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The Hand of Chaos

The Death Gate Cycle #5 / 7
by Margaret Weis, Tracy Hickman
The Hand of Chaos (The Death Gate Cycle #5) by Margaret Weis, Tracy Hickman
  ★ 6.82 / 32
1★2★3★54★15★86★37★138★9★210★

Millennia ago a battle waged between the Sartan and the Patryn. The Sartan split the world into four realms... then vanished. But now the two races have rediscovered  each other through the magic of the Death Gate – and war is about to erupt anew.

Chaos is everywhere as the Lord of the Nexus orders his servant Haplo and the human child known as Bane to further their master's work on Arianus, the realm of air. But their one time companion Alfred has been cast into the deadly Labyrinth. And somehow the assassin Hugh the Hand has been resurrected to complete his dark mission.

More important, the evil force that Haplo and Alfred discovered on Arianus has escaped. As Haplo's doubts about his master grow deeper, he must decide whether to obey the Lord of the Nexus or betray the powerful Patryn... and endeavor to bring peace to the universe.

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Updated 04/08/2025
Category: Fantasy, Fairy Tale, High Fantasy
Release date: 1992
Margaret Weis

Margaret Weis

In the sprawling worlds of epic fantasy, few names echo with the same resonance as Margaret Weis. Her stories aren't merely told—they are lived, breathed, and carried in the imaginations of readers who first wandered through the war-torn lands of Dragonlance and never truly left. Weis didn’t just write fantasy—she helped shape it during a time when the genre itself was still defining its voice.

Born in Missouri in 1948, Margaret Weis was a quiet but voracious reader, drawn not to fairy tales or whimsical fables, but to myths that roared with dragons, gods, and fate-bound heroes. She graduated from the University of Missouri in 1970 with a degree in creative writing and literature—training that sharpened her instinct for compelling narratives long before her stories found a stage.

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It was at TSR, the company behind Dungeons & Dragons, where her path shifted from editor to architect of worlds. Paired with fellow writer Tracy Hickman, Weis co-created Dragonlance, a series that broke new ground by infusing role-playing lore with literary depth. With characters like Raistlin Majere and Tanis Half-Elven, Dragonlance Chronicles became more than a tie-in—it became canon for a generation of fantasy readers and gamers alike.

What sets Weis apart is not just her gift for building vast, believable worlds, but her ability to explore moral complexity within them. Her characters often wrestle with loyalty, ambition, sacrifice, and destiny—timeless themes made intimate. Whether charting the rise and fall of nations or the inner battle of a mage tempted by power, she brings a balance of mythic scale and human fragility to her prose.

Beyond Dragonlance, Weis has written across subgenres—from science fiction in The Star of the Guardians to dark fantasy in The Death Gate Cycle. Her voice adapts, but her core remains: a commitment to stories that challenge, inspire, and endure.

Despite decades of success and millions of books sold, Weis remains grounded in the love of storytelling. In interviews, she’s spoken of writing as “a form of escape—but also a way to understand the world.” It's this duality—escapism laced with introspection—that gives her novels their staying power.

Today, Margaret Weis continues to write, create, and inspire, not just as a bestselling author, but as a quiet revolutionary who helped prove that fantasy could be as rich, nuanced, and emotionally resonant as any other literary tradition. And for readers still journeying through Krynn or discovering it for the first time, her legacy grows with every page turned.

The Death Gate Cycle

The Death Gate Cycle consists of seven books. The current recommended reading order for the series is provided below.

Dragon Wing (The Death Gate Cycle #1)
  ★ 7.28 / 43
Elven Star (The Death Gate Cycle #2)
  ★ 7.02 / 37
Fire Sea (The Death Gate Cycle #3)
  ★ 7.22 / 37
Serpent Mage (The Death Gate Cycle #4)
  ★ 6.82 / 35
The Hand of Chaos (The Death Gate Cycle #5)
  ★ 6.82 / 32
Into the Labyrinth (The Death Gate Cycle #6)
  ★ 6.92 / 35
The Seventh Gate (The Death Gate Cycle #7)
  ★ 7.00 / 33


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