Twenty years ago, one of my favorite series began with Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman’s Dragon Wing. Having grown up on a steady diet of Dragonlance novels, I was primed for a stand-alone series by Margaret and Tracy, and The Death Gate Cycle didn’t disappoint. A great fantasy premise, strong characters, and the talent of Weis and Hickman made this one of the important books of my youth–and one of the enduring series today.
One of the coolest things I first got to do working at Spectra was to let Margaret and Tracy that Dragon Wing had gone back for a reprinting. Getting an e-mail back from them was such a thrill! So having Margaret talk about the novel in her own words (below) is pretty exciting (as well as art director Jamie Warren discussing the cover).
People always ask where we get our ideas. Tracy usually answers: “There’s this warehouse in Detroit . . .”. Actually the idea for Death Gate came, strangely enough, from Disney World.
Tracy and I wanted to tell a story that was grand in scope, a story that was so big a trilogy would not encompass it. We were stumped as to ideas, however. During this time, I took my two kids to Disney World. This trip had been long promised–I used held it over them as a bribe so they’d leave me alone while I was writing.
We were at Epcot Center traveling along on the ride for the Living Sea; a ride that features a stunning movie about the origins of the Earth with dramatic images of the four elements: earth, air, fire, water. I was watching the film and seeing the oceans roll and the lava flowing from a volcano when the idea hit me: a series of books featuring four different worlds, each based on one of the elements.
I was so excited I left my kids on the ride and ran out an exit door marked Emergency Only. (I think I set off an alarm.) No cell phones back then, so I had to find a pay phone in the park. I called Tracy and told him my idea. He was so enthusiastic, he began designing worlds on the spot. I couldn’t help. I had to hang up and rush back to find my kids; hoping that Disney wasn’t holding them hostage for their mom’s misbehavior.
And that was the beginning of the Deathgate series, which features four books each set in one of four different worlds, with three books at the end to tie them all together.
I have two people to thank for their work on the Deathgate series. The first was our editor at Spectra, Amy Stout, who helped us keep track of the complex plot, myriad characters, and details about the different worlds.
The second is the artist for the first books in series, the late Keith Parkinson. Tracy and I knew Keith from the time when we all worked together at TSR, Inc. and we were thrilled to have him on this project. Keith’s dramatic cover painting for the first book, Dragon Wing, which looks down from above on a dragon rider and the world far below him, was breathtaking. What is interesting about this painting is that when Keith sent the finished oil to Spectra for publication, the painting arrived in two pieces! The delivery service had broken it! The painting had to be shipped back to Keith, who put it together and repainted over the break so well that no one could tell it had been split in two.
Keith’s painting for Fire Sea, the third book in the series, features a red fire dragon rising from a fiery lava lake. Many people have said that this painting is one of the most spectacular in all of fantasy literature. Sadly, Keith Parkinson died in 2005 at the age of forty-seven from AML. I am fortunate to own the painting he did for Fire Sea, which has an honored place in my collection, as Keith will always have an honored place in my life.
I am so pleased that the Deathgate series is still in publication after all these years. And I marvel to think that these books are now in e-book format, something I never dreamed about those many years ago, sitting in a ride at Epcot center.
Thank you, Spectra! And Happy Anniversary!
–Margaret Weis, June 2010
This book was the first in a very popular series called “The Death Gate Cycle” by Tracy Hickman and one of my favorite writers, Margaret Weis. With lots of wonderful dragons and a great story, I hired a terrific fantasy artist by the name of Keith Parkinson. Back in those days, I used to get original art delivered, but I could always tell when it was one of Keith’s…the boxes were huge! He painted on Masonite and, boy, were those boxes heavy and hard to move around! The box that arrived was his usual, but I got worried when I saw the tire track on the box. When I opened the box, my worst fears were confirmed–the painting was now in two pieces, snapped right down the middle! Someone must have driven a truck over the box. Keith was a real trooper–remember, there was no Photoshop in those days. He glued the Masonite to a huge piece of wood, sanded down the center, regressed, and repainted the middle. And then delivered an even bigger and heavier painting. It was 70 lbs…I couldn’t lift it out of the box. But the cover turned out great!
–Jamie S. Warren, Art Director
To see the complete list, click here
One of my all time favorite series. I’ve only read through it twice though. Maybe it’s time for another go.
It’s never to late to revisit favorites. I’m currently re-reading The Belgariad by David Eddings (probably for the 20th time or so).