Rdemption of Althalus, The by David Eddings

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Submitted by Matthew Butcher
(Feb 09, 2001)

The latest book by the Eddings' is, thankfully, the usual--compelling fantasy that uses plot to get you to open the book, but characters you fall in love with to keep you interested.I've heard people criticize Eddings for character similarities. Yes, Ulath from the Elenium/Tamuli and Barak from the Belgariad/Malloreon are alike on the surface. There are enormous differences in their personalities, though. The same can be said for many other characters. Let's move on.Many aspects of the book relate to a deeper thematic structure than Eddings has used in the past. This is particularly compelling since he has had a tendency in the past to write one series with fairly concrete morality and follow it up with a much more morally ambiguous series using the same characters. The Redemption of Althalus makes use of a very fundamental issue: should things change, or are they okay the way they are?But enough of that, too. Althalus begins his literary existence as a complete anti-hero, hence the title. The changes in him are subtly woven into the story by the authors. Telling any more would ruin the book for anyone who hasn't read it.Leitha is one of the most compelling characters I've encountered in any book. She comes off to me as very real, psychologically. Again, any more would spoil the greatest pleasures of the book.In the interests of brevity, I'll quit now. The Redemption of Althalus is one of the Eddings' most complex works even though it is also the shortest, at least in the fantasy genre.

Eddings has once again balanced fantasy, humor and the fight against good and evil in his latest novel. Although some of the characters in this work are similar to those in the Pawn of Prophecey series; the book does stand on its own.It is interesting to see Eddings collapse his usual triad into one volume, but the events are far from disappointing. Althalus is a humorous, human character chosen by the goddess "Emmy" to save the world. Once again, by characterizing good and evil, Eddings draws the reader along in an up all night, turning pages when you should be working journey to a much simpler, yet complex place.

I just finished reading the latest work by David Eddings and his wife.  It lives up to standard, but I wouldn't go far enough to say that it is any more spectacular than Belgariad/Mallorean (and companion works) or Elenium/Tamuli.  I found that one or two of his characters are very similar to characters found in the Belgariad/Mallorean world.  For instance:

Andine is similar to Ce'Nedra and Dweia/Emmy is just a couple of notches above Polgara (Pol wasn't QUITE a goddess).  Althalus himself is a mixture of Silk and Belgarath.  Eliar is like Mandorallen with brains.  It isn't quite as simple as all this, but it isn't too hard to find the similarities.

Furthermore, the Treboreans are similar to the Tolnedrans.  The Arums are similar to the Alorns.

Despite this and other similarities I have no doubt that you will enjoy this work...

Keep up the good work David!

Michael

I have just finished reading the latest book by David and Leigh Eddings and I must say that it was fantastic.  I believe that it was as good as any of the previous books/series that have been produced by the Eddings.

I found a lot of the characters in the book to be very similar to characters in his other series. For Example Andine reminds me a lot of Ce'Nedra from the Belgariad and Mallorean series; Dweia or Polgara to a lesser extent and even Leitha's character is in some ways similar to Melidere from the series called Elenium.

Overall, if you are an Eddings fan you will not be disappointed and if you are not, you will be unable to stop at just this one book.  I am sure you will go straight to his other books and find them equally as enjoyable.

This is David Eddings' newest book and is still in its hard cover form, it is a masterful work as is all his other books and series'. This particular book is a one volume epic and i must say one of his best yet, it follows the adventures af a thief known as Althalus, it is set in the same type of world as all Eddings' books but not the same in that the countries are different from all his other series' if anyone would like any other information please feel free to e-mail me, i am 14 male and from Australia dizzien@hotmail.com is my e-mail