Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman have addressed questions and comments on The Death Gate Cycle through usenet, web forums, their own websites, and even their Dragonlance Annotations. These are some selections of what they've said.

Book 7's paperback says no words were omitted. What about in 1-6?

"I don't think so. If they'd cut anything, they would have had to clear that with the authors and no one asked us. That was probably done as a result of some sort of new policy."
— 11/14/1999 alt.fan.dragonlance

Character names in translation

"Could you post them in Hebrew (or what they translate to?) I think that would be cool! I'd like to see them in German and any other languages where the names were changed."
— 1/10/1996 alt.fan.dragonlance

Publisher's interests

Re: Rose of the Prophet's ending at three books:
"We did have fourth book in mind, but Rose never sold as well as the other series, so Bantam was much more interested in a new project, which turned out to be Deathgate. We did end the series in a sudden manner intentionally, as being fitting to the chaotic nature of the hero and the heroine, whose lives will continue to be one grand and glorious adventure. And, no, I don't think we'll ever write that fourth book now. The entire series is out-of-print."
— 1/28/2002 alt.fan.dragonlance

Tanis-in-Berlin reference in The Hand of Chaos:

"The Berlin 1945 reference is an in-joke for Tracy, who was always saying we'd do DL 765 and it would start that way. He used to go to add that Silvara was a B-17. :)"
— 1/18/1996 alt.fan.dragonlance

Tracy too busy for gaming:

"Tracy does live in Flagstaff, but with four kids, four novels due, a proposed Star Trek Voyager movie script in the works, the Death Gate Game with Steve Jackson, and a new contract for three Star Shield novels with Del Rey, as well as trying to sell the Star Shield contract . . . he doesn't do much gaming anymore! Except for Killer Breakfast at Gen Con!"
— 2/1/1995 alt.fan.dragonlance

Will there be more DGC novels?

"It seems to me that seven was quite enough!"
— 10/14/1996 alt.fan.dragonlance

Writing during her treatment for breast cancer:

"Basically the work was really good for me. It kept my mind off worrying about my condition. [...] I exercised regularly, and I kept working. I don't know that the work I did during that time was particularly good, but it kept me going. I was working on the last book of the Death Gate series."
— c 1999 interview by Janet Pack in Realms of Dragons: The Universes of Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman

Back to top

Book music:

"I do not know of anyone who has recorded this music but I would love to hear it, too!"
— 7/13/2005 Hickman Newsletter #107

Death Gate game: where can we get it?

"I have a copy of it around here somewhere but I don't know where else to tell you to go other than ebay."
— 1/7/2005 Hickman Newsletter #103

(Re: availability for download on unauthorized websites)
"Wow! Thanks -- I had no idea it was out there and so easily available."
— 7/13/2005 Hickman Newsletter #107

A favorite of his own non-Dragonlance works:

"I might suggest to you the Death Gate Cycle (seven books) as perhaps one of my favorite alternate works."
— 9/28/2001 Hickman Newsletter #63

Fantasy as done by Weis and Hickman:

"Margaret and I have always tried to take fantasy literature in new directions. Krynn is a world wholly distinct from Earth, unlike Tolkien's Middle-earth. Time travel itself was a science-fiction notion we applied to fantasy. We have even written fantasies taking place in the far future (The Death Gate Cycle)!"
— annotation on p 458 The Annotated Dragonlance Legends 2003

Inspirations for DGC:

"The Death Gate series sprang, in part, over my own musings on the troubles in Northern Ireland."
— 6/5/1996 alt.fan.dragonlance

"It is often difficult for a writer to remember just what the source of inspiration for any particular part of a story comes from but what I can say is that I often find inspiration in my faith and the doctrines of our church. They seem to pop up in the most unexpected of places, too."
— 1/7/2005 Hickman Newsletter #103

(In the same vein, what generated the idea behind the sundered universe of THE DEATH GATE CYCLE? [compared to the Bronze Canticles])
"Interestingly while both ideas appear to have similar themes, they are fundamentally different. The worlds of the Bronze Canticles were never 'sundered' as the Death Gate worlds: being separate incarnations was their original state. Death Gates world started as a single world and was broken into its classical component parts. However, both do deal with multiple incarnations of a setting in the same space. The idea for Death Gate, however, came as a result of my musings on the troubles in Northern Ireland. The question of a war being conducted for so long and so bitterly that people no longer remembered what the original conflict was about struck me as central to Death Gate."
— 5/21/2006 Science Fiction & Fantasy World

Movie adaptation of DGC?

"I am exploring a number of different options regarding films right now. I'll certainly keep that in mind. The moment I have any news that I can pass along, you'll hear it right here." (in his newsletter)
— 2/25/2003 Hickman Newsletter #84

Ongoing Patryn vs. Sartan war:

"All these deeply troubling events happened so far in the past that the people who felt they were still fighting that battle no longer really knew what the battle was about in the first place."
— 5/2/06 DragonHearth Harbor

Paladine in DGC?

"Actually, I don't believe Paladine did appear in the Deathgate novels ... per se."
— 7/13/2000 Hickman Newsletter #42

Possibility of a DGC RPG:

"As to an RPG, there is a movement underway currently to develop just such a thing through Margaret Weis Productions. I'll give you more news here when it becomes available."
— 5/2/06 DragonHearth Harbor

"Margaret Weis Productions has been considering doing a Deathgate Game for some time now ... but other commitments and opportunities have stood in the way. It is still a project which she is looking to do. We'll let you know when it makes it to the schedule."
— 7/22/06 DragonHearth Harbor

Research to develop magic systems:

"Some years ago, I was working on a fantasy series called Death Gate with Margaret Weis. We needed two competing systems of magic that made sense. I remembered a saying of my old friend, Jeff Grubb. He defined quantum physics as "figures, figures, figures, figures, figures ... and then God does something ... figures, figures, figures, figures, figures." So, in order to create a believable pair of magic systems, I researched what amounted to Newtonian versus Quantum mechanics and, later, competing visions of quantum theory. I read popular science books regarding Relativity, quantum mechanics, Heisenberg's uncertainty principle, parallel universes and chaos theory. The results were a wonderful and sensible pair of magic systems that made sense because they were modeled on quantum and chaos theories."
— 5/6/2006 Hickman Newsletter #115

Who is more powerful: Lord Xar or Raistlin Majere?

"While I have no hard data on which of these would reign supreme in a knock-down, drag-out contest of skills ... I am pretty sure I wouldn't want to be anywhere nearby when it happened."
— 5/5/06 DragonHearth Harbor

Will there be more DGC novels?

"We loved doing the Death Gate. . . but it was long. There are certainly many adventures that could happen there, but we have no plans to continue it at this time. We have many other worlds to explore first—like the exciting War of Souls world, of course. And a new trilogy coming out soon, called Sovereign Stone."
— 2/22/2000 Dragonlance Nexus interview

"As to more Death Gate books ... we currently have our hands full with Dragonlance and Sovereign Stone. I never say never, however. We'll have to wait and see what the future holds for us."
— 7/13/2000 Hickman Newsletter #41

"This is the most often asked question about Deathgate. While I personally love the universe that it created and there certainly are many other tales to tell, I have no plans currently to return to this part of our creation. You never know, however, what the future will hold. I certainly would not mind returning to this remarkable setting."
— 2002 Hickman's DGC page

Zifnab: who is he? What is he?

(Did TSR ever comment on Zifnab, considering the similarities to Fizban?)
"Never heard a word from them on the subject."
— 7/27/1996 alt.fan.dragonlance

"Fizban is a befuddled old wizard who is also a trademark of TSR, Inc. and is used here without their permission. Zifnab, on the other hand, is a rather befuddled old wizard under the copyrights of Weis and Hickman. Of course, neither of these bears any legal resemblence to ZANFIB ... a rather befuddled old wizard character in Weis & Hickman's new Nightsword book due out this May. I hope this clears things up a little."
— 3/21/1998 alt.fan.dragonlance

"Fizban has been with us in nearly all our books. He's a touchstone for us. That character has depth that no one understands, there's always a side of him that no one sees. Just like me. People often look at me and see a prima donna author, or a ruthless businessman. Others see a wizard. There must be some of all of those elements in me, but no one completely knows me. And thus Fizban, Zifnab, or whatever his name is, will continue revealing himself to our readers in future novels."
— c 1999 interview by Janet Pack in Realms of Dragons: The Universes of Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman

"This crazed old gentleman is one of my dearest friends. He is one of the most persistent scene-stealers I've ever met. To clear up a question that we are often asked: are Fizban and Zifnab—our crazed wizard from the Deathgate Cycle—the same? The answer is that Fizban is a crazed wizard owned by TSR under copyright, while Zifnab is a completely different crazed wizard owned by Margaret and I. Incidentally, neither Fizban nor Zifnab have any relationship whatsoever to Zanfib—a crazed wizard from our Starshield series. I hope I have cleared this up once and for all."
— annotation on p 318 The Annotated Dragonlance Chronicles 1999

"Fizban -- a crazy old wizard with faulty memory -- is a trademark of TSR ... er, Wizards of the Coast, Inc. and is used here without their permission. On the other hand Zifnab -- a crazy old wizard with faulty memory -- is a character wholly owned by Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman. Neither of these characters bear any resemblance whatsoever to Zanfib -- a crazy old wizard with faulty memory -- from the Starshield books by Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman. We hope this has cleared up this question once and for all."
— 2002 Hickman's FAQ

"Within the realms of the Deathgate, Zifnab was, indeed, a Sartan who lost much of his sanity when the world was sundered. In a larger sense, he is a signature archetype that Margaret and I have always tried to put in our books, regardless of how his name is spelled."
— 8/26/2004 Hickman Newsletter #100

Back to top