The Redemption of Althalus

Rating:
Summary: The Redemption of Althalus
Review: Wish I would have checked out the reviews here before paying a penny for this absolutely awful book. I have been a HUGE Eddings fan ever since the Belgarid came out and have enjoyed each and every book (s)he has written since that time...but this???!! Makes one wonder who actually wrote the prior books and who was the author of this "thing". It's obvious that whoever penned the prior books didn't have a hand in this one at all. Every time I turned a page, I could hear the publisher laughing at me....laughing at my stupidity for buying such a book. I have to say that by the end of it all I felt very insulted...and taken. I kept thinking...isn't Eddings embarrased to have his name on this thing? I agree with Joe Jacco on every count. Horrible writing, shallow characters, repetitious narrative...just rotten all around. Next time out, sad to say (because I have been such a big fan), I won't be so quick to buy an Eddings book without really taking the time to read a few pages first. I would recommend you do the same.

Rating:
Summary: Starts Slow, but gets you enthralled
Review: The Redemption of Althalus starts out really slow, the 1st 100 pages were gruesome background information. Once Althalus enters the House at the End of the world & Emmy starts in on him it really picks up. Just like David Eddings other books you come to really like the characters and feel for them, relate in some way I suppose. All in all, this book is excellent, just be patient initially it gets so much better and you can hardly put it down. I hope there are more installments of Althalus, Emmy, & the others.

Rating:
Summary: Been there - done that
Review: Yawn... What, I'm done? This book was a real let down for me. I was hoping for something new - but the story is simplistic, and really not really all that interesting. I mean with a main character that is allowed unlimited resources, the ability to move through time and space to correct errors made in the past - and the complete absence of a villainous antagonist (come on Ghend couldn't connive his way out of a paper bag) made this a very simple read.

I really liked Eddings' earlier works but this once should have stayed on the self.

Rating:
Summary: Deliciously entertaining!
Review: This single-volume epic fantasy tells the story of Althalus, a highly talented thief who prides himself upon being the best of his trade.

Attracted by the riches of the modern cities of the plains, Althalus gets out of his frontierland to rob the wealthy merchants of their goods. But after several fruitless attempts to break in luxurious houses, he has to realize that his Luck, which he's been counting on for so many years, has turned sour on him. And he soon finds himself on the run.

And as he's resting in Nabjor's camp in the remote forests of Hule, drowning his sorrows in home-brewed mead, he is accosted by a cloaked stranger named Ghend. The man has heard of his exploits and hires him to go to the House at the End of the World to steel a book. But on arriving there, Althalus meets a mysterious talking she-cat. After locking him in, she starts teaching him how to read the Book, which, she tells him, was written by the God Deiwos.

And so he'll stays in the House much longer than expected, and after several years, Althalus and the cat he now calls Emerald, because of her green eyes, finally set out on a quest to find a sacred dagger. The runes carved on the blade are supposed to help them pick up allies in their oncoming war against Daeva, Deiwos's brother and enemy, and his minions.

Although The Redemption of Althalus is written in a relatively light and comic tone, the battle scenes are complex and well developed, the characters touchingly natural. The way the Eddings use magic and the teleporting doors of the House makes the plot unpredictable and funny, and even tough it turns out a little bit silly at times, the book is a real page turner and perfectly achieved its goal: it entertained me!

Rating:
Summary: Stop Putting David Down its a Decent book
Review: Firstly Id Like to Comment about the readers Who say "This Book is bad" I give you credit for voicing your opinions in a reasonable way but the supports of This book, your comments are well feable.

Yes I COULD see the similarities beween certain characters, lets Take Althalus, Some people say he is another form of Kheldar/Talen/Stragen/Platime etc... In fact he is a TOTALLY different character, with his own personality, the fact they have the same profession may let you believe that they are one in the same person. Althalus has quick wit like Kheldar, but Kheldar isn't a burglar like Althalus he's a spy and an extreamly gifted Fraudster.

Being a 17 year old A-level student, i was disappointed that Eddings Of Any kind was not on the sylabus (That would be Good being taught about the finer points of Garion or Sparhawks Character) :) I've read the Belgariad/malloerean Elenium/ Tamuli, Polgara and Belgarath, The Rivian Codex (I'm planning to buy the original front cover painted by Geoff Taylor ) and The Redemtion Of Althalus. And I dont care How bad my spelling is I'm only a student so Please forgive me and if you dont thats your problem isn't it?

Yes this Book isn't up to the standard of the other eddings Book, but you shouldn't compare one world to another its a tottally different Setting and a Totally differnt storyline. There were simularities with the Belgariad/malloerean Elenium/Tamuli storyline. One god seeking to become supieror over the other gods But You didn't slate that part of the Elenium? You saw that in a Totally different context. Remember This ISN'T alike the other books its ONE book its not a series and it should be treated as such

If you Would like to Mail me i'd be happy to reply :) [e-mail] Althalus :)

Rating:
Summary: Awful
Review: I was a big fan of David Eddings through the Belgarion Series, but I believe that he will never live up to that level again. This book was very weak in it's story line. It had no build up to the end of the book. The characters are shallow. I wouldn't even recommend reading this book at all.

Rating:
Summary: Same plot, same characters, same quotes as every other
Review: While I won't suggest that Eddings actually did a find-and-replace on his previous books and changed all the names, he could have easily done it, with much to the same effect.

I actually liked the first 50 pages or so of the book. Then, the rest of the book happens.

There's the ball-busting female character who likes to keep her man in line, and her womanly mysteries a mystery; the blunt, rogue thief who gets involved with gods, and suddenly becomes Immortal; the princess (or whatever) who is spoiled and hates (yet secretly lusts after) the young warrior.

The witty banter among the characters is almost unbearable. It's exactly like every other Eddings book; even most of the quotes are the same. The mysterious woman-goddess-cat character who is Althalus's squeeze leads them around in a series of events that "have to happen because that's the way things are". The main characters accept the most incredible circumstances with virtually no resistance, except for some weak explanation from the woman-goddess-cat character who "dumbs it down" for them exactly the same way the characters in every other Eddings book have. It's the plot of the Belgariad and the Mallorean except there's three gods instead of seven. Instead of the Orb, there's a book and a knife. There's disciples/immortals working for the good god and the evil god. The fate of the world is at stake, good and evil on a massive scale, blah blah blah.

I mean, I got a little tired of the Mallorean - it was basically a regurgitation of the Belgariad, with additional/altered characters - then I read the other series he wrote (whose name escapes me), which is purportedly set in a different world and everything, but the characters/banter were virtually the same. That one at least had somewhat of a distinctive plot.

But, really.. do we have to keep reading the same story with the same characters over and over again? I wish I could give this book more than two stars. I suppose it'd be somewhat decent if you hadn't read any of the other books but there's still the matter of the dry plot that doesn't really make sense.

Rating:
Summary: Been there, done that. . .
Review: David Eddings' irreverent characters and their noble quest to save the world were truly fresh, interesting, and endearing when they first appeared in the "Belgariad". They were still more entertaining than most of the genre in the "Malloreon". They were still interesting in the two Sparhawk trilogies. And, though it was a bittersweet parting, they had admirably run their course when the loose ends were tied up in "Belgarath the Sorcerer" and "Polgara the Sorceress". And "The Rivan Codex" was a great scholarly touch to close out one of the greatest fantasy series' of all time, and the Eddingses even warned us not to expect any more sequels.

So, why do I feel used and abused by the Eddingses after reading "The Redemption of Althalus"? Because I fell for the hype. I was truly expecting an original "epic" fantasy, one that measured up to the high standards set by the previously mentioned novels, yet breaking totally new ground. Face it, an Althalus by any other name is still a Belgarath/Silk/Sparhawk. A Dweia by any other name is still a Polgara. A Gher by any other name is still close enough to an Errand to beg the comparison.

This book managed to remind us of the few weaknesses of the authors' previous works and accentuate them. Let me list a few:

- I understand that stereotypes often have their basis in perception and are very effective as a vehicle of satire. But, 700+ pages of going on about how all Arums are belligerent, money-grubbing, drunkards and all Plakands are rustics is too close to how all Thulls are thick-headed and all Tolnedrans are money-grubbers and all Drasnians are slick weasels. In other words, enough!!!!

- At least Zedar had some class and showed some intelligence. The bad guys in "Althalus" are all total idiots, waiting at every turn to be foiled by the heroes.

- One of the recurring themes through the first two thirds of the book is that war is reprehensible. Yet, the descriptions of the battle scenes are totally sterile. I realize that they don't have to be as intense as George R. R. Martin's tales to make their point, but casually mentioning that thousands of the enemy were killed in a three-word description of the battle do not make the point that was is heck. What puts Mr. Martin's books head and shoulders above other contemporary fantasy is the emotion that they evoke. War truly is HECK. . . I am not a fan of totally gratuitous violence, but you need some hyperbole to make your point. Hey, these writers have no compunction about slapping us silly with stale stereotypes, do they??

- The dialogue in this book crosses the fine line that the previous books skirted, but managed to artfully avoid. The dialogue this time is truly patronizing, when it's not being totally trite. It has elevated "cutesy" to an art form. There are some attempts at "serious" dialogue, but they are so wooden and hollow that they echo.

- The plot is lame. We are so constantly told that everything will work out, don't worry, that there is absolutely no suspense or tension.

- The time/place tripping magic is so contrived that it's laughable. It's barely one step away from deus ex machina in that whenever a hero does get into a tight spot, someone thinks of a new way to pervert the "magic" to immediately get them out of it without breaking a sweat.

Some previous reviewers pointed out the "flaws" in earlier slams of this book by citing that it's steeped in Hindu theology with mythic subtexts and that those critics were not smart or worthy enough to take umbrage on this tripe. Granted, there are some similarities in names, but this is not something that only the Eddingses have done. Most contemporary fantasy is rooted in some classical mythology, yet makes its own original take. I want a story I can enjoy, not clever reference to an obscure myth that three people may know. Recreational reading should not be a test. And, don't insult my intelligence by implying that my ignorance of or disinterest in ancient theology and mythology makes me "unworthy".

My overall feeling after reading this book is that I have played a game of Dungeons and Dragons with a too benevolent Dungeon Master. The company was put into situations that could have been potentially dangerous, but they were given all the spells, devices, and whatnot they needed to counteract all potential misdeeds, and, if they couldn't figure out how to use them, where given broad hints by the gods. As I said earlier, there was absolutely no suspense or tension.

All in all, I will still read books by the Eddingses. I can only hope they read some of the feedback they're getting from far more eloquent reviewers than I and that they take it as a wakeup call for next time. It's a tough crowd out there and you can only coast on reputation for a very short time. The liner notes of earlier books stated the David Eddings turned to fantasy "in an effort to develop certain technical and philosophical ideas concerning that genre". It's time he tried some new ideas because the ones he's still working at have been all mined out.

Rating:
Summary: I waited SEVEN YEARS for this?!?!?
Review: In 1994 "The Hidden City" was released, and I was saddened at the thought that another great Eddings classic had been brought to a close. I faced the future cheerfully, though, because I knew (or THOUGHT I knew) that Mr. Eddings and his wife would bring another incredible fantasy world to life and people it with lifelike characters.

Instead, we got "The Redemption of Althalus", a book with flat, tasteless characters far outside the norm for the Eddingses duo, and a pointless, repetitive plot.

There was no adventure in this book. At no point was a sense of dread or suspense created in the reader. Unlike most everything else written by the Eddingses, turning the page of this monstrosity became a burden.

I don't know what the deal was with this book; did the publisher place a time constraint under the Eddingses? Did the editorial process destroy the grand vision they'd planned? Or did it just suck from the get-go?

Mr. and Mrs. Eddings, if you read this, please bring your loyal fans a GOOD book.

Rating:
Summary: I disagree with the others
Review: after the Rivan codex, I've approached edding's books with caution- after the great belgarad and polgara's books, It was a sirius letdown. I started reading the redemption of Althalus, and found out my fear was unjust - this is one of the greatest books I ever read.

Althalus is a thief, which meet and fall inlove with Deiwa - the fertility goddess, and together they collect a group of people (mind leech, princess, warrior,a priest and a small boy - the regular), and start fighting Diewa's brother underling (familiar story). the story actualy is devided into 3 parts (by me) : 1. meeting the characters - most of the characters are quite interesting and the relationships between the characters is even more - like only eddings can do them. 2. the fights - wars between armies - Eddings definitly improved in those descriptions (in comparison with the last book of the balgariad), a religious war exc. all very interesting. and 3. the enimity between the underlings(Diewa's and her brother's).

I must say that I was very-much surprised by the review's I've read, and would like to say that in my opinion - this book is great, and is definitly one of Edding's best (I'd put it between Belgarad's book and Polgara's). my favorite part in the book is the begining and the end : Althalus adventure in the way 2 Deiwa's house when his luck had turned sour, and Althalus and Gher (the little genius boy) adventure in the past - their double deception of Ghead and Khoman, while decieving the chief. even though the second part is a repitition of the first, the changes make it much more interesting, and thus - my favorite part.

I recommend buying/getting this book - You'll enjoy it.