Eddings, what have you done (The Redemption of Althalus - David and Leigh Eddings)

Member Name: Atreides

Product:	The Redemption of Althalus - David and Leigh Eddings
Date:	04/08/01 (92 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Worth the price in pages, Some decent minor characters, Probably a good read if you haven't read the Belgarion series

Disadvantages: Poor book, Awful disapointment, I paid money for it

After reading Edding's latest I felt I had to comment but I've not posted an Op in about 6 months so please forgive the rambling.

David Eddings is one of my favorite writers, having bought and read the entire Belgariad/Mallorean collection (13 books all told), I felt I'd prefer to own them as they were such good reads. His last books in the series such as Polgara the Sorceress were very strange to read it was almost like visiting old friends from the past. So while having a look around Smiths I saw his new book 'The Redemption of Althalus', as I was going on holiday which involved far to much traveling so I'd need a few good books (the other was 'The Brethren by Grisham, but that's for another op). Unfortunately as I got a few chapters into the book the strangest thing happened, I got the same 'old friends' feeling but this was meant to be a one off adventure no way connected to his previous series.

The book begins to fall apart right from the very start, Althalus is a thief, murderer and con artist, he survives by his wit, skill and luck, or so we the readers are told. At this point things were looking good, no more whiter than white main characters, this guy is going to be complex and dark. In reality he's just as nice and bland as all the other characters except with a touch more sarcasm. The plot like most Sci-fi novels is quite far fetched yet interesting. Athalus unsurprisingly is a good guy who falls in love with a talking cat he names Emerald after her eyes, suffice to say she isn't really a cat but a Goddess. I myself am in love, but reading the sickly dialogue between Emerald / Dweia (her deity name) and Althalus was disturbing, Eddings is either in love himself and has forgotten how to write about an interesting relationship or has never been in love and cannot write about it for lack of experience, as if anyone we're to meet the two they'd be sick and avoid them like the plague.


The character flaws do not end there, two main criticisms are aimed at them. Firstly every single one of them could easily be likened to one of the characters within the Belgarion, Althalus *cough* Belgarath, Dweia *cough* Polgara, Eliar *cough* Belgarion and Eliar's love Andine is strangely a very small headstrong woman in control of an entire nation the exact same characteristics as Ce'Nedra Garion's love, odd that. The relationship bonds are also very rushed, whereas Belgarion's relationship with Ce'Nedra was slow and very funny at times, Eliar's takes just a few chapters to form. This exact mirroring of all the character's can be said for every single main character. The second point is that all his character's are very bland and for want of a better word 'samey'. All the dialogue seems rushed as though he wrote the main points of the plot and the dialogue just padded it out. At points I'd actually loose who was speaking at the time in a two way conversation as the two character's dialogue were so similar differentiating between them was nigh on impossible. Every single character seems to be filled with a very mild dry sarcasm and seems to hold no strong views themselves. Within some books and films the so-called 'good-guys' can often be too good and righteous to be interesting and the reader/viewer finds there solace within the 'evil' yet interesting bad guys, but unfortunately Edding's once again fails to deliver, the bad guys are just as plain and uninspiring as the droll good ones.

I know the majority of you will by now be exceptionally annoyed by my excessive criticism of the dialogue but Edding's seems to have suddenly become obsessed with the I key on his word package, within one sentence alone a character said five italicized words, at first this is nothing at all, but when not a single page does not have an italicized word it becomes the most annoying thing I'v
e ever seen in a book (barring when a friend once stole the last three pages from a novel I was reading =). Personally I view this is more than an annoyance but a sign of bad writing, if the writer cannot get across the way a sentence is said without changing how the words themselves look there's a problem. All I can say is I hope Edding's was being paid for every italicized word as he'll be a rich man.
The last bone to pick I have with the book (yes I've not exactly lavished praise upon it so far I know) is the strange 'House at the end of the world'. First I'll explain how the house works, in the house are doors to anywhere in the world, all you need is a guide (Eliar) and he must be using the special Knife (shown on the bind of the book). But more than this it can also take you anywhere in time, if I was faced with writing a book about a group of people who could travel anywhere and at any point in time it would be impossible.

I felt the book should have had the prologue much like the film Austin Power's where the viewers are told not to try and think about the problems with time travel and just enjoy the film. The rival group, the 'bad guys' also have there own version of the house that can do the same, yet they never seem to use it very well or not at all barring one point in the entire book. At this point they open a door straight to Eliar and he is knocked out meaning the good guys can no longer use there doors. He recovers of course, but you can't help feeling, well it worked last time, why don't you just open the door again and knock him out again.

I have to admit I may be being unfair about the book giving it one star, and some of my dislike for it was disappointment as I had high hopes for the writer of what I believe is a classic series of books (side note, if you've never read the Belgarion do so as soon as possible). I can also see how people would enjoy it a lot more if they ha
ven't read his previous books. I also have to concur that many of the more minor character's are interesting but always seem to be killed before you really get to know them.

If you've managed to read all this opinion I'm proud of you and please use it as a warning, don't buy this book and tell your friends not to.

Summary: