Rating: 
Summary: Belgariad/Mallorean Meets Elenium/Tamuli
Review: Silk, Vella and Eriond team up with Sephrina, Katlten and the various churches. Well, not literally, but close enough to make Redemption an insult to fans of Eddings prior works.Character traits and politics from both series (Belgariad/Mallorean& Elenuim/Tamuli) were woven into an uneven and lumpy tapestry called 'The Redemption of Althalus.' The new ideas and concepts within Redemption have outstanding story potential that eventually gets lost within the recycled ingredients from the Eddings earlier works. Redemption has no surprises for the reader. Even those few situations that are not completely explained leave nothing that might surprise a reader. New readers are strongly urged to read Eddings other works and old fans are encouraged to stay away. With luck, the Eddings will forget about the world they created in Redemption and move on to unpoisoned pastures in future works. Very disappointing.
Rating: 
Summary: Not nearly their best
Review: This book was a sheer disappointment. It lacks the depth and vision of Eddings other work, to the point where it is almost a bore to read. To be perfectly honest, it struck me as the kind of trite fantasy novel one might give to a child to interest them in the area. The book was fairly predictable and the characters are your typical bunch of heros: wily thief, strong if somewhat dumb warrior, mysterious mentalist, blah blah blah. The plot is your typical "epic": evil forces coming to take over the world; must rally the troops to save the day. I enjoyed the Belgariad and Malloreon novels tremendously. The characters were indeed memorable, and the storyline interesting. This book tries to do more of the same, but fails in a big way. Gone is the witty dialogue of characters like Silk and the comedy and mystery Belgarath and Pol. They have been replaced with the simplistic storyline and basic dialogue that make this book unmemorable. There are a few moments of hope (Gher, for example) but for the most part the characters waltz effortlessly through the end of the world without much of a challenge. I'm sorry, but I cannot honestly reccommend this book to serious fantasy readers. You'd be much better off reading the Eddings other series -- it seems like they spent a lot more crafting quality stories in earlier novels. This one could have been written by anyone and is uninspired at best. If you must read it, at least save yourself some money and wait for the softcover.
Rating: 
Summary: I can't believe how good this is
Review: I loved the series that came before, I reread them time and again. My favorite part is the characters and how they develop. I can lose myself over and over in these books, letting myself drift away in the worlds they exist in. Again in this book, I find the main character exciting and fun. READ IT!!!
Rating:
Summary: My view of the 'Redemption of Althalus'
Review: I have to admit that this is the only book that I have read that has really gripped my attention. When I first saw it, it was the cover that drew my eye to it. If you are interested in politics, war, romance, and adventure, then this is the book for you. the first chapter gives you an insight to the beginning of this unusual world, then you get into the main bulk. I love the way we are introduced to the character of Althalus, we are told upfront that he is a thief, lier and a cheat, this grabs the attention. The whole book makes you question the idea of religion and how you think about God, is God just like you or me? It raises a lot of questions that maybe you wouldn't normally ask. I have read this book about five times and never tired of it. In fact every time you read it you find something new that you didn't see first time, or any other time. It is extremely entising and it makes you want to read on, I found myself on several occasions reading until midnight! This was the first book of David and Leigh Eddings I had read, and since then I have wanted to read more of their books. So far I have got the Belgaraid set and the three by both David and Leigh Eddings. They are great books and I would recomend them to anyone. Have fun reading!
Rating:
Summary: Rehash Redux
Review: What a cynical book. What cynical authors. Is it possible to plagerize yourself? What an interesting concept, create stock characters, slap new names on them and use them over and over again. The Belgariad was a nice first try, the Mallorean pushed the concept. Changing the names of the characters and barely changing the setting was inexcusable for the Elenium. Redemption though, well this is a travesty. The main character called "Althalus"-- this time-- is Silk from the Belgariad. Dweia is Polgara. Andine is etc., etc. Each character matches up neatly with one from an earlier series. Geesh, even the dialogue has been lifted intact in some cases from earlier works. Hey, if you are going to recycle characters could they at least change the milieu? Let's throw them on a spaceship next! If not anything else, can they proofread the next one at least? This was just a horrible, cynical, money making enterprise.
Rating:
Summary: Loved this book!
Review: This is the first Eddings book I've read, but it certainly won't be the last. The characters in The Redemption of Althalus are wonderful. Smart, funny, interesting with some great dialogue along the way. I loved the story, even more inventive than some of the other fantasy I've been reading lately. I've had Robert Jordan recommended to me as one of the fantasy 'greats'. I couldn't wait to stop reading his books. The Eddings are masters of storytelling, much better than anything Jordan can turn out. I recommend this to anyone that wants a fun, fast-paced, interesting fantasy read. Now, I can't wait to get my hands on the rest of the Eddings' work.
Rating: 
Summary: Good or No?
Review: Eddings has been cherished for his best sellers in the Belgariad and Elenium series. But he does have the tendency to have a problem in The Redemption of Althalus. He has a tendency to repeat characters. Dweia, or Emmy as Althalus calls her, seems a heck of a lot like Polgara, and Althalus almost like Belgarion, or Balgarath in nature. Besides that, the book DOES have a plot. And actually has some excitment compared to what others say. Sure, its no "Lord of the Rings," or "Harry Potter," Eddings, I beleive, is better than them all in Fiction. Give the guy credit. You read his books, and even if they're bad, you'll buy the next one. He's that good.
Rating:
Summary: Extremely Dissapointing
Review: I have read some of the other reviews, and it seems as though I didn't read the same book as others did. I have major problems with this book, namely that it is FAR to cutesy. It reads like a bad sitcom. Honestly, I can't understand how it got published. Without giving anything away, I'll say that the characters are very one-dimensional, they have no depth whatsoever, and that really hurts this book. Edding's prior books (I've read and liked them all) had much better developed characters. Perhaps he should stick to series books, he seems to have a much better time with those. I mean honestly, I can tell you far more about Garion and Sparhawk that Althalus. Althalus has no motivation. We don't know why he's the hero, he has no special qualities, etc. Also, as I stated in the beginning, way to cutesy. They are all a family, all love each other, etc. Sorry, but conflict is at the center of any story, and for the most part there isn't any here between the main characters.
Rating:
Summary: Guys, put this book down...
Review: ...and slowly walk away. The estrogen meter definitely gets pegged out early and often with this book. From the arrival of a talking cat/goddess character, to the constant use of the pet names "Emmie" (Emerald) and "Althie," this book saw me sticking my finger down my throat on many occasions as I stoically plowed through hoping to find a story. This is a chick flick in print. Be afraid...
Rating: 
Summary: EVERYONE IS BEING MORE HARSH THAN THE BOOK DESERVES
Review: One comes to expect big things from Eddings, and this book is no Belgariad and its is no Elenium. That's true enough. But people are getting carried away with the awful ratings and with some of the harsh comments. I want to point out that writers can only write their best book once, and its likely to be about their second or third book/series (logic being it takes a couple of goes to get it right). Eddings has undoubtedly written better books. You can keep that in mind when you read this, I did. And sometimes this book can be patronising in the way that the plot develops, in the way that the characters talk and develop. Its a fairly contrived story, almost like Eddings punched some numbers into a calculator and got an answer. But the plot isn't bad, the story isn't bad, and the best thing about it is that it tries some new things. Its a bit different.
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