I have never written a review of any book before but this one required it. It left me very disappointed. To come to the very end of the book and have the ending completly destroy any reason for the story in the first place because some omnipotent god decided to change the whole story line after it was completed. If that was going to be the ending it should have been a different story to begin with. Now don't get me wrong I have always loved Eddings books but the last few have left out the elements that brought me in to reading him in the first place namely, mystery, suspense, and the actual chance of having the good guys lose. But to make it so blatantly obvious that they were going to win without any challenge at all has really frustrated me and will make me leary of picking up any more of his books.

In a word, shallow. Having spotted eddings on the bookshelves and thinking this series (being the first trilogy) would have the same punch, suspense and characterisation as the Belgariad I was severely disappointed.

The first book "The Elder Gods" introduces several characters from Gods to mortals, and leads them by the nose through a thoroughly predictable set of 'adventures'. I won't be reading the second one.

Summary: Totally formulaic,if this is your poison, perhaps a goal based series called 'deltora quest' is for you, you can finish the whole thing in an afternoon. Suggested reading age 12.

IMHO Eddings has destroyed his legacy.

Is Dan Simmons still writing?

This is Eddings's weakest novel so far. His characters are still the same of those in the Belgariad and Elenium (yes, they have different names, and are allegedly original, but they have exactly the same personalities). His writing, far from having improved from the already weak writing has dropped to a new low, with awful dialogue and worse description. The concept, I have to admit, had some potential. It wasn't entirely original, but neither was it as derivative as his earlier work. Unfortunately, the plot was one of the most predictable I've ever read, and he tries to cushion the reader in a hideous way.
I enjoyed the Belgariad and Elenium as light reads. They were nothing particularly special, and don't come anywhere near the best of fantasy, but they weren't too bad. Unfortunately, this fails even as a light read because he is unable to make you care for character (who, as has already been pointed out, have ridiculous names), his plot is predictable and his portrayal of the gods and his anachronistic society make you want to stop reading almost as soon as you start. Even for light reads, there are far better alternatives, such as Feist or Gemmell, and for Sword and Sorcery, why bother with Eddings when you could be reading Fritz Leiber or Michael Moorcock?