Elven Star shares many of the faults and virtues of Dragon Wing, the first book in the Death Gate Cycle. Fortunately, Elven Star takes itself far less seriously--and where it maintains a humorous tone, it is a much more pleasant read than the first book.

Elven Star takes place on Pryan, the world of fire, which is a land completely covered by a massive forest. In this land the humans, elves, and dwarves live in uneasy coexistence, with only a few adventurous entrepreneurs--including Paithan the elf, and the human siblings Roland and Rega--bridging the gaps between the races. But suddenly news comes of the return of the tytans, ancient and terrible monsters who wreak (literally) blind destruction everywhere as they pursue their own mysterious and plaintive quest. Into this chaos comes Haplo, continuing in his quest to defeat the Sartan and reverse the disaster they wrought upon the world(s).

This book is at its absolute best when it plays fantasy as a sort of screwball comedy. The exchanges between Zifnab (a human wizard) and his dragon are hilarious, although Zifnab's frequent anachronisms are a bit off-putting at first. And there's a certain charm to the lightning-quick forbidden love that springs up between Paithan and Rega, with such breathless romance-novel passages as, "Love flashed throgh him, surging in his blood, more painful than any poison the snake might have inflicted."

The book also does a pretty good job with the tytans, effectively juxtaposing their destructive nature with their mournful search for the very purpose of their existence. The tytans also eventually explain a key and interesting part of the background that underlies all seven Death Gate Cycle novels.

Unfortunately, much of the juvenile writing and slow action from the first book find parallels in the second book, and so Elven Star is rarely a compelling read. The ending is also terrible, too rushed to even make much sense, and is a let down even in the face of an often underwhelming plot.

Copyright © 2002 Steven Wu