Book Review No. 1

The Diamond Throne by David Eddings

Book 1 of The Elenium

Rating: 7 out of 10

I was first turned onto David Eddings by my wife, who read two of his other fantasy trilogies - The Belgariad and The Mallorean - in middle/high school. Or something like that. I’ve been actively searching for new-to-me fantasy series for the better part of this year, so when she mentioned Eddings to me I decided to take a dive at the local library.

The Diamond Throne, Book One of a trilogy called the Elenium, is set in a different world than the other two aforementioned trilogies. It takes place on a continent called Eosia, divided up into various kingdoms, with the Elenes [of Elenia, big shocker there] as the dominant kingdom/race in the world.

The story itself concerns a knight of the Church named Sparhawk, who returns from exile to discover that his beloved queen Ehlana has fallen deathly ill and, as a result, has been encased inside of a magic crystal shield to prevent her from dying. He and his companions immediately set out to locate a cure for the queen, while at the same time attempting to foil the plot of a corrupt Church leader named Annias, who wants to seize power for himself.

All of this sounds fairly standard for a fantasy trilogy. Yet I found that Eddings successfully avoids some cliches and conventions throughout the novel. A number of times, I had difficulty determining where the plot was going to go - in a good way. Some of the events that occur on Sparhawk’s quest seem insignificant - just like real life - and some of them seem like pointless dead-ends. The winding and wandering of the storyline, to me, made the overall plot more realistic than what one generally finds in a fantasy novel. At the same time, this made for some slow portions of the novel, particularly the middle section, where I tried to detect a sense of urgency behind the protagonist’s actions and couldn’t find much of one.

Also out-of-the-ordinary is the dialogue of the book. Sparhawk and his companions are rough-and-tumble types, sometimes bawdy, sometimes ridiculous. I get the impression that Eddings does not want us to take his characters too seriously, yet he doesn’t devolve into frivolous banter either. At the same time, some of the phrasing is awkward and samey between characters - I noted the use of “Anyway” as the beginning of a sentence numerous times.

Overall, The Diamond Throne is a quick and enjoyable read. It’s purely entertaining - no significant philosophical questions about life are raised here, no intense plumbing-the-depths of the human soul. But with relatable characters, a solid plot, and good pacing [for the most part], Eddings gives us a tale that is worth continuing. At least for me.