Not familiar with the books or the game, or an existing fan looking for more information? Here are some basic details to help.

The Death Gate Cycle is a seven-book series of fantasy novels by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman, perhaps best known for their collaborations on numerous Dragonlance novels. They were published by Bantam Books from February 1990 to September 1994, with subsequent paperback releases. The books reached the New York Times bestseller list, and were a selection of the Science Fiction Book Club of America and the Doubleday Book Club. Foreign publications include Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Holland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Poland, Spain, Sweden, and Turkey.

The first four books are labeled The Death Gate Cycle and marked as a collection of four individual novels that could theoretically be read in any order, while the final three are each labeled A Death Gate Novel and intended to be read sequentially as part of the overarching story. I recommend reading them in their published order. I use the term Death Gate Cycle/DGC for the series as a whole rather than just the first four books, as I feel the term "Death Gate series" doesn't distinguish it from the Death Gate game. The books are:

• Dragon Wing:
  • originally published February 1990
  • ISBN 0-553-05727-8 (hardback)
  • ISBN 0-553-28639-0 (paperback)
• Elven Star:
  • originally published November 1990
  • ISBN 0-553-07039-8 (hardback)
  • ISBN 0-553-29098-3 (paperback)
• Fire Sea:
  • originally published August 1991
  • ISBN 0-553-07406-7 (hardback)
  • ISBN 0-553-29541-1 (paperback)
• Serpent Mage:
  • originally published April 1992
  • ISBN 0-553-08310-4 (hardback)
  • ISBN 0-553-56140-5 (paperback)
• The Hand of Chaos:
  • originally published April 1993
  • ISBN 0-553-09377-0 (hardback
  • ISBN 0-553-56369-6 (paperback)
• Into the Labyrinth:
  • originally published December 1993
  • ISBN 0-553-09539-0 (hardback)
  • ISBN 0-553-56771-3 (paperback)
• The Seventh Gate:
  • originally published September 1994
  • ISBN 0-553-09647-8 (hardback)
  • ISBN 0-553-57325-X (paperback)

For those interested in collecting first editions of the books, the number row will read "0 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1." Intact editions of Dragon Wing and Fire Sea have a little extra something on their backflaps. The Dragon Wing dust jacket has a clip-off coupon advertising a sneak peek at the second volume, while Fire Sea has a "Spectra Super Summer Proof of Purchase." As I don't own a first edition of The Seventh Gate, I can't confirm if it has any additional identifiers.

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• 1994 Strategy Plus Animated Adventure Game of the Year Award (runner-up)
• 1994 Computer Game Review Golden Triad Award
• 1994 Interactive Gaming Editor's Choice Award
• 1995 Computer Gaming World Premier Finalist - Best Adventure Game
• 1995 Games Magazine Top 100 Electronic Games of the Year Award

• The game itself on one CD-ROM
• Game manual
• Warranty card (perhaps lost by a previous owner)
• The short story "Forever Falling" by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman with Kevin Stein (their frequent musical collaborator)

"Forever Falling" is a tale from Ciang's past, as told by The Ancient. While unrelated to the game's characters and plot, the story is of interest to book fans. It was exclusively packaged with the game and has not been republished elsewhere. Be wary of sellers attempting to sell the short story separately or selling the game without including the story. These items should be sold together.

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