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The Elenium #1-3
The Elenium: The Diamond Throne / The Ruby Knight / The Sapphire Rose
Now for the first time in one thrilling volume–the three magical novels that make up David Eddings’s epic fantasy The Elenium.
In an ancient kingdom, the legacy of one royal family hangs in the balance, and the fate of a queen—and her empire—lies on the shoulders of one knight.
Sparhawk, Knight and Queen’s Champion, has returned to Elenia after ten years of exile, only to find young Queen Ehlana trapped in a crystalline cocoon. The enchantments of the sorceress Sephrenia have kept the queen alive–but the spell is fading. In the meantime, Elenia is ruled by a prince regent, the puppet of the tyrannical Annias, who vows to seize power over all the land.
Now Sparhawk must find the legendary Bhelliom, a sapphire that holds the key to Ehlana’s cure. Sparhawk and his companions will face monstrous foes and evil creatures on their journey, but even greater dangers lie in for dark legions will stop at nothing to reach the radiant stone, which may possess powers too deadly for any mortal to bear.
In an ancient kingdom, the legacy of one royal family hangs in the balance, and the fate of a queen—and her empire—lies on the shoulders of one knight.
Sparhawk, Knight and Queen’s Champion, has returned to Elenia after ten years of exile, only to find young Queen Ehlana trapped in a crystalline cocoon. The enchantments of the sorceress Sephrenia have kept the queen alive–but the spell is fading. In the meantime, Elenia is ruled by a prince regent, the puppet of the tyrannical Annias, who vows to seize power over all the land.
Now Sparhawk must find the legendary Bhelliom, a sapphire that holds the key to Ehlana’s cure. Sparhawk and his companions will face monstrous foes and evil creatures on their journey, but even greater dangers lie in for dark legions will stop at nothing to reach the radiant stone, which may possess powers too deadly for any mortal to bear.
912 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1993
207 people are currently reading
1743 people want to read
About the author
David Eddings
220 books5,567 followersDavid 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.
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.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 137 reviews
February 21, 2012
I finally gave in and traded my used hardcovers for this single-volume version just to save some shelf space, but I've read these books probably a dozen times each - so this is a very jaded review. (And they get four stars out of pure nostalgia, and also because they're almost as addictive as the Belgariad, but if I were just encountering them now I'd probably give them three.
There's not much point in addressing them as individual volumes, because it's basically one long adventure. And it's an entertaining adventure - let me start by establishing that. The Elenium is focused on Sparhawk, who is a 40ish knight with a hell of a lot of experience (in contrast to the Belgariad, which is a pure bildungsroman.) Sparhawk is essentially a good, honest, honorable guy, but he's also ruthless and willing to look first in his scabbard for the solution to his problems. This is mitigated in large part because the series is essentially an ensemble piece, and the various stock characters he surrounds himself with (Dumb but Good-Hearted Best Friend, Wise Older Companion, Beautiful and Mysterious Enchantress, Cocky Young Thief, etc etc) balance out the various encounters.
I like these books, don't get me wrong - they're fast-paced and fun and the election sequence in the third book involves some of the most readable political shenanigans I've come across in fantasy - but they're far from perfect. Eddings doesn't have a ton of range in either his characters or his dialogue, and while this is not the same as the Belgariad at all (mostly in that it's an R-rated series - lots of blood and guts and even some sex, or at least the implication of sex) it's particularly jarring when he re-uses lines of dialogue. It really highlights his limitations.
And the worldbuilding is just sloppy. Sloppy! The Bhelliom (the magic jewel they spend the first two books questing for) changes origin and powers every fifty pages. It's evil! It's True Neutral! It's the force that created the world! It's too dangerous even to look at, although it was displayed on a hat that kings wore for centuries! We must destroy it! We should probably destroy it although it might blow up! We might have to destroy it even though it will probably take out a few mountain ranges when it goes! Sparhawk can touch it because he has the rings! Sparhawk can touch it because he was destined to! No one else can touch it, except those inconvenient kings and the Troll and a goddess and possibly the hundreds of people who've been searching for it for millennia!
The Mysterious Enchantress has different powers depending on the situation, Berit is an apprentice knight then an novice then an apprentice then a novice and then, finally, is "promoted to a rank seldom used by the militant orders," an apprentice knight. And in the most obvious and laughable example, at the end of the first book, Sparhawk "for the first time in his life, contemplated the deliberate murder of an unarmed man." Except that in the very first chapter, we see him picking up some wire to use to strangle a drunkard when he comes out to pick up some more wine.
I don't think these issues totally detract from the entertainment value of the books, but they do stick out to me after all these rereads, and I don't have the patience - or maybe the obliviousness - I did when I was 15. The trilogy pretty much reads like Eddings sat down one day, started at the beginning, and shipped each chapter off without ever reading it again. Which is fine, I guess, but I hold my epic fantasy to higher standards nowadays.
There's not much point in addressing them as individual volumes, because it's basically one long adventure. And it's an entertaining adventure - let me start by establishing that. The Elenium is focused on Sparhawk, who is a 40ish knight with a hell of a lot of experience (in contrast to the Belgariad, which is a pure bildungsroman.) Sparhawk is essentially a good, honest, honorable guy, but he's also ruthless and willing to look first in his scabbard for the solution to his problems. This is mitigated in large part because the series is essentially an ensemble piece, and the various stock characters he surrounds himself with (Dumb but Good-Hearted Best Friend, Wise Older Companion, Beautiful and Mysterious Enchantress, Cocky Young Thief, etc etc) balance out the various encounters.
I like these books, don't get me wrong - they're fast-paced and fun and the election sequence in the third book involves some of the most readable political shenanigans I've come across in fantasy - but they're far from perfect. Eddings doesn't have a ton of range in either his characters or his dialogue, and while this is not the same as the Belgariad at all (mostly in that it's an R-rated series - lots of blood and guts and even some sex, or at least the implication of sex) it's particularly jarring when he re-uses lines of dialogue. It really highlights his limitations.
And the worldbuilding is just sloppy. Sloppy! The Bhelliom (the magic jewel they spend the first two books questing for) changes origin and powers every fifty pages. It's evil! It's True Neutral! It's the force that created the world! It's too dangerous even to look at, although it was displayed on a hat that kings wore for centuries! We must destroy it! We should probably destroy it although it might blow up! We might have to destroy it even though it will probably take out a few mountain ranges when it goes! Sparhawk can touch it because he has the rings! Sparhawk can touch it because he was destined to! No one else can touch it, except those inconvenient kings and the Troll and a goddess and possibly the hundreds of people who've been searching for it for millennia!
The Mysterious Enchantress has different powers depending on the situation, Berit is an apprentice knight then an novice then an apprentice then a novice and then, finally, is "promoted to a rank seldom used by the militant orders," an apprentice knight. And in the most obvious and laughable example, at the end of the first book, Sparhawk "for the first time in his life, contemplated the deliberate murder of an unarmed man." Except that in the very first chapter, we see him picking up some wire to use to strangle a drunkard when he comes out to pick up some more wine.
I don't think these issues totally detract from the entertainment value of the books, but they do stick out to me after all these rereads, and I don't have the patience - or maybe the obliviousness - I did when I was 15. The trilogy pretty much reads like Eddings sat down one day, started at the beginning, and shipped each chapter off without ever reading it again. Which is fine, I guess, but I hold my epic fantasy to higher standards nowadays.
October 28, 2014
The Elenium by David Eddings is an omnibus of three books: The Diamond Throne, The Ruby Knight & The Sapphire Rose. A traditional Fantasy with magic, adventure and dreams of world domination.
The plot of the books revolves around Sparhawk, a knight of the Pandion order of the church who starts off exiled to a distant land. News reaches him of the poisoning of Queen Ehlana, his charge as Queens Champion so he returns to find out what has happened. He discovers he needs a unique and powerful item to save her so, along with some companions, sets out on a quest across the land to find this and restore his queen. There are battles, mystery and intrigue as well as betrayal and magic.
The characters are one of the best features of the books I found. They are detailed and the way they work together and interact is just pure fun to read. The characters grow as the story does and the sense of progression is impressive. Sparhawk and Talen are two of my personal favourite characters and the way they behave throughout the books was always fun.
The world building is also done extremely well in the books. Due to it being a roving adventure crossing many different lands and types of environment you get to see all many of well described and working areas.
The story is very traditional Fantasy with knights, battles, magic and thieves but far from making it boring and heavily cliched it works in the books favour. There are cliches, that’s undeniable, but they still work; probably due to the level of detail and just how well every little element of the story fits together.
In Summary: A really fun Fantasy novel with great characters, world and sense of adventure. It contains all the traditional and well loved Fantasy elements in written with enthusiasm and an eye for detail. Recommended for Fantasy fans as well as anyone wanting a fun, cheerful read.
The plot of the books revolves around Sparhawk, a knight of the Pandion order of the church who starts off exiled to a distant land. News reaches him of the poisoning of Queen Ehlana, his charge as Queens Champion so he returns to find out what has happened. He discovers he needs a unique and powerful item to save her so, along with some companions, sets out on a quest across the land to find this and restore his queen. There are battles, mystery and intrigue as well as betrayal and magic.
The characters are one of the best features of the books I found. They are detailed and the way they work together and interact is just pure fun to read. The characters grow as the story does and the sense of progression is impressive. Sparhawk and Talen are two of my personal favourite characters and the way they behave throughout the books was always fun.
The world building is also done extremely well in the books. Due to it being a roving adventure crossing many different lands and types of environment you get to see all many of well described and working areas.
The story is very traditional Fantasy with knights, battles, magic and thieves but far from making it boring and heavily cliched it works in the books favour. There are cliches, that’s undeniable, but they still work; probably due to the level of detail and just how well every little element of the story fits together.
In Summary: A really fun Fantasy novel with great characters, world and sense of adventure. It contains all the traditional and well loved Fantasy elements in written with enthusiasm and an eye for detail. Recommended for Fantasy fans as well as anyone wanting a fun, cheerful read.
July 13, 2015
I finished this series today,I liked it.
The Elenium is unlike the previous series I've read by David Eddings.
We have Church Knights and Church soldiers and they don't really like each other,it's a political thing.
Sparhawk(a Church Knight) our hero has been banned from Cimmura,it's been ten years and he comes back.
And we find out he is also the Queen's Champion.
Now the Queen has taken ill and when Sparhawk finds this out the quest begins for as a Queen's Champion
it is up to him to help her.
This will be the main quest but along this quest there are several smaller quests.
The characters I really liked and I liked this world building,the style of magic was different and
the book was dealing with knights.
I only gave it four stars because I felt the second book started off slow.
The Elenium is unlike the previous series I've read by David Eddings.
We have Church Knights and Church soldiers and they don't really like each other,it's a political thing.
Sparhawk(a Church Knight) our hero has been banned from Cimmura,it's been ten years and he comes back.
And we find out he is also the Queen's Champion.
Now the Queen has taken ill and when Sparhawk finds this out the quest begins for as a Queen's Champion
it is up to him to help her.
This will be the main quest but along this quest there are several smaller quests.
The characters I really liked and I liked this world building,the style of magic was different and
the book was dealing with knights.
I only gave it four stars because I felt the second book started off slow.
December 29, 2015
I read these books in the mid 90's. I have worn through 2 copies of all three books. My oldest daughter loved them and we could talk about them at a time we couldn't talk about anything. I have recently ordered them for a friend that will like them just as much.
December 21, 2020
A reread (number too many to count) for this three-in-one book. A good return to a simple but fun story. Full review on my blog.
https://www.joyspren.com/blog/the-ele...
https://www.joyspren.com/blog/the-ele...
September 4, 2024
Re-read of an all time favourite.
June 9, 2016
I've always enjoyed David Edding's works. I find his works, this included, to be entertaining light reads. I've always been a sucker for quest narratives, and following Sparhawk to restore Queen Ehlana and stop a dark god was very entertaining. Eddings also creates a vibrant world, and like his other novels, the main characters end up traveling to nearly every region of the world he created in the span of the three novels. Sparhawk is also an interesting character because the story begins when he's middle age, already developed as a person, thrust into a series of chaotic events. Typically, quest adventures like to run with someone much younger and malleable, so the mix-up here is refreshing.
I do have some qualms in this book. I have no issue with Eddings depiction of morality in the novel: the good guys are good, the bad guys are bad and there is no gray area in between for any character. However, most of the villains come across as chronically incompetent. Of the big three antagonists, Martin, Azash and Annias, only Martin ever poses an actual threat to the protagonists. Anything Annias or Azash ever does seems at best a little shrewd, but still laughable.
Religion is also portrayed very oddly in the novel. The Elene religion, whatever it's actually called, is practically a functional form of Catholic Christianity transposed into a fantasy realm. There is nothing redemptive to this parody of Catholicism. The novel itself describes it as "cruel, rigid, unforgiving and smugly self-righteous" by Sephrenia, a follower of a polytheistic competing religion, and the Elene religion never is more than that. It's a burden that the main characters, the majority of which are knights of the church, bear, and never is the religion explained, expounded upon, or really defended in any form. Rather, the Styric polytheistic religion, is portrayed as much more vital and actually real, as the main characters do encounter several gods from that pantheon. I wondered why on earth none of the knights converted. In the end of the novel, characters admit that the god of the Elenes is just as real as the Syric's pantheon, which then questions the religious structure of the world even more. In essence, I found the novel's portrayal of a transposed Christianity grating and it exposes a flaw in the world building of the novel.
The icing on the cake of the portrayal of religion in the novel is the nation of Rendor. Rendor is inhabited by sect of the Elene church, and every heretic that the main characters encounter and fight against is portrayed as an idiot. The portrayal of an entire nation of people as gullible and moronic is rather jarring.
I feel like I wrote a lot of criticism here. I enjoyed the Elenium - it's a fun, fast paced read that has the main characters bounce from one crisis to the next. I already have the sequel trilogy sitting on my desk, and I know I'll tackle it pretty soon. Still, the treatment of religion in the book is aggravating to me.
I do have some qualms in this book. I have no issue with Eddings depiction of morality in the novel: the good guys are good, the bad guys are bad and there is no gray area in between for any character. However, most of the villains come across as chronically incompetent. Of the big three antagonists, Martin, Azash and Annias, only Martin ever poses an actual threat to the protagonists. Anything Annias or Azash ever does seems at best a little shrewd, but still laughable.
Religion is also portrayed very oddly in the novel. The Elene religion, whatever it's actually called, is practically a functional form of Catholic Christianity transposed into a fantasy realm. There is nothing redemptive to this parody of Catholicism. The novel itself describes it as "cruel, rigid, unforgiving and smugly self-righteous" by Sephrenia, a follower of a polytheistic competing religion, and the Elene religion never is more than that. It's a burden that the main characters, the majority of which are knights of the church, bear, and never is the religion explained, expounded upon, or really defended in any form. Rather, the Styric polytheistic religion, is portrayed as much more vital and actually real, as the main characters do encounter several gods from that pantheon. I wondered why on earth none of the knights converted. In the end of the novel, characters admit that the god of the Elenes is just as real as the Syric's pantheon, which then questions the religious structure of the world even more. In essence, I found the novel's portrayal of a transposed Christianity grating and it exposes a flaw in the world building of the novel.
The icing on the cake of the portrayal of religion in the novel is the nation of Rendor. Rendor is inhabited by sect of the Elene church, and every heretic that the main characters encounter and fight against is portrayed as an idiot. The portrayal of an entire nation of people as gullible and moronic is rather jarring.
I feel like I wrote a lot of criticism here. I enjoyed the Elenium - it's a fun, fast paced read that has the main characters bounce from one crisis to the next. I already have the sequel trilogy sitting on my desk, and I know I'll tackle it pretty soon. Still, the treatment of religion in the book is aggravating to me.
August 11, 2009
All of the characters in this book seem to speak with the same voice, so it's not always apparent which one is speaking. The author makes a big deal about describing the great cultural differences between the characters but they mostly all sound like one another. This issue is exacerbated by the way the dialogue is written - you really need to pay attention at the beginning of each conversation, otherwise you won't know who is speaking with whom once you get four or five lines into it. I don't think my husband had an issue with this because he is a very careful reader, but I like to read quickly and found it frustrating to have to go backwards to figure out who was speaking!
The character voice issue wasn't quite as bad as I found it to be in Eddings' The Elder Gods, but it was close. Thankfully, this series didn't have the horrible, seemingly never-ending repetition of main events as The Elder Gods, otherwise I'd have never finished it!
The only character in these books that I really like was Flute. (Oh, I take that back - I liked Sparhawk's horse, Faran, too!) And there was a lot of humorous dialogue. If not for that I don't think I would have finished them. Usually I enjoy reading YA fiction (though I'm not even sure if this is listed as YA - if not, it should be), but I think these books would be better suited for kids.
The character voice issue wasn't quite as bad as I found it to be in Eddings' The Elder Gods, but it was close. Thankfully, this series didn't have the horrible, seemingly never-ending repetition of main events as The Elder Gods, otherwise I'd have never finished it!
The only character in these books that I really like was Flute. (Oh, I take that back - I liked Sparhawk's horse, Faran, too!) And there was a lot of humorous dialogue. If not for that I don't think I would have finished them. Usually I enjoy reading YA fiction (though I'm not even sure if this is listed as YA - if not, it should be), but I think these books would be better suited for kids.
May 26, 2018
Splendid Sparhawk
This is probably the twentieth time I've read this collection of books, but I never grow tired of them. I love the characters and their friendships. The setting is beautifully brought to life. I would highly recommend these stories to anyone from my mother to my daughter. 5 stars well earned.
This is probably the twentieth time I've read this collection of books, but I never grow tired of them. I love the characters and their friendships. The setting is beautifully brought to life. I would highly recommend these stories to anyone from my mother to my daughter. 5 stars well earned.
December 2, 2008
Okay,
as I've mentioned that this authorcreates outstanding fantasy worlds, with indepth cultures, politics, and religions. I really liked this series, which I haven't read since highschool. Five orders of knights come together to save their queen and country from an evil god...I think...
as I've mentioned that this authorcreates outstanding fantasy worlds, with indepth cultures, politics, and religions. I really liked this series, which I haven't read since highschool. Five orders of knights come together to save their queen and country from an evil god...I think...
October 9, 2019
Wonderful characters
This is a trilogy I return to again and again for relaxation. And to escape real life. The story has some inconsistencies...but the characters make it unreadable your can ignore them
This is a trilogy I return to again and again for relaxation. And to escape real life. The story has some inconsistencies...but the characters make it unreadable your can ignore them
February 3, 2016
All 3 books were 5/5 for me. I loved every second of it!
April 1, 2015
Loved it.
Wonderful characters, and story. My favourite Godess appears in this story
Wonderful characters, and story. My favourite Godess appears in this story
January 1, 2023
Previously on: I re-read the Belgarion books, find a lot of what I loved about them as a kid, but also find a lot that either I rolled my eyes at back then that's dated horribly, or that I didn't notice but that is incredibly aggravating now. If anything I loved the Sparhawk books more as a kid, so I approached these trilogies with a lot of trepidation.
And you know what? They held up better! The slighty (slightly) darker and more adult tone, by which I partly mean our viewpoint character is middle aged rather than starting at like 15 or something, gets the Eddings away from some of their more annoying bits, and although there are a couple of glaring, avoidable problems even if you're generally onboard with the story, I think I'm actually going to keep these books. The fantasy pop election intrigue that totally captivated me as a kid still hit, the dumb bantering between the knights was mostly still amusing (I.... may have taken too much inspiration in my younger life from Ulath vis a vis sense of humour, if not much else), the magic/monsters/human bad guys are better done, etc. I mean, you try and find anything in the other books on the level of Sparhawk and Martel's whole... thing. And Sparhawk is right up there with Sam Vimes in terms of badass male fantasy protagonists I thought were cool as a kid whole I still feel pretty good about.
Although, and let's get to the first glaring problem (second one is in the second volume, also spoilers for a bit).... it would have been incredibly easy, if you want the Queen and Sparhawk to be your main romantic pairing, to make it not suck. Don't have one of them be essentially the other's parental figure from a young age, and especially don't have Sparhawk and others refer to it as such for fuck's sake. Make him younger and have his dad be the one to raise her, make her older when she enters his life but still powerless until her dad dies, hell have Sparhawk gently rebuff her the way he wants to and have her wind up with Berit, while Sparhawk winds up settling down with the nice sex worker who's clearly interested in him, or something. The dynamic between the two is easily the worst part of these series, which is too bad because she also gets to be an interesting and impressive character outside of it, and although of course these authors depicting any kind of weaponized femininity like she uses are going to miss the proper balance sometimes but her and Sparhawk together also lead to most of the "men are like straight lines women are like circles and all want to have kids" pontificating in these ones.
So, you know, flawed. And if I was reading it for the first time now I think I'd stick it out and think it was worth it, but really I'm going to be keeping them around/theoretically rereading them at some point partly because I loved them as a kid.
And you know what? They held up better! The slighty (slightly) darker and more adult tone, by which I partly mean our viewpoint character is middle aged rather than starting at like 15 or something, gets the Eddings away from some of their more annoying bits, and although there are a couple of glaring, avoidable problems even if you're generally onboard with the story, I think I'm actually going to keep these books. The fantasy pop election intrigue that totally captivated me as a kid still hit, the dumb bantering between the knights was mostly still amusing (I.... may have taken too much inspiration in my younger life from Ulath vis a vis sense of humour, if not much else), the magic/monsters/human bad guys are better done, etc. I mean, you try and find anything in the other books on the level of Sparhawk and Martel's whole... thing. And Sparhawk is right up there with Sam Vimes in terms of badass male fantasy protagonists I thought were cool as a kid whole I still feel pretty good about.
Although, and let's get to the first glaring problem (second one is in the second volume, also spoilers for a bit).... it would have been incredibly easy, if you want the Queen and Sparhawk to be your main romantic pairing, to make it not suck. Don't have one of them be essentially the other's parental figure from a young age, and especially don't have Sparhawk and others refer to it as such for fuck's sake. Make him younger and have his dad be the one to raise her, make her older when she enters his life but still powerless until her dad dies, hell have Sparhawk gently rebuff her the way he wants to and have her wind up with Berit, while Sparhawk winds up settling down with the nice sex worker who's clearly interested in him, or something. The dynamic between the two is easily the worst part of these series, which is too bad because she also gets to be an interesting and impressive character outside of it, and although of course these authors depicting any kind of weaponized femininity like she uses are going to miss the proper balance sometimes but her and Sparhawk together also lead to most of the "men are like straight lines women are like circles and all want to have kids" pontificating in these ones.
So, you know, flawed. And if I was reading it for the first time now I think I'd stick it out and think it was worth it, but really I'm going to be keeping them around/theoretically rereading them at some point partly because I loved them as a kid.
May 23, 2024
uhhh.... this book. The authors..... The entire thing is cursed. It's bad enough that the authors were child abusers (A fact I got to know after my purchase but since this was thrifted I can let that go) but it's worse when you see the infantilisation, grooming, and the pedophilia in the novel. You can see the thought process so clearly when they paired off a 30/40 something man with a 17/18 year old who, by the way, was EIGHT when they both fell in love ??? 👁👁 Many questionable quotes about their "Romance".
Book 1, Diamond Throne, Chpt 1: "The memory of the pale, beautiful girl-child with the grave, serious grey eyes whom he had watched throughout her childhood and whom, in a peculiar way, he had come to love, though she had been eight years old"
Book 3, The Sapphire Rose, Chpt 6: (they had just professed their love before this) "When she slept [..] her expression had the same soft, luminous gentleness that had caught at his heart when she was a child. Privately, and now without reservation, he admitted he loved this pale girl-child, although he was still adjusting his conception of her in that regard. Ehlana was much a woman now and no longer a child. With an obscure kind of twinge, Sparhawk admitted to himself that he was really wrong for her. There was a temptation to take advantage of her girlish infatuation.
And there's a lot more where that came from. Many instances of Sparhawk proudly claiming to have moulded her. And many more instances of women described as little, child-like goddesses who fall for Sparhawk (he really has a way with girls aged 6+) Aphrael is one of them, she likes to take on the form of a six year old girl and eventually falls for Sparhawk.
Aside from the weird fetishisation, the novel is not much better in either plot or narration. As you read on it very much feels like a day in the life of a Pandion Knight and less like an epic high fantasy novel. Every conversation feels basic and bland, nothing particularly interesting. The usual high stakes and the hijinks really. On the plus side, when you find out how David Eddings had scoffed at Tolkien’s series it gives you a particular satisfaction to read his bad writing (when he saw a copy of The Lord of the Rings he said “Is this old turkey still floating around?”). It provides you even more satisfaction to know a few elements in the book are also Lord of the Rings ripp-offs like the troll obssessed with his ‘rings’.
The only aspect I liked was a magician knight/Paladin since you don’t see that often but aside from that, this series sucked big time.
Book 1, Diamond Throne, Chpt 1: "The memory of the pale, beautiful girl-child with the grave, serious grey eyes whom he had watched throughout her childhood and whom, in a peculiar way, he had come to love, though she had been eight years old"
Book 3, The Sapphire Rose, Chpt 6: (they had just professed their love before this) "When she slept [..] her expression had the same soft, luminous gentleness that had caught at his heart when she was a child. Privately, and now without reservation, he admitted he loved this pale girl-child, although he was still adjusting his conception of her in that regard. Ehlana was much a woman now and no longer a child. With an obscure kind of twinge, Sparhawk admitted to himself that he was really wrong for her. There was a temptation to take advantage of her girlish infatuation.
And there's a lot more where that came from. Many instances of Sparhawk proudly claiming to have moulded her. And many more instances of women described as little, child-like goddesses who fall for Sparhawk (he really has a way with girls aged 6+) Aphrael is one of them, she likes to take on the form of a six year old girl and eventually falls for Sparhawk.
Aside from the weird fetishisation, the novel is not much better in either plot or narration. As you read on it very much feels like a day in the life of a Pandion Knight and less like an epic high fantasy novel. Every conversation feels basic and bland, nothing particularly interesting. The usual high stakes and the hijinks really. On the plus side, when you find out how David Eddings had scoffed at Tolkien’s series it gives you a particular satisfaction to read his bad writing (when he saw a copy of The Lord of the Rings he said “Is this old turkey still floating around?”). It provides you even more satisfaction to know a few elements in the book are also Lord of the Rings ripp-offs like the troll obssessed with his ‘rings’.
The only aspect I liked was a magician knight/Paladin since you don’t see that often but aside from that, this series sucked big time.
October 4, 2020
This series was the first of David Edding's works that I had the chance to read. I'd heard from some friends of mine that he was a fantastic author, and I'd seen his name mentioned in several references for positive book reviews, so I decided to give it a try. This series, following the adventures of the aging knight, Sparhawk, was a mixture of hits and misses for me, though I am glad that I followed through until the end. It begins when Sparhawk returns from his exile from the Kingdom he was sworn to protect, to find his beloved Queen Ehlana, who was poisoned, encased in magical crystal to spare her life while a cure was found.
While, overall, the story was well-told, and the characters were likable, I personally found the story to be on the slow side. There were many sections that I found difficult to remain interested during them. However, don't let this deter you from reading the series. Though some parts dragged on, the history of the land was interesting to learn about, and a majority of the characters were fleshed out and distinct. My favorite character has to be Flute, a little girl who communicates only through playing a(believe it or don't) flute. She is mysterious and sweet, and her twist was welcome. For the most part, I liked the dynamics between the characters. Sparhawk had his friend and eternal squire, Kurik, and the struggle of Sephrenia, the one who had spared Ehlana's life, left me feeling sorry for the poor woman. However, there was one relationship that left me ill-at-ease, as it did my friends before me. The fight scenes were decently well put together, though I can name several books with light skirmishes that I enjoy more, and the final chapters were impressive. Despite the issues I found with it, I wouldn't turn anybody away from reading the Elenium, as those are mostly my own personal misgivings, and one should never base their decisions on books solely on a review. I look forward to reading more of David Edding's writings in the future.
While, overall, the story was well-told, and the characters were likable, I personally found the story to be on the slow side. There were many sections that I found difficult to remain interested during them. However, don't let this deter you from reading the series. Though some parts dragged on, the history of the land was interesting to learn about, and a majority of the characters were fleshed out and distinct. My favorite character has to be Flute, a little girl who communicates only through playing a(believe it or don't) flute. She is mysterious and sweet, and her twist was welcome. For the most part, I liked the dynamics between the characters. Sparhawk had his friend and eternal squire, Kurik, and the struggle of Sephrenia, the one who had spared Ehlana's life, left me feeling sorry for the poor woman. However, there was one relationship that left me ill-at-ease, as it did my friends before me. The fight scenes were decently well put together, though I can name several books with light skirmishes that I enjoy more, and the final chapters were impressive. Despite the issues I found with it, I wouldn't turn anybody away from reading the Elenium, as those are mostly my own personal misgivings, and one should never base their decisions on books solely on a review. I look forward to reading more of David Edding's writings in the future.
May 27, 2024
I hadn't read this series in....man....maybe 25 years, and I recall liking it well enough back then, and I wondered how I'd find it today.
The answer is it's...fine.
The writing, on a technical level is actually really good. The prose flows smoothly, there's good use of adjectives, locations are colourful, side characters have just enough distinctive traits that they stick in your mind. It's very well edited. There's no cruft; nothing janky; nothing that needs more polish; nothing that could be cut and improve the way the book tells the story the author(s) wanted.
The problem is the story is boring. Some of that is that this is an old series which was incredibly popular and influential, so yeah, obviously I've spent 20+ years reading stories written by people inspired by this series, so of course it feels a little generic and derivative. And I *have* read the series before, even if it's been a while, so I already know what's going to happen.
But...even trying to adjust for that, it's just an awfully simple story. You can see the beats coming a mile away. The good guys are super good; the bad guys are moustache twirling villains. Nothing is surprising, nothing is challenging. And things do not move...quickly. The entirety of book 2 could have been like, two scenes in a tighter, snappier book.
The result is a bit like watching a Disney movie on half speed. You get tons of time to admire the lovely art, listen to the great soundtrack, anticipate and chant along with the villain monologue, but if you're not really enjoying it, you're going to start feeling a bit bored pretty fast.
If you've never read the series (or even better, haven't read a lot of classic heroic fantasy where the hero and a group of friends goes charging around a generic medieval countryside looking for the magic item that will defeat the evil wizard and then just...keep doing that...), and you don't mind a leisurely meander (especially if combined with solid prose and good editing) then it's recommended.
If you want emotional highs and lows, moral complexity, novelty, excitement, character growth, subplots, or surprise twists, well...maybe look elsewhere.
The answer is it's...fine.
The writing, on a technical level is actually really good. The prose flows smoothly, there's good use of adjectives, locations are colourful, side characters have just enough distinctive traits that they stick in your mind. It's very well edited. There's no cruft; nothing janky; nothing that needs more polish; nothing that could be cut and improve the way the book tells the story the author(s) wanted.
The problem is the story is boring. Some of that is that this is an old series which was incredibly popular and influential, so yeah, obviously I've spent 20+ years reading stories written by people inspired by this series, so of course it feels a little generic and derivative. And I *have* read the series before, even if it's been a while, so I already know what's going to happen.
But...even trying to adjust for that, it's just an awfully simple story. You can see the beats coming a mile away. The good guys are super good; the bad guys are moustache twirling villains. Nothing is surprising, nothing is challenging. And things do not move...quickly. The entirety of book 2 could have been like, two scenes in a tighter, snappier book.
The result is a bit like watching a Disney movie on half speed. You get tons of time to admire the lovely art, listen to the great soundtrack, anticipate and chant along with the villain monologue, but if you're not really enjoying it, you're going to start feeling a bit bored pretty fast.
If you've never read the series (or even better, haven't read a lot of classic heroic fantasy where the hero and a group of friends goes charging around a generic medieval countryside looking for the magic item that will defeat the evil wizard and then just...keep doing that...), and you don't mind a leisurely meander (especially if combined with solid prose and good editing) then it's recommended.
If you want emotional highs and lows, moral complexity, novelty, excitement, character growth, subplots, or surprise twists, well...maybe look elsewhere.
August 24, 2022
First, The Elenium was written in the late '80s, and even for the time, was a bit old-fashioned. So "dated" is a reasonable word to use, especially when it comes to modern fantasy depictions of female warriors. David Eddings sticks to traditional male-female roles, though his female characters can and do dominate a lot of the narrative.
Second, Eddings' style is a bit roundabout for the 21st century. His characters -- who all sound alike, to an extent -- say "I guess" and "I suppose" a lot, and in his own phrase, they engage in a consistent "droll understatement" that is no longer in style.
But third, The Elenium is fun fantasy, with a noble lead character (Sparhawk), who must save the world from an evil god through the mechanism of a magic artifact. OK, nothing new here, but Eddings makes it work with a brisk narrative, a carefully built world and enough plot twists to keep the pages turning.
Did I love the Elenium? Will I recommend it to all my friends? No. But I looked forward to reading it, and was a little sad when it ended. Eddings may not be to everyone's taste in 2022, but he works for me, old-fashioned or not.
Second, Eddings' style is a bit roundabout for the 21st century. His characters -- who all sound alike, to an extent -- say "I guess" and "I suppose" a lot, and in his own phrase, they engage in a consistent "droll understatement" that is no longer in style.
But third, The Elenium is fun fantasy, with a noble lead character (Sparhawk), who must save the world from an evil god through the mechanism of a magic artifact. OK, nothing new here, but Eddings makes it work with a brisk narrative, a carefully built world and enough plot twists to keep the pages turning.
Did I love the Elenium? Will I recommend it to all my friends? No. But I looked forward to reading it, and was a little sad when it ended. Eddings may not be to everyone's taste in 2022, but he works for me, old-fashioned or not.
December 30, 2021
While not groundbreaking or particularly challenging this series is entertaining, moves along at a good clip. The author is very fond of interpersonal banter. I want to say it feels very 90s. A trifle more adulty than his prior works in the Belgariad universe. Kinda suffers from "my protagonists have no character flaws and the antagonists are just innately terrible.... itis." Still a good time to be had.
November 15, 2023
This series continued to improve the longer it went. Things started to make more sense and the characters became more believable. The story was entertaining and the author took good care of the cast, giving them all proper resolution and future prospects. The world has elements of most sword and sorcery stories, but also had some very unique aspects that kept it fresh and unexpected. I’m very glad I read this trilogy. A good fantasy epic is very hard to find.
March 6, 2018
This is an ok read but Eddings seems to have the same stock characters doing the same things in his series. If you have read the Belgariad series you will find the characters very familiar. This becomes even more apparent in the Tamuli series which follows on from this one. I read this as a 12-13 year old and noticed it even then. If you are going to read Eddings stick to the Belgariad books.
April 8, 2024
Disappointing (2.5 stars)
I came in with high expectations after just loving the Belgariad series by David Eddings. Unfortunately this wasn’t anywhere near as good. There’s some adult themes and innuendo, more politics than fantasy, quite a bit of gore, and the dialogue makes an effort to be humorous rather than serious. I shouldn’t have bothered.
I came in with high expectations after just loving the Belgariad series by David Eddings. Unfortunately this wasn’t anywhere near as good. There’s some adult themes and innuendo, more politics than fantasy, quite a bit of gore, and the dialogue makes an effort to be humorous rather than serious. I shouldn’t have bothered.
October 22, 2018
Reread so many times,
Still amazing. It still makes me laugh, I still cry, and I’m still theologically wobbled by it every now and again. I have reread this so many times in the last 20 years...
Still amazing. It still makes me laugh, I still cry, and I’m still theologically wobbled by it every now and again. I have reread this so many times in the last 20 years...
March 30, 2020
This is probably my favorite fantasy series of all time. I've read it more times that I would care to admit... something like 40 times I've read the whole series, and its sequel, The Tamuli...
Think of this as Lord of the Rings meets a political thriller. What's not to love?
Think of this as Lord of the Rings meets a political thriller. What's not to love?
January 24, 2023
another triumph for David Eddings
Superb read. Good characters. Great story line. Slightly easier than lord of the rings though! I have read all of Eddings books multiple times and the never cease to entertain
Superb read. Good characters. Great story line. Slightly easier than lord of the rings though! I have read all of Eddings books multiple times and the never cease to entertain
September 5, 2024
I did reviews of each volume that I'll post here over the next couple of weeks:
1. The Diamond Throne
https://www.tumblr.com/litcityblues/7...
1. The Diamond Throne
https://www.tumblr.com/litcityblues/7...
November 19, 2016
I simply can't say enough about David & Leigh Eddings' writing style. They created pictures in my head that made me want to learn more and more about their characters.
July 24, 2017
Sparhawk is my hero, love Faran too!
October 11, 2017
Dave Eddings can write - I knew that. But even considering this, I was impressed by the witty dialogue that really makes the book, and made me enjoy it so much.
January 15, 2018
Great books - typical of Eddings. I love the characters and the adventure. Nothing beats The Belgarion and The Mallorean but this is still a great series.
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