The Hidden City

The Tamuli #3

by David Eddings

By the author of the international bestseller, "The Shining Ones," the third volume in the Tamuli series. High-fantasy and adventure by a modern master in the tradition of Tolkein.
Abriel was strangely calm. "At last," he murmured, "a fitting opponent." And then he clapped down his visor, drew his shield before his body, and raised the sword he had carried with honor for over half a century. His unpalsied hand brandished the sword at the enormity still rising before him.
"For God and Arcium!" He roared his defiance, set himself, and charged directly into the face of Hell.

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Epic Fantasy, High Fantasy, Science Fiction Fantasy, Adventure, Magic

504 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1994

About the author

David Eddings was an American author who wrote several best-selling series of epic fantasy novels. David Eddings' wife, Leigh Eddings , was an uncredited co-author on many of his early books, but he had later acknowledged that she contributed to them all.

They adopted one boy in 1966, Scott David, then two months old. They adopted a younger girl between 1966 and 1969. In 1970 the couple lost custody of both children and were each sentenced to a year in jail in separate trials after pleading guilty to 11 counts of physical child abuse. Though the nature of the abuse, the trial, and the sentencing were all extensively reported in South Dakota newspapers at the time, these details did not resurface in media coverage of the couple during their successful joint career as authors, only returning to public attention several years after both had died.

After both served their sentences, David and Leigh Eddings moved to Denver in 1971, where David found work in a grocery store.

David Eddings' first books (which were general fiction) sold moderately well. He later switched to writing epic fantasy, a field in which he achieved great success. In a recent interview with sffworld.com, he said: "I don't take orders from readers."

On January 26, 2007 it was reported that Eddings accidentally burned about a quarter of his office, next door to his house, along with his Excalibur sports car, and the original manuscripts for most of his novels. He was flushing the fuel tank of the car with water when he lit a piece of paper and threw into the puddle to test if it was still flammable.

On February 28, 2007, David Eddings' wife, Leigh Eddings (born Judith Leigh Schall), died following a series of strokes. She was 69.

David Eddings died on June 2, 2009 at the age of 77.

Reviews

[Jordan · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a way to end a series.

David Eddings' career was always fascinating to me, largely because many of his fans view it as a parabola. He started out mediocre, and rose to greatness quickly, eventually descending back into mediocrity with the subpar Dreamers saga.

But the Elenium and the Tamuli are, in my opinion, beyond anything he's ever written.

Being book 6 in the Elenium/Tamuli storyline, I suppose there's no real reason to convince you to read this book because, quite frankly, you've stuck with the other 5 by now and I really can't imagine anyone suddenly deciding to stop without seeing how it all ends.

So as a critique, Eddings' wit is amazingly sharp throughout the entire book. I got many a stare bursting out into hysterical laughter while I read this on the train every day. Dry as ever, his dull yet charmingly witty observations, nitpicking details in his own story and playing off the stereotypes of his stock characters leads to expecting yet delightfully accepted humor.

The strategies and limits he puts on the forces in this book are one of the things that made me love him. Everything, from man to deity, has its' limits, and in harmony the forces of good and evil fight once more to see who will reign victorious.

Eddings has done the "side fueled by a good deity" vs "side fueled by a bad deity" plot in every single fantasy book he's ever written, but none of them were done nearly as well as in these two series.

I absolutely recommend the series in general, and hope many people experience it. Eddings isn't the best author, and his books won't teach you much, or reinvent the way you think, but it's an enjoyable, laughable, and exciting story the whole way through.

[Betawolf · Rating 2 out of 5]

While I still at some level enjoyed this, I do have to point out that for a conclusion it's pretty desperate. Eddings seems to have written himself into several corners and is flailing to get himself out. With the Delphae in the second Tamuli book he inelegantly handed the team a mind-reader to cut through all the difficult intrigue stuff, and in this book he supercharges their power again by letting the Delphae also act as cloaking devices for whatever magic needs hiding. Having handed Sparhawk an arbitrarily powerful god-killing super-being in the Bhelliom, Eddings then must find excuses for him not to use it for much of this book's plot. This is achieved in part by inventing -- unmentioned until this book -- a new 'big bad' which is theoretically capable of besting the Bhelliom, but has an inconsistently-presented inability to locate its foe. When the bind the bad guys have put on Sparhawk becomes inconvenient, however, Eddings simply retcons away huge chunks of what has already been explained about Bhelliom.

The annoying thing is that I don't think any of this laziness was necessary. The story had plenty of paths to completion that didn't involve leaning on the 'more magic' lever, and it would have been a more dramatic and satisfying book if Eddings had his characters solve the problems with means already known to be at their disposal.

Oh, and the prologue scene for this book is horrendous. Eddings apparently thinks that the way to win over an academic audience is just to condescendingly insult your opponents and then physically threaten them. It was a very awkward way to present the series recap to start with, and the ugly tribalism leaves a nasty taste in your mouth for the start of the main narrative.

[Mesut Gölcük · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sparhawk serisi de bu kitapla birlikte sonlanmış oldu. İlk olarak belgariad ı okuduktan sonra David Eddings' in stilini sevdiğim için bu seriye başladım.

Bilmeyenler için bu kitapların hepsini çok yalın çok akıcı ve heyecan verici olarak açıklayabilirim. Kitapların pek bir derinlikleri yok ancak her karakter kendi uzmanlık alanında dünyanın en iyisi en muhteşemi. Tanrısal seviyedeki karakterlerin düşmanlarını alt edişini okumak da zevk verdiği için 4 yıldızı hak ediyor.

[Althea Ann · Rating 2 out of 5]

Finally slogged my way all the way to the end of this, "Book 3 of the Tamuli." Characters ran around, killed other characters, rescued lovely maidens/wives in distress, and eventually pretty much all got married.
Again, I know these are huge bestsellers, but they just didn't really do it for me.
(Although, I have to admit, the insights here into Troll culture are pretty funny.)

[Jolly Ann Paciencia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Finally I already finished reading it what a great adventure .

[Rebecca · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don't really have strong feelings about this book. When I finished it, my first thought was just this is a book, that I have now read. This series was interesting but I didn't think it was the best series ever. I'm glad that I read it for the experience though.

[Emma Olafsen · Rating 2 out of 5]

This series was ok. The best characters were the trolls and the troll Gods - for such apparently evil creatures they were surprisingly sweet and innocent. And they were funny too.

Aphrael is the most smug and annoying character in the whole series and I think it’s super weird that she’s a child goddess with the mind of a woman - it makes her seem manipulative and crass and don’t even get me started on how she likes being naked in her adult form. It’s borderline incestuous since Sparhawk is somehow her dad but also not her dad and is able to recognise how lovely she is nude 🤮. And she makes everyone love her by making them pick her up so that she can kiss them - isn’t there anyone in their world who finds kids annoying and avoids them at all costs????

Ehlana was irritating and don’t even get me started on Sephrenia. The only decent female character was Mirtai and even she was written oddly with her “perfect golden body.”

All the men were somehow amazing warriors, perfect at building/creating/warcraft etc and the women were good at being beautiful and looking good in the buff. Especially the one of Sarabian’s wives who likes to keep her boobs out on show and have sex with every available male - until she gets knocked up that is. Then she has to settle down, cover up her titties and be “responsible.”

It was all just a bit ugh. And outdated. And it dragged onnnnnnn. I thought I’d enjoy re reading all the books I loved in my teens but I think I’ve sadly outgrown them. I don’t want to waste my time reading mediocre fiction anymore - I want meaty stories with fleshed out characters and women who aren’t useless filler with beautiful faces and perky breasts and no purpose in the story.

[Casey · Rating 5 out of 5]

This concludes the second Sparhawk series. New revelations are uncovered, evil conquered and all ends well.

[Angela · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 Stars

The Hidden City is the third book in the Tamuli Series by David Eddings. The Tamuli series is a follow up to The Elenium Series and picks up several years after the events in The Elenium. We again get to catch up with some characters we know and love, as well as meeting new ones.
It is an adventure, with some action, battle scenes, and the epic fantasy we expect from Mr. Eddings. The story does lag a little in places, and there is a lot of dialogue- but this didn’t detract too much from my overall enjoyment of the book/series.
This is a fun read!

The Tamuli Series books are:
-Domes of Fire (Book #1)
-The Shining Ones (Book #2)
-The Hidden City (Book #3)

Happy Reading!

[Sammy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm not gonna lie. I'm glad this series is over. I think it all very much deteriorated over the second trilogy, there is never any sense of peril (a must for a quest fantasy!), and the dialogue just kept getting more and more childish and awkward.

A shame, because I know Eddings was so much better than this.

[Martijn · Rating 2 out of 5]

After badmouthing the first two parts, I do have to admit that I don't regret finishing the book. After a while I knew what to skip, and that improved my reading experience. Also, I sort of accepted the 'magic-hat' phenomenon, and that made it bearable. Having said that, let's add a note to my future self: don't read this series again.

[Juliana Veale · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think an editor may have put their foot down when reviewing the manuscript and as a result. the last book in the trilogy is much better than the previous book. The smugness has been turned down, events are treated seriously when they occur without the need to indulge in too much witty dialogue.
In short, this is the book where the story moves. Not just to tie up loose ends from the previous books, but to wrap up the overarching story arc as well.
There is a lot of revelation about the nature of Gods created, their relationships to each other and even the nature of the world itself. Sparhwak as a character gets a great deal of time and thought and it's nice to see that the often humble knight is still true to the character concept first revealed int he Elenium.

[Danica · Rating 5 out of 5]

And finally we reach the end of a spectacular journey. I loved all of these books, and I know that I'll look back fondly on Sparhawk's adventures in years to come. It saddens me that there aren't more books to go along with this particular story, but at the same time I must tell myself (if only to make myself feel better) that sometimes less is more. Just because Eddings could have expanded this series doesn't mean that he should have.

Both the Elenium and the Tamuli are trilogies that I would love to pick up and read again and again. This isn't a world that you just walk away from, but rather one that you carry with you. The characters become so individual throughout the course of the books that you really feel like you've gotten to know each and every one of them seperately. There isn't one that you wish hadn't been included. In fact, you just wind up wanting to know more about all of them and how their lives ended up playing out.

It was defnitely interesting to see how Eddings decided to end it all, and though I greedily want more, I must say that it was indeed a good ending.

[Jeff Griffith · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a review of the full three book series, The Tamuli, rather than just the last book.

It was a re-read of the series that I just finished, and after quite a long period of time. I read the books initially when they were first published, so over 20 years ago. I had fond memories of the books, but unfortunately, reading them now I have a very different opinion. I suppose that we all grow up and our tastes in books change.

Reading the series now, I found that I had trouble just getting through the books. The pace was very slow, and the characters seemed to spend more time joking with one another than actually doing something. Some of the characters are enjoyable to read, but I feel that part of the problem is that there are too many of them as the series progressed. You couldn’t connect well with any of them as none of them had enough to do on their own.

I doubt that I will pick up these books again in another 20 years. Eddings’ books will continue to have a fond place in my memories as they were a big part of my introduction to fantasy novels, but a fond memory is where they will stay.

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

The best of the trilogy, mostly because we skipped between plentiful points of view and that definitely kept the action going. It was still plagued with sexist and racist representation (the Atans, with their yellow skin and black hair, for example, and the way that both women and men see the other sex in a derogatory fashion. "But she's a woman!" from one soldier, regarding a female warrior. I'm glad we've come further forwards than this).

Aphrael was about the worst character around - constantly smug and know-all, with the ability to do everything and be cute doing so. Sparhawk remained the best character - grumpy and irascible, with a sense of his own worth and capabilities.

It feels weird to me that I loved this novel so much when I was a teen. I enjoyed the tedious "clever" exchanges and loved the way the heroes acted. Now I want so much more from my fantasy fiction. I want three-dimensional characters. I want equal representation. And I want better prose/dialogue. Luckily there are now plentiful authors who can provide that.

[Ben Moore · Rating 5 out of 5]

David Eddings himself said that he was never in any danger of winning a Nobel prize for literature. That’s as true of The Hidden City as for any of his books. The writing is not full of technical brilliance and the sword and sorcery thing has definitely been done before.

That aside, this whole series tells a brilliant story and this book is the perfect climax to it. I read this final book in two evenings because I couldn’t bear to stop reading (also there’s a very cruel mid-book cliffhanger that nearly stopped my heart).

The story is everything. This is proper, gather round the fire and listen to an old Druid storytelling. It may not be ‘high literature’ or hold up to much scrutiny but it’s compelling, it’s moving, and it’s really exciting. I’d read the Elenium several times already and loved it. Having finally found the time to read The Tamuli, it more than lived up to expectations.

[Michael Grace · Rating 4 out of 5]

Alright this book is off-the-rails and messy but super fun. At times the B, C, D, E and F plots seem to slow everything to a halt with little reason beyond showing the reader that some characters still exist. Still, the third book of The Tamuli, the sixth book of The Pandion Knight Saga wraps up the whole story in a way that is fitting of its epic nature. There are parallels to The Sapphire Rose in how the story ends, but ultimately this book is its own wonderful installment.

The Elenium was much more straightforward, and The Tamuli kind of retroactively changed how the magic systems work, but it worked in my opinion.

[Tony · Rating 3 out of 5]

It took me a year or so to read this book. It wasn't bad, but the whole series is just... dated. It is a mediocre classic fantasy book, displaying a lot of the features that have been the focus of writers to improve on in the last few decades. The plot was often predictable, the characters felt shallow at times, and the bad guys were just bad. It was in all ways a 3 star read.

So why did I read it? I just like a good classic fantasy from time to time. The escapism that draws fantasy readers is still there, even with the concerns. Keep expectations low, and go on a little journey to save the world with Sir Sparhawk and friends. Just don't take a year going about it.

[Anthony Adam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow, what a reveal about Sparhawk! When looking back over the six novels, it all suddenly makes sense. This was one of those really slow builds to a grand reveal. Marvellous. The whole conclusion was very satisfying although I did feel the reunion between Sparhawk and his wife could have been covered a bit better. I thoroughly enjoyed the whole series, not as much as the Belgariad and Mallorean series though. If you are thinking about reading this book, wait until you have read all the preceding novels - this will make the denouement so much more satisfying for you.

[Frank Lang · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wie alle anderen Bücher von David Eddings gehört auch dieser Band zu den Büchern, die der Leser in Ruhe lesen muss, um ungestört und ohne Hektik in die Welt einzutauchen. Deshalb eignet es sich nicht für Schnellleser und für jene, die schnell viele Seiten lesen möchten. Das dürften am Ende nämlich jene Leser sein, die von Längen im Mittelteil und zum Ende hin reden. Das sind aber keine Längen, sondern der Autor führt das Buch zu einem runden Ende und bricht es nicht einfach nach dem Finale ab.

Dabei kommen Fantasy-Freunde auch im letzten Band der Tamuli-Trilogie auf ihre Kosten. Spannende Intrigen und Wendungen in der Handlung wechseln sich ebenso ab, wie magische Besonderheiten und große Kriege und Schlachten. Und das in einem sehr spannenden und unterhaltsamen Kontext und eben einer sehr ansprechenden und ruhigen Sprache. Ich reite auch deshalb auf der ruhigen Erzählweise herum, weil ich viele Fantasyfreunde kenne, die damit überhaupt nicht zurechtkamen. Allerdings ist dies ein Abschlussband von im Grunde genommen eines Sechsteilers, denn es müssen nicht nur die ersten beiden Bände der Tamuli-Trilogie bekannt sein, sondern auch Elenium-Trilogie. Wer es bis hierher geschafft hat, wird wissen, was auf ihn zukommt und sich daran erfreuen, wie Eddings seine Geschichte hat enden lassen.

Fazit
Mir sagen die Geschichten von David Eddings sehr zu. Und das Schöne am Fantasy ist ja, dass man den Büchern in keinster Weise anmerkt, dass sie Anfang der 90er Jahre des letzten Jahrhunderts erschienen sind und somit mittlerweile 30 Jahre auf dem Buckel haben. Wer von zeitlosen Büchern reden mag, ist hier genau richtig. Ebenso wie Fantasy-Freunde, die Wert auf großartige und vielschichtige Romane legen.

[Jeanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

And so it ends, the journey ends. This 6th book in this complete series of "The Elenium" and "The Tamuli" is my favorite of all of them. I think it's because of how David Eddings pulled all the characters together and kept me intrigued and hooked from the first page to the last as he bounced from one set of characters to the other quickly throughout the entire book to its final end. As I was reading this final book I knew I would miss each and every one of these characters and their interactions with each other - the banter, the chemistry - it was in true David Eddings' form - the form I fell in love with reading "The Belgariad" and "The Mallorean" so many years ago. "The Tamuli" would be my favorite of the two sets (if I had to choose) but as a complete story with Sparhawk and his cast of characters and all of their relationships with each other... I loved it! I loved this whole story from start to finish! Auntpol will always remain my all time favorite character - but Sparhawk is right up there with the best characters every created. David Eddings was a master storyteller and phenomenal world builder. My least favorite part of the ending was that it ended. I guess I'll have to use my own imagination to know what happens next for all of the characters who parted ways and continued their own separate journeys to infinity and beyond. I know in my world and in my imagination all of their paths will cross again embarking on new adventures all over the limitless universe.

[Nix Gerit · Rating 4 out of 5]

I got stuck for about a month, reading this and I have to say I don't exactly remember why. This series was rather pleasant, I loved the characters, most of which had a great depth and whom I knew and could presume their behaviour. I think it was helped very much by the many moments across all six books, where we could witness their banter, their fooling around, their interactions. It made them people.
As an atheist/agnostic (I'm not very clear on what I actually am, it does not play a big role in my life), I was also pretty charmed by the way the religion was in these books. I'm usually rather annoyed by religion, for example Dune was absurd with it. It usually takes so much space and to me it seems like a meaningless nonsense. Not here, though. The gods were actually part of the people's lives, they were the very magic (which was basically praying, but actually meaningful praying). The whole world reflected gods' presence. Very interesting take.
Last book was a lot about action and maybe I liked it more than the previous ones because it was a goodbye. Goodbye to people you know is not easy for me, I make attachments easily - and for some reason, it just doesn't matter to me if they're fictional. I will still miss them. Hell, I still miss Arutha and spol from Riftwar series :)
I would have liked very much to know what would happen with Danae and Talen. Shame I probably won't.

[Eva · Rating 3 out of 5]

Okay, I'm a David Eddings fan, and I know the past series haven't been the best of his writing, but I have completely enjoyed the story line.
This particular book confused me slightly, he kinda jumps around a bit, which shows everything that's going on, which can be good, but also has to show them and slightly different times, making this happen after those things are being discussed and the like, which personally I do not favour
Now from his two connected series' the Belgariad which led into the Malloreon I learnt that his way of writing endings is beautiful and it touches the heart, wrenching your soul in complete confusion when leaving a world which you can no longer take part of, I noticed from the Elenium this was somewhat true but I was extremely disappointed in the ending of the complete tale, this book, although this has nothing to do with the story but instead the writing instead, did not wrench my heart out completely to finish it because the writing wasn't the beautifully twisted words that has been done before, of course that can come as a bonus for those who wish not to become to emotional in the end, but I do like the way his past books ended and this was a small but kind of important (for me) disappointment, it is a great book by a great author though and the titanic (except occasionally confusing-pay attention to important parts) end of series and story

[Todd · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very solid way to wrap up The Tamuli Trilogy (that had some rough spots in the middle of the run).

All of the characters wind up with satisfying conclusions to their story arcs, except for one nitpick. The wives of the Tamuli emperor -- barely mentioned in the first book, basically ignored in the second book -- suddenly out of the blue get their own minor subplot in this book in a rather slapdash fashion. They plot against each other, the good ones avoid the assassins sent by the bad ones, and they wind up safe and sound. The vacuous over-sexed topless one winds up being the shrewdest and most practical one of the bunch. But unless I missed it, the evil ones of the bunch were not dealt with any shape or fashion by either the other wives or the emperor. It all felt like the author realized that he had these potentially interesting characters sitting around in the background, and decided to throw together a side-story for them in a hurry, with rather bland results.

But if that is the biggest quibble I can manage to harp on, that's not bad at all in the grand scheme of things.

For future readers, plow through the endless talk-talk-talk of the second book in the trilogy, since it all pays off in the end rather nicely.

[Catsalive · Rating 2 out of 5]

The conclusion to the Elenium & Tamuli series is a disappointment. People are just charging all over the place taking part in various squabbles & then charging off to the next spot. I think I could easily have skipped to first half of this book without missing anything important.

The child-goddess is no longer a child, is transporting everyone at lightning-speed all over the continent, & is now cosying up to any other godlings she can get her lips on. No one is safe from this creepy little being & her awful hypocrite of a sister. It continues to be acceptable to denigrate others as long as you're female or it's just a little joke. Even Sparhawk is irritatingly wet at the end - such a let-down.

I did like Sarabian's wives' little piece of the action, it's a pity we couldn't have had a bit more of this & less traipsing around to no account.

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

The third and final book of the Tamuli. Sparhawk and his friends work to rescue Ehlana. Not only must they battle Zalasta and his insane son Scarpa, but also Cyrgon and Khael--Bhellion's opposite. The eventually find their way to Cyrga, which has been hidden fir millennia. While fighting Cyrgon, Sparhawk realizes that he truly is the son of Bhellion and has the powers of a god. Powers which he asks Bhellion to take away so he can be a mortal man.

Ehlana is rescued, the world is saved, Vanion and Sephrenia are married by Xanetia. The Delphae become creatures of light and join their god among the stars. They leave Sarabian a much stronger ruler than they found him.

[Jay Welch · Rating 4 out of 5]

The third book in this trilogy is by far the best of the series. A few twists and turns along with the buildup to the ending makes this one an enjoyable read. This was the last of the author's books that I read when I was much younger and am now just re-reading for the nostalgia more than anything. I enjoyed the Belgariad series much more than the Sparhawk novels, but all of them are worth the time to read them if you are a fan of traditional fantasy novels. I have yet to read any of his works following these and may want to give them a try, especially the ones that he co-wrote with his wife. (I know she was a big influence on the earlier novels as well).

[J · Rating 2 out of 5]

Introductions of other characters and concepts late in the series is irritating. Klael is sprung upon us, and his description is not very scary. Lots of pointless hopping around. Secondary characters take up most of the page space. The Cyrgai are barely present and the entry/exploration of the city doesn't provide much tension. The resolution is predictable and silly. Bhelliom created Anakha for the sole purpose of an overhand throw? What? Not sure what the point is of defeating an antagonist who hasn't appeared in the story previously. All in all, it was convenient that I'd downloaded this to my ipad over a decade previously, but I don't think I'll be re-reading it in another ten years.

[Ian Warrender · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm sad to be at the end if this excellent adventure.
I won't reiterate the same praise that's in my other reviews but I need to mention that in the audio book Kevin Pariseau really excelled with some of the characters adding an extra dimension to an already excellent story.
Sometimes Eddings generates excellent characters in a generic good / bad world, however by the end of this adventure the world is much more realised and not just the world but the universe as we touch on Science Fiction in parts.
A must read but only after reading the previous 5 books!

[Martin White · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was just a slog. So. Much. Exposition. Teams up characters so he can have one explain everything going on to another. Things that should be fixed/finished in 10 pages take 100. The overall superior attitude of almost all the heroes involved is eye rolling and mind numbing at the same time. Tons of stuff happens "off screen" so to speak, so you're mostly dealing with aftermaths. My feelings about this book can be summed up by the fact he has a main-ish character say "Nobody's really all that fond of the taste of pork, when you get right down to it." Oh ffs. Whatever.