Serpent Mage (Death Gate Cycle #4) » (Reprint)

After the four worlds Alfred has at last found  his people on Chelstra, the realm of sea. But his  travels have taught him to be cautious... and  Alfred soon realizes his caution is justified, even  among his own kind. The one person Alfred can trust  is, strangely, Haplo the Patryn. But Haplo's lord  has decreed all Sartan to be the enemy, and Haplo  dares not go against his lord. Now the companions  have arrived in a land where humans, elves, and  dwarves have learned to live in peace. Unaware of an  even greater threat to all the realms, it is  Sartan and Patryn who will disrupt this alliance of the  lesser races in their struggle to gain control of  all four worlds. Only Alfred and Haplo realize  that they have a much older — and more powerful —  enemy than each other...

Publishers Weekly

The fourth volume of the authors' Death Gate Cycle, begun with Dragon Wing , moves to Chelestra, Realm of Sea, last of the four worlds created by the Sartan during the Sundering in their battle against the Patryns. The inhabitants of this world--dwarves, elves and humans--are in grave danger: the seasun, source of light and life to the seamoons on which they dwell, is moving away. When the vessels in which they were to escape are destroyed by malignant, highly intelligent dragon-snakes, three children, scions of the ruling families, undergo adventures and encounter Haplo, the Patryn escaped from imprisonment in the Labyrinth who has been traveling the worlds of the Death's Gate fomenting discord. Meanwhile, Alfred, the last remaining Sartan, also translated to the water world, is reunited with others of his kind, including Samah, who initiated the Sundering and has been in suspended animation since. The stage for escalated conflict is set. The worlds created by Weis and Hickman become more attractively complex with each book of the series. The deepening characterizations of Haplo and Alfred, with the underlying mysteries surrounding both, provide the necessary glue binding this opus, which promises three more volumes. (Mar.)