finished and read shadow gate ... the local library is my friend and I didn't bother to check the publishing dates, spent about 10m looking for book 3, got online looking for book 3 only to find AUG 09 :-( rats.
it gets more interesting in the 2nd book, some of the description gets a bit to wordy (world building), but I liked it.
Now I decided to take the plunge and am reading A Game of Thrones. I generally prefer self-contained novels, but I've heard too many good things about Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire, and was in the mood for an epic fantasy with feuding Machiavellian families.