Rating: 
Summary: Pretty good!
Review: The novel is pretty good, especially for true fans of Eddings! There are gods, interesting nations and an original baddie. i'm eager for the next one!
Rating: 
Summary: Sadly, a disappointment
Review: The Elder Gods is the first book in a new fantasy series, called The Dreamers, by David Eddings (his wife Leigh gets co-credit). The story centres around the Land of Dhrall, which is divided into four Domains, each of which is ruled over by a god (or goddess). In the Wasteland in the centre of Dhrall lives the insectoid That-Called-the-Vlagh, which is breeding and manipulating vast hordes of monsters that are part insect, part human, part reptile, and part animal. The Vlagh is intent upon conquering all of Dhrall (and then all of the world) in an effort to find more land and food for its vast offspring. The gods of Dhrall are actually eight in number, since four are always sleeping during a cycle, and when they wake up, the previous four (who have been ruling the four Domains) go to sleep in their turn. The end of a cycle is now near, and the Vlagh is about to launch an ultimate full-scale war for the future of Dhrall. The four sleeping gods have been awakened prematurely, to aid their siblings in the war, and they have the ability to alter reality through their dreams. The primitive humans that serve the gods of Dhrall are not enough to beat the servants of the Vlagh, however, so aid most also be enlisted from other human tribes on the other sides of the oceans.
Being an old Eddings fan, I had eagerly anticipated this new effort, but, unfortunately, it turned out to be quite a disappointment. There are several things wrong with The Elder Gods. First of all, it's basically a rehash of the same old ideas that Eddings have been using and reusing in all his prior books. There are the usual gods, some of them, as usual, posing as insufferably cute little children, with their usual human underlings, easily defeating all the evil-doings of the, as usual, abysmally stupid bad guys, and accomplishing this by using, as usual, totally illogical and needlessly complicated schemes, all the while the gods are, as usual, "tampering" with everything, without the ordinary mortals noticing this (which is, for some reason, as usual, very important). The characters are even more one-dimensional than before, and all of them carbon copies of the familiar heroes from the past epics. The characters are furthermore introduced in a very haphazard kind of way, and at the end of the book I was still not sure of exactly who in the cast were supposed to be the main characters. You never get the feeling that you're reading a well-structured story, it's more like reading the outline of a novel that lacks main characters. The most noticeable flaw, however, is the complete lack of depth and background in both the story and the world in which the story plays out. In an interview Eddings said that writing fantasy is about building worlds, and that he wanted to see if he could still do it. Well, the answer to that is, sadly, no. Never in my life have I ever encountered a less detailed and single-dimensional world than this one. There are a few different human "nations," each of which is characterized by one single trait (the Maag are pirates, the Dhrall are Stone Age hunters, and so on), but you never get even the slightest feeling that this is an actual, functioning fantasy world populated by real people with real motivations (from a fantasy point of view). As a result, this undeveloped world and the undeveloped people living in it totally fail to generate any kind of interest in the reader. Even the trademark easy banter between the characters consistently feels out of place and sometimes downright embarrassing. The one redeeming quality is that Eddings' opinion of religion is clearly stated in a few places (all too few, though). Here is the best quote in the whole book: "Religion's nothing but a bad joke filled with lies and superstition."
David Eddings used to be a master of epic fantasy (although he himself referred to it as writing romance, with good reason), and he has written some of the absolute best all-time classics in the genre. I especially loved the two series about Sparhawk. But to judge from The Elder Gods, Eddings has lost his touch. The ingredients that worked for him in the past do not work any longer, especially not in this diluted form. It is to be hoped that the remaining three novels in the series are an improvement, but the improvement has to be great indeed to make up for the first instalment. Still, fans of Eddings will find themselves on very familiar territory, and there are certainly far worse ways to spend some quiet evenings than to read this book.
Rating:
Summary: You've gotta be kidding.
Review: Before this book I had never read an Eddings book, but a fantasy novel about gods and the concept of the "dreamers" just sounded too good. Also, I had heard a lot about Eddings novels (in a positive light)Now before I start, I'm bashing the BOOK, not the authors because I'm not ignorant enough to do that after reading one of their novels. This is one of those things where you just don't know where to start. The dry humor was EVERYWHERE. Every chapter/section would end with bone-dry humor, and unfortunatly, the booked ended that way. The story was incredibly anti-climatic. To make it worse, after the "much anticipated battle" was over, I didn't even realize it had ended (let alone even begun). Then to top it off the end of this dry, slow, undeveloped novel it goes on about land conditions and SOD! Common, when I'm towards the end of a book I'm usually NOT wanting it to be done but end up flying through the last pages. Trust me, there is NOTHING included in the ending (or in the book overall) that makes up for the elementry style story-telling novel.
Rating: 
Summary: Somebody needs an editor! How did this get published?
Review: First: I own all 12 of the "Garion" books. The Belgariad was the series that got me googoo-gaga over fantasy, and I've read the entire series enough to have to replace all the books twice. The Belgariad and Mallorean are examples of a saga gone right: fleshed-out and compelling characters you grow to love (or hate), a genius writing style that places you in the world without you even noticing, and of course, a bunch of Gods! I made the mistake of buying The Redemption of Althalus and found that the writing style had changed completely: excessive use of "There is" and "There are", too many filler words, and the narrative told me what to think of these characters rather than showing me what they were like. Either David (who I believe has a masters degree in English) got hit hard on the head, or Leigh took over writing (and it's not her strong suit!) Now onto this drivel. Unfortunately, my fiancee bought the hardcover for me at full price, knowing I love Eddings. I can't read this crap. The grammar errors alone are so distracting I can hardly get involved in the story. When I do, I find the first main character to be a very pale and annoying shadow of Polgara. I got to the second "mini-book" within the book and gave up, angry that I spent my hard-earned money on this book, bewildered that no editor turned it red and sent it back, and dumbfounded that it was published. The overarching story is a great idea. The execution is horrendous. And as an avid reader, I consider the mechanics of writing to be most important... otherwise, anybody with a good idea should be published. PLEASE: don't waste your money. We must somehow send a message to the Eddingses that their name alone won't make them money.
Rating:
Summary: A good beginning
Review: David Eddings started his fifth big saga with "The Elder Gods" and it is quite good, with huge potential for the next installments. The characters are pretty different, compared to the old ones, more comical and satirical. The author offers a completely new idea of villain (it's a bug:) and some memorable scenes.
Still, the best thing about "The Elder Gods" is that the next installments will be better for sure. Here, the authors are "preparing" the feast and we must wait for it till the next volume. I'm happy that Eddings is still active - he is one of my prefered authors and his products has some literary quality, which is hard to say about most of the "epic" sagas.
Rating:
Summary: Sorry, Eddings...
Review: I have always been a self-titled die-hard Eddings fan but I cannot in good conscience reccomend this book, especially to someone who has never read anything by David Eddings. It actually makes me want to cry that he would put out something that seems so sloppily constructed. I have always had a great respect for his characters but the ones featured in this book are, as everyone before me has pointed out, copies of his other characters. I did finish this book but it was with no sense of joy or desire for the next series to come out. I would almost rather Eddings ressurect my beloved Sparhawk than put out a book like this. My hope is that word of our discontent will reach Eddings' ears and he will be beholden to create a better work than has recently reached us. I beg of you, my favorite writer!! Don't let me down!
Rating:
Summary: Have to Agree ------ Major Letdown
Review: I have been an Eddings fan since i read the Belgariad. After that i have read and re-read all his series and loved every one of them. I have to say however that this book was excruciatingly painful to read. The characters seem to be remakes from all his prior books and there is no ingenuity or energy in his writing. This is the ONLY time I willing put down one of his books and stopped reading in the middle. I hope that his upcoming books are able to salvage the mess this one has created.
Rating:
Summary: Disappointing
Review: I have been a huge fan of David Eddings for over 10 years and was really looking forward to his latest book. What a let down after the fantastic earlier series! If you haven't read David Eddings before - skip this one and read all of his old books!
Rating: 
Summary: A Major Disappointment
Review: I've been a fan of the Eddings for well over ten years now. I've read the Belgariad, the Mallorean, the Elenia and the Tamuli series, and loved them all (particularly the Mallorean.) I've even read 'Redemption' and loved it. However, I feel extremely let down by this latest work of the Eddings couple. While the writing style is very similar to that in most of the rest of their works, it lacks the energy, vitality, and fun that the others possessed. This leaves the book rather dull and lifeless to me. I'm glad I was able to find and read this book at the local library, instead of wasting $20 on it.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent!
Review: A marvellous new epic fantasy series, second in my 2003 fantasy list, losing only to Feist' "Talon of the Silver Hawk". This journey trough strange lands, full with various monsters wil please the true fantasy fans very much.
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