Rating: 
Summary: Not worth it
Review: You know how some books grab you and you just can't put them down? Well, this isn't one. I've read everything published by Eddings, including High Hunt and The Losers and I've liked all of them until I came to this. It was very dull and I had to fight to finish it. First of, the characters were not well defined. What made them feel recycled from his other fantasy books was the way they talked. Expresions like "Be nice" for example were used abundantly in his past works. Also the gereral way that the men and women reacted to each other was the same - the clever women have to catch the oblivious and bashful men. I also didn't care for the whole time and space thing with the windows and doors. It kind of took a lot of potential threat out of the story. I'll still buy Eddings - he's earned that by all the good books he's written, but unlike all his others, I'll never reread this one. It can stay on the shelf and gather dust. I'd have given it one and a half stars, but it's not worth two so it only gets one.
Rating: 
Summary: A let down
Review: In short, a disappointment. Althalus read more like a child's rushed story than an epic fantasy novel. The dialogue was forced and simple, and the plot was rather unimaginative. The must frustrating part of the book was that every plan they team of heroes and heroines devised always worked without flaw. There was never any suspense created, and the book ended without fanfare and without climax. I would suggest that epic fantasy fans turn instead to Terry Brooks' latest Shannara works.
Rating: 
Summary: Good read but I've had better
Review: Well, considering that this book was written by David Eddings, I would have to start by saying that it is a good read. However, due to the length of the text, it dragged on a bit. Although it is very interesting at the beginning, (when we see the life of Althalus) the remainder of the book is hard to follow. Instead of a straightfoward plot, we are confronted with twists and turns that quickly become annoying. Ok, so the initial consept is great, but it was a touch overwritten. As much as I am picking on it, I would have to say that it is all in all a good read. I recommend it to any Eddings fans, but only if you think you will be able to keep the plot sraight.
Rating:
Summary: What was that
Review: I usually liked Eddings work but this one is the worst I 've ever read by him. It was like Eddings was trying to break my nerves. After tremendous effort I finally finished this book and I was totally disappointed. Hopefully the next book will be better.
Rating: 
Summary: Not an epic
Review: Inside the wonderfully illustrated dust cover it read that this book was a stand alone epic fantasy. Well, in my opinion this book is not epic. Sure, it is as long as I would expect an epic fantasy to be, but the language and plot are more what I would expect from Xena Warrior Princess than an epic fantasy. I found the language too modern or silly for the genre. I grew tired of uncertain sounding terms such as "sort of", and the over-cute, silly nicknames like daddy, Althie, and worst of them all, the Goddess Emmy. The authors seemed to forget that when Althalus first gave the Goddess Dweia the nickname Emmy, she became enraged. Before I knew it, everyone was calling her Emmy and she took no offense at all. The Eddingses gave the characters wonderful names to begin with, why not use them, instead of cute pet names? Throughout this book, I was very rarely anxious for the heroes. Things almost always went their way. I never was given the idea that a battle may be lost. The enemy was always outsmarted and overwhelmed by superior wit and military power. Any misfortunes that arose were quickly overcome in a few chapters, or not really that bad to begin with. It was fun reading the clever ways the enemy was routed, but the story would have been better if there were more tension and maybe a tragedy or two in it. Everything was tied up too nicely. Even most of the guys in the story were hooked up with a girl. Come on! On the bright side, the characters are very well imagined. I loved the image the description of Ghend of the burning eyes (great name) brought to my mind. The description of Leitha's telepathic ability brings up the idea of how horrible hearing everyone's thoughts could be. I also enjoyed the way the story opened. Althalus' ill fated robbery attempts were very well told and genuinely funny. If only the rest of the book were like the beginning.
Rating:
Summary: Terrible...
Review: I have also been a huge Eddings fan, and always reference Eddings' Belgariad series to all who want to be introduced to Fantasy. After all, Eddings was the first Fantasy author I ever read - and I've read no other genre since. That's why I am sad at having to agree with the negative reviews posted here. This truly was a terrible book... As I read it I kept thinking "this is bad", but I kept right on reading it, hoping it would get better. Half-way through it, however, I put away any expectations I had, and struggled to finish it. I would never recommend this book to anyone. Specially not anyone who has never read an Eddings book. I want to give him a second chance.
Rating:
Summary: what's all the fuss about?
Review: I guess I don't see what all the fuss is about. Some critics are whining that this book doesn't follow the tradition of writing style set forth by Eddings in "Belgariad" & "Mallorean". So? It's a completely different novel, and as such has merit all it's own. I thought the plot and character development was strong. It kept me entertained, and that's all I care about in the sci-fi/fantasy genre. I thought the story line was plausible, and enjoyed the "doors" theme of distance and time travel. If you're looking for a rehash of "Belgariad" & "Mallorean", why not reread those books? I reread "The Hobbit & Lord of the Rings" yearly.
Rating: 
Summary: Well worth the money
Review: Eddings is a terrific story teller. This last book seemed to bring together all of his other books into one great adventure. GREAT book!
Rating:
Summary: Good Book, Bad Reviewers
Review: First off, I'd like to comment on the reviewers. Of all the reviews I have read online, only a select few actually say why the disliked or like the book. Mostly it's just "oh, I hated this book and regret buying it" but few people actually say how the structure of the book turned them off. It makes me sick how many ignorant people are out there critiquing this book. Now, on to my review of the book. I was skeptical when I first got it, one of the things that intilly turned me off was how the Eddings name was four times as large as the title, but that is to be expected. Yes, the first 100 pages were slow-going, but hey, this book is over a thousand pages. It's an epic, not just a novel. It is more than the average Eddings book. He (and she, sorry) once again introduce their unique perspectives on what magic is. In the Belgariad and the Mallorean, there was sorcery (an actual force of will, not magic) and magic was more of a demonic application. In Redemption, it's not magic that drives the unlikely heroes of the book, it's faith and belief. Their character developement in the book is also wonderful. I got a true sense of what each character was truly like. The setting was also great, I got a feel of where I was, and as always the plot was wonderful. To reiterate, yes, it is slow-going, but that is to be expected in an epic stand-alone. The authors succeed in capturing the reader's interest and imagination, and while the characters are similar to previous ones in certain respects, that is only true on the skin-deep way of looking at it. This is truly a great book, and it easily deserves the same respec of their previous works. 5 stars, two thumbs up, without a doubt.
Rating:
Summary: A bit much.
Review: You know when book critics say something like "clever tongue-in-cheek humour" when they talk about a book? I think the Eddings's should have something like "So much damn tongue-in-cheek humour that it'll make you vomit blood." I mean, for starters, NOBODY has conversations like their characters do. Not even when they're high. These conversations are basicly the exact same ones that are in all their other books. They're also extremely repetitive just within one book. Perhaps if they tried to keep the "clever tongue-in-cheek banter" to a minimum, it wouldn't wreak the story. As it is, I felt like I've read this book before from them. It's basicly like they just change the characters names and call it a new book. I have a term for this... Shake-n-Bake fantasy. B
|
