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The Diamond Throne (The Elenium) by: David Eddings

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Rating: - A light piece of fantasy but still an enjoyable read

This is the first David Eddings novel I've read and I approached it with a bit of caution as I'm not a fan of the likes of Raymond Feist and Terry Brooks and I've always assumed Eddings was of a similar ilk. So I was pleased to find that he's actually refreshingly different to the aforementioned authors, and in The Diamond Throne has written a genuinely enjoyable piece of mainstream fantasy.

Eddings doesn't exactly push the boundaries of fantasy with this book. The story is very derivative (the opening prologue is a complete re-hash of Gollum and the discovery of the Ring in LOTR), and he uses the well worn "heroic knight tries to save his Queen from the forces of evil" type formula. But what sets this story apart from many of Eddings's contemporaries is his wonderful ability to inject genuine wit and humour into the story. It takes a lot of skill to stop a fantasy story from descending into the realms of pretentiousness and Eddings pulls this off superbly. The star of the book, the Pandion Knight Sparhawk, is not just a formidable warrior, but also a warm and genuinely funny character, enjoying much good-natured banter with his fellow knights, even making fun of both them and his superiors. This makes him so much more of a down to earth and believable character and you instantly like him as soon as he enters the story. Sparhawk is a hero, but he's also human, he's not perfect, and he's certainly not dull, like many heroes can be in fantasy books.

Eddings's characterisation in this book is definitely one of his strengths, The Diamond Throne is full of hugely contrasting characters that all bring their own subtleties and twists to the story. This story has action, but it also has political intrigue, deceit and betrayals as some very devious people try to bend the affairs of state to their will.

Eddings's writing style is very accessible, he's a very good story-teller and in Sparhawk he has a very strong lead-character that will definitely make you want to read more in this series.

Rating: - Serious fantasy with a great sense of humour

David Eddings presents us with a great fantasy series. In a world based loosely on medieval Europe we have a single church with power that rivals that of kings and princes. Four orders of Religious Knights are their military arm. Intermingled with the politics and maneuvering of such a situation we have good old fashioned magic, gods interacting with their worshippers and a healthy dose of good and evil.

Sparhawk, a Pandion Knight returns from a 10 year exile to find young Queen Ehlana deathly ill, magically entombed and set to die within a year unless a cure can be found. Cue political maneuvering, magical interventions and plenty of action as Sparhawk quests for a solution, discovering as he goes that there is far more to the situation than meets the eye.

Its a page turner with a great background world, a decent premise and some instantly likeable characters. It avoids the slightly formulaic approach of Eddings earlier work. Plots are subtler, solutions cleverer. What really sets it apart though is the humour that permeates it throughout.

Rating: - Enjoyable but no Belgariad

I tried to read this book when it was first published, but couldn't get beyond the first couple of chapters. Disappointing, as The Belgariad and (to a lesser extent) The Mallorean are undoubtedly among my top five favourite fantasy series.

This time, I did manage to get through the whole thing. I enjoyed it, but it's still lacking in...something compared to the two series mentioned above. I don't quite know what, but the characters are blander somehow and the plot pedestrian and lacking the excitement of the other books. I think the latter has to do with the fact that our heroes never really seem to get into any truly dangerous situation. If it looks as though they might be thwarted in their quest or be in peril, they simply call on an influential person in the vicinity who steps in to rescue them. There are no moments where my heart was in my throat.

Also, Eddings main failing is his propensity to repeat himself endlessly and we have more of that here. So, Sephrenia is simply a thinly disguised clone of The Belgariad's Polgara - minus her passion and wit. We have the mysterious child who has power and clearly isn't what they seem (Errand/Flute). We even have the mysterious bond between said child and the hero's horse (Errand and Garion's horse in The Belgariad and Flute and Faran here).

All in all, The Elenium seems to be a pale version of previous series - like the same characters and plot viewed under water or behind glass. It fails to have the immediacy, threat and colour of the others. If the other books come my way I'd probably read them and enjoy them. But I don't have the desire to dash out and find out what happens next.

Think I'll go back for yet another read of my much-thumbed copies of The Belgariad and see how good Eddings is when he does it perfectly.

Meanwhile, if you're looking for an introduction to Eddings - read The Belgariad instead!

Rating: - GREAT!

I absolutely loved this book, in fact it was the first book i ever read, i hated reading before my brother gave me this book and now i cant stop! .I would recommend it to anyone. (including all the other 'sparhawk' related books)

the only bad thing i can say about Eddings novels, is that they are all a bit the same, having read this series first, i cannot get into any of the other books outside of 'The Elenium and Tumuli' series, the characters, plots and gods in there own subtle ways are almost exactly the same in each series it just makes it seem like im reading a cheap rip-off, much to my disappointment!. However i would still recommend all of Eddings books

Over all i give this book and its series a 5star because its just plain awesome.

if you (like me) are mad about fantasy and magic i would highly recommend Trudi Canavans books 'The age of the five' and 'Magicians guild' they very ,very good books

Rating: - Better than Belgariad

I am writing my review about the Elenium Trilogy, not just the Diamond Throne. It is easily Eddings' best offering and in my opinion Sparhawk far exceeds Belgarion in the hero stakes.

The female characters are strong and feisty but without the distance that Aunt Pol generated, all of the books in the trilogy have a purpose and it is easy to keep pace.

I couldn't put these books down.

The only criticism I have of the whole thing is that it a bit disturbing that Ehlana wants to marry Sparhawk when she is only 18 and he is nearly middle aged... but hey stranger things have happened, I would have liked her to be a bit more grown up so that her maturity was a bit more believable. But this is me really picking holes now...

I would recommend these to any fantasy fan, although not my favourite books, they are definately up there

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