[Adlin]

Hey. i just read the book "The Redemption of Althalus" by David eddings and after I read the reviews by other readers I has a cross-mind about the book. i really liked it at first now i'm starting to think that the book was just a big waste and very boring.

What do you really think of the book?

[Cygnus]

I posted a longer commentary on this book right after I read it so I'll keep this short. This book is total garbage.

[FitzChivalry]

My opinion on Eddings is not positive at all, i think he is pretty much a waste of time.

But Adlin, you have to make your own opinion, not to base your opinion on what other people think, that doesn't matter.
If you liked it, stick to it.


[This message has been edited by FitzChivlary (edited September 09, 2001).]

[Lady Fox]

Kane, I'm glad you were able to get something out of this book, but IMO it was totally crappy. The Eddings duo took the Belgariad and Mallorean, changed the character names and condensed some of the action, and regurgitated the whole series in one big book. I enjoyed the Belgariad, and thought the Mallorean was okay, but RoA was just blithering repetition of their earlier work.

[Cadfael]

I actually hoped that because this book was set in a new setting, that it would be different...

... however, there was no 'redemtion' for Eddings with this utter load of garbage...

... however, I agree with FC comments... if it works for you, stick with it. Goodkind is one of my favourite authors, and he takes a real hammering from most members..."he is my weak spot" http://www.sffworld.com/ubb/smile.gif

[Duarh]

As a re-read of Belgarath the Sorcerer, it wasn't bad. . .otherwise, well. . .

Duarh

[Steven Savile]

I'm currently 200 pages into Redemption. I feel that Eddings is reminiscent of George Lucas in his storytelling. He uses the old architypes which worked so well for Homer and others, as does Lucas - For Belgarath read Obi Wan, the wise Mentor of The Odyssey. For Garion, see Skywalker. For Kelder see Han Solo. For Leia, CeNedra. The manner of the story telling is also similar in structure, in that both use the same mythic style, that involves the "Beast At The Threshold" "Approaching The Innermost Lair" "The Trial" "Talisman" etc. I can go into a lot of detail on this, giving a thousand reasons why Eddings isn't as bad as you might think. Okay, I won't argue with the feeling that those characters are familiar. But I think like Phantom Menace was a disappointment next to Star Wars, Althalus is a disappointment next to The Belgariad - but we have to remember that our tastes have sophisticated along the way. What we loved when we younger no longer measures up for us as adults. But don't forget that the reading/writing sophistication of the genre has changed. What was available when Eddings launched The Belgariad? Obviously there was some good stuff, but there was very little of epic scope out there. LotR and Donaldson definately among the best of it, with Leiber and Zelazny aging gracefully but what were the other young turks out there? Terry Brooks? Piers Anthony? To an extent Jean M Auel.But how many of those were massive tomes? How many fed that need? Hell remember that at this time Lester Del Rey hadn't really gotten around to 'creating' the fantasy genre in terms of bookstores and as a sales category. Eddings in a way defined the series, trilogy, decology, tetrology or whatever the heck - unlike Jordan, Goodkind etc, he kept the wordage to a minimum, aimed it at a younger audience (think of him as Harry Potter 20 years ago)...

Remember the feeling when you first saw Star Wars (this is for the older guys here I guess) it was something you hadn't come across before. It opened doors to the imagination.

Eddings is far from crap - he may not have the most literary style, as opposed to Guy Kay or GRRM, but he does tell a pretty stirring tale. His weakness is middle books, but Tad Williams suffers in middle books also, and we feel strongly about his strengths judging by the top 6 post results in so far... so why malign Eddings? For the same reason that the effect of The Phantom Menace/Attack of The Clones on the youngsters of today is a pale shade of the impact Star Wars had upon us. The same reason that Lucas has announced that the 9 part Star Wars story will now be told in only 6 parts... The levels of expectation have raised what was essentially a great teenagers coming of age story to the level of 'classic' and inflicted the same expectations upon it. Expectations that the ORIGINAL never lived up to.

I picked up Pawn of Prophecy in the early 80s... 82 or 83. I was blown away by the way it reeled me in. But when I look at Althalus I see the wires holding the story together. The architypes haven't changed. Want to get picky - Belgarion was the man who's destiny was mapped out by the gods, Sparhawk was the man who had no destiny, and Althalus lies right in the middle, it's a natural conclusion to the way his interest as a writer has gone. I know it's difficult not to judge a writer by his latest work, but I have a feeling the NEXT series (if there is another now the cycle is complete) will actually show what Eddings is made of. It's either a repetition of the ABC above, or something new. I choose to believe that he'll approach something new - Steve

[Steven Savile]

But THAT'S my argument - just because Althalus didn't do it for you doesn't make them poor - you enjoyed The Belgariad... http://www.sffworld.com/ubb/wink.gif I can rest now, my work is done...

[Barbarossa]

Umm Kane, please don't take this as criticsm, I really want to know. Where in the Odyssee is a wise mentor? I read the whole thing several times, including in ancient Greek once for school, and I can't remember any character in the Odysee I would call a mentor.

The closest to a mentor to Odysseus would be Athene, she certainly is wise too, but somehow I doubt you mean her.

[Steven Savile]

No criticism taken. The word MENTOR was first used in the odyssey. Indeed, it relates to Athene, who actually appeared to to "O" in the form of an old man, who was called Mentor. It's acknowledged by language scholars as the root of the word in the modern language. Hope that helps - I've only read The Odyssey once, and only in an English translation, but the scenes are definately there - they even appeared in the terrible made for tv movie they show on Hallmark ,)