke combi in deze nieuwe fatasy wereld.

Spanning, veel geweld en aktie met vooral moeilijke reizen vol ontberingen en gevaren, romantiek, intriges, moed en zelfopoffering, mysterie.

Pre is ook de humor in het verhaal. Het maakte dat ik het, samen met de andere ingrediënten moeilijk weg kon leggen.

  

[Cris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ha sido todo un acierto recuperar esta serie que leí por primera vez durante mi adolescencia. Como era de esperar, esta relectura la ha privado del barniz de obra maestra que le apliqué entonces, pero aún así ha pasado la prueba con creces. Se trata de una colección de libros en la que tiene cabida la reflexión sobre grandes temas pero que se sustenta, sobre todo, en unos personajes carismáticos, un universo rico y complejo y un ritmo narrativo adictivo que deja espacio suficiente a los detalles.

En mi opinión, esta serie llega al listón de joya del género fantástico (con permiso de Sapkowski) ya que, a pesar de apoyarse en muchos de los estereotipos tradicionales, crea un nuevo espacio totalmente genuino. Se aleja en gran medida del hilo narrativo habitual: si bien también contamos con la figura del héroe (varios, de hecho), en vez de seres humildes que descubren poco a poco su poder, los protagonistas surgen de entre los que hasta ahora se creían dioses. Su hazaña final no será luchar activamente por la salvación del universo, sino que dicha salvación depende en gran parte de su capacidad para aceptar lo limitado de su poder, saber retirarse a tiempo y aceptar que no tienen derecho a gobernar en la vida de nadie. Recorremos, por tanto, el camino contrario al que siguen muchas historias del género.

Reseña completa y mi versión de la portada en https://sidumbledorefueralibrero.com/...

[James Kinsley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I get why people don't like this volume, it does begin in a very different tone to the first, but there are two good reasons for this. Firstly, it conveys the fact that difference between the worlds is in more than their geographical make-up. And secondly it creates a stark contrast with the horror in the second half.
It also gives a break between the action of the first volume, and the bleakness of the third.
Arguably it is a weird, unbalanced book, but seen as part of the whole, it works well, and opens up some of the underlying mystery. As such I've always been rather fond of it. That said, you'll either enjoy the humour, and Zifnab, or you won't. But even if you don't, don't give up on the series because of it.

[Stephanie Carr · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another amazing read. I love this series. I cry.

Though for this book I was tempted to lower the rating because the way the romance plots are written (it's kinda weak and too fast or at least, not enough build up for it shown on screen bah). Did the first book have blooming romance side plots? I don't think so. But anyway - the humor of Zifnab (is that Fizban from Dragonlance? hmmmmm....) just totally bumps it up again. So whatever hah!

Seriously, I laughed so much whenever that mad wizard was on screen. 10/10 for the references not only to Dragonlance but other fantasy and sci-fi series as well as the modern world.

Onward to the next adventure! I'm already sensing character development for our main character, Haplo. So curious to see where it goes...

[Daniel Rico · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5⭐️

Este volumen de la serie está muy alejado del primero y durante toda la lectura he tenido la sensación de que no existe un propósito de los volúmenes en la serie, que aún sigue buscando la trama y mostrándonos los mundos. Pero no es hasta el final que descubrimos realidades del pasado que puedan darnos pistas sobre lo que queda por leer. Aún está por ver cómo confluyen los personajes y mundos de toda esta historia, espero que cumpla tras toda esta letanía inicial.

Zifnab y su dragón son una pareja digna de memorar.

[Darin · Rating 2 out of 5]

I like the setting of the Death Gate Cycle with the different worlds. However, this novel was not written very well. The plot was very uninspired, the writing seemed amateurish at times, and the character of Zifnab was just annoying. I feel that this book can just be skipped without missing anything.

[Carolyn Hilty · Rating 3 out of 5]

Was more interesting than the first one - will def read the third one!

[Koen Crolla · Rating 2 out of 5]

The main thing that makes this one so much worse than the first one is the wizard Zifnab, and then not even because the near-identical wizards Fizban and Zanfib exist in other Weis & Hickman series—this is not Elminster showing up in every third Forgotten Realms story to deliver mysterious and obnoxious commentary—but purely because of the endless fourth-wall-breaking pop culture references. The '90s were, of course, when the idea that just mentioning a pop culture thing is the same thing as making a funny joke about it reached its absolute peak, but two novels in, the setting is just not fleshed out well enough to be able to accommodate a comic relief character making Star Wars references.
The other thing, ironically, is the heavy-handed attempts at fleshing out the setting, mainly by having Haplo monologue exposition at (I guess) his dog, typically immediately after doing a serviceable job showing, not telling. The worst of this is the very end of the book, when they find a city, use magic to watch back some of its history to figure out what happened to it, have Haplo do his monologue, do the same thing again in a different part of the city, and then finish with a letter Haplo writes to his Lord explaining the whole thing a fifth time—and it's obviously not like it's a complicated story.

As for the rest, it's still the sort of fantasy that was clearly written in one pass with no real editing taking place, so the pacing is haphazard and the choices regarding which minor plot points receive attention and which don't are often hard to defend. Still reads easily enough that it barely matters, though, and that's exactly what it aspires to.

(W&H also tried to introduce some sex into this one, but because they weren't even fucking and Hickman is a Mormon it just ends up being as awkward to read as it clearly was to write. Horny by committee never works—at least the passages are short.)

[Elessar · Rating 2 out of 5]

2/5

En esta segunda entrega los autores, por desgracia, recuperan la prosa e inocencia que caracterizaba sus otras obras, convirtiendo en menos prometedora una saga que, tras la lectura de su volumen inicial, parecía serlo. La introducción del hechicero, con todos los anacronismos que no vienen a cuento, restan la seriedad que tan difícilmente habían conseguido en el primer libro. El resto de personajes carecen de un trasfondo elaborado y no consiguen despertar gran interés, además de que no sucede nada realmente trascendente. Lo único que se salva de la pequeña decepción que es este libro son las descripciones finales y el mundo en el que se sitúa.

Ojalá lo remedien en el próximo tomo, o me veré obligado a desistir...

[Martin Jest · Rating 3 out of 5]

I first read this book in the 90's and found it as part of a seven book series quite notable in its imagination of different worlds and their linking together in a broken inter-dependant whole. It has dated for a variety of reasons but the series deserves a place in the fantasy genre for its creativity and imagination of rune magic. The characters of Zifnab, Haplo and his faithful dog are my favourites, with Zifnab's references to Gandalf and other magicians and movie stars quite wonderful. This isn't the best of the series but is developing the plot well - not worth the read as an individual book, but as part of the series go for it, it is essential.

[Ashley Harris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Soooooooo....this one was not as good as the first book in the series; Dragon Wing. In fact, I was bored out of my mind during the first 100 pages or so. It actually made me sad because my expectations were so high.

The characters were grossly underdeveloped. This is quite unfortunate considering the whole beginning of the book is just them talking to each other and I just...didn't....care!! It's like they were each given one character trait and that was all they had. You just get what you get. Crazy dad. Narcissist sister. Grumpy sister. Empathetic brother. Human survivors. Slighted dwarf. They don't develop beyond that. One emotion, all the time.

But like a good soldier, I strapped in and trudged on! You eventually get the introduction to Zifnab the wizard and his dragon. What's the male version of a manic pixie dream girl? He was kinda that. Spontaneous, daffy, quirky, kinda weird. I enjoyed his character and do hope he appears again in at least one of the remaining books. And you of course get the return of Haplo and Dog. As far as characters go, those were really the only ones I cared for.

For anyone who likes characters to fall in love, I apologize in advance for what I'm about to say....buuuuuut I HATE forced love interests. HATE. LOATH. DETEST. ABHOR. DESPISE. Don't get me wrong, I don't hate love. I enjoy a good, natural love story as much as the next person if you're reading a love story...not so much a fantasy.... but Rega and Paithan falling DESPERATELY in love 2.5 seconds after meeting each other made me physically roll my eyes. I don't understand why a male character placed with a female character never seems to end up with the two parting ways as friends after their time together ends. I mean, come on! I don't fall in love with every male coworker or friend or chance encounter I've had. It's not how life works. It's not how RELATIONSHIPS work. But even past all that, which can be boiled down to personal preference, their sudden love for each other was super sudden and cringey and just over the top.

ANYWHOOOO, now that I have gotten all the negative out there, you'd probably be wondering why I gave it 4 stars....but I promise overall the book is good! The world was extremely interesting and as the action started and all the talking stopped it became hard to put the book down. The tytans were friggen awesome and the rush to get away to the star was nail biting. And the characters did end up calming down in their over-the-topness as the story progressed. The ending was awesome even though it raised more questions than it answered. But I was ok with the wondering, even if it doesn't get brought up again in later books.

All in all, the book is great, the story is great, the characters become palatable, and it's worth the read. Even if it's just to get on to the next book in the series.

[sally · Rating 2 out of 5]

glad to read other reviews and learn this is the lowest point of the series because it wasn’t great lol… characters were all kind of awful and one dimensional, some of the prose felt so jumbled and rushed at times i didn’t quite follow what was going on. so strange since dragon wing was nothing like this. also why was zifnab making references to lotr and star wars like what???? who is he????

i didn’t hate it and while the plot was a bit basic i enjoyed the stakes at hand, it kept me interested enough lol

[Leonardo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Elven Star seems to be a bone of contention among the readers of the Death Gate Cycle novels. It certainly establishes a clear contrast with Dragon Wing which had certainly better fleshed-out characters, but the world-building process is doubtlessly even more daring in this book. Even by the time the book was written (the early 90s), the elves-dwarfs-humans combination was a cliché, but Weis and Hickmann managed to successfuly offer a second exploration of how that equation would develop in different circumstances. Certainly, the individual characters may be lacklustre and the romance may seem forced and predictable, but the interpretation of a "world of fire" as a steaming jungle was a daring and mostly successful move. The way in which each of the three major societies developed in its own ecological niche is actually more innovative than in the previous novel (although they seemed to have been placed in the same order) and the perils they face turn out to be far more complex that they can understand. Meanwhile, the role of the demigods (both well-meaning but flawed Sartan, and efficient and ruthless Patryn) becomes more clear, while dark hints of the role of dragons and other mythical creatures will certainly lure the readers to the following books in the series. Finally, I must say that I will side with the group that feels that Zifnab is actually an entertaining (although very, very irritating) character and his fourth-wall-breaking pop-culture and high-fantasy references are well-handled.

[Ryan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice in terms of overall plotting, when it comes to establishing the conflict for the overall series. On it's own, I cannot really recommend. Everything that has to do with our series protagonist Haplo is interesting. But new characters are introduced in this book. Several members of a rich elven family, a crazy dwarf, and two human scam-artist siblings. I won't bother to even mention their names, because they are little more than plot devices to move this part of the story forward and give the reader an idea of what the people who live this in this world are like. They aren't very interesting. Unfortunately, their part in the story takes up most of the book.

At least the world is interesting in an impossible sci fi kind of way. The central theme is fire. It's structure is very strange. The sun is in the center, while the earth forms the outside edge of the known world. Impossibly, there is vegetation that sprouts from the small amount of earth that surrounds the sun and the world is continually experiencing daylight. The boring people of this world live in the trees. Until some magical giants go a rampage and kill everyone. Some humans, elves, and a dwarf fly away. Some of them live and some die. It doesn't matter, they suck.

Even though I didn't like this very much, I am still looking forward to the next book. I think it takes place on a dead world. So hopefully there won't any more pointless characters to detract from the plot of the series.

[Heidi · Rating 4 out of 5]

In book 2 of The Death Gate Cycle, Haplo travels to the second world created after the sundering of the natural world into four components: air, fire, earth, water. Pryan is the world of fire. The world is so lush with vegetation that most people have never seen the ground; they live in cities built on top of moss beds in the treetops. The humans, dwarves, and elves have minor skirmishes with each other but basically keep to their own races. However, an ancient enemy is threatening the lives of everyone on the planet, and the races must come together to defeat it.

We get to meet Zifnab, a character who can't quite be defined. (Is he a wizard? A demigod? A crazy old man?) Zifnab was my favorite part of the book. His references to modern civilization and other wizards (Gandalf, Merlin, the Millennium Falcon, ...) baffled the characters he was talking to, but they made me laugh out loud. We also get a hint of a kinder, gentler side of Haplo, who tries to be tough but clearly cares more than he's willing to admit. The major characters (those that will appear in the next books) develop appropriately, while the minor characters are basically just caricatures. They were appropriate caricatures, though, so I can forgive the authors for not making every character deep and complicated.

[Maurine Tritch · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5
This is the book I used to skip when I reread the series back in the day, though I enjoyed it on the last reread. It isn't as strong as Dragon Wing. First, at the end of Dragon Wing you have a showdown with the two representatives of the magical races who are deadly enemies, the Sartan who sundered the old world creating the new in the personage of bumbling Alfred; and the Patryn, Haplo, whose people have just started to escape the deadly prison the Sartan threw them in. Haplo and Alfred separate at the end of Dragon Wing, and Elven Star expects us to put a pin in that entire situation for a whole book. It's a hard ask, because Haplo and Alfred together are really what make the series sing.

Elven Star takes place in Pryan, the realm of fire. And it isn't fire per se, it's a set of gigantic suns illuminating a jungle world. The story is good but depressing, and the characters we're following this time are even less likable than the Dragon Wing "heroes". Again, the world building is incredible but there are more loose ends in Pryan than on any other realm that never get explained. On the plus side, there is a fabulous cross-over character--well, sort of--from Dragonlance which is a lot of fun and delightfully unexpected.