The Elenium: The Diamond Throne the Ruby Knight the Sapphire Rose

I admit it, I enjoy the Eddings. They write big sprawling books that are pure escapism. When I stop my world long enough to read, I don't want the "Great American Novel" full of angst. I want entertainment with enjoyable characters, Good vs. Evil plots and enough travel to get me out of my day to day rut. I can snicker over Sparhawk's horse, Faran, and his nasty attitude and appreciate the pragmatic, broken-nosed Pandion who would never think he could be anyone's Paladin. The Elenium: The Diamond Throne The Ruby Knight The Sapphire Rose

"The Elenium perhaps matches Edding's Belgariad. A fantastic high fantasy series featuring one of the great heroes of modern fantasy literature - the knight, Sparhawk." -- Glenn G. Thater, Author of 'Harbinger of Doom'

For people who enjoy reading for the purpose of getting into the story. The books written by David Eddings' are for people who get attached to characters and love to immerse themselves in reading. To me his books are like coming home for a visit. If you want to read simply to get to the finish line---Eddings is not for you.

Not the best written fantasy ever published, but Eddings has written some of my favorite characters ever brought to life on paper. It makes for a fun story, if not terribly deep.

Eddings tells the same story over and over again, but it's a good story and the characters are what make it so enticing. Here's the spoiler. The Universe makes mistakes every now and again and those mistakes make good and evil. To sort out the difference, the Universe makes one man and then makes a world for that man to stand on so he can get the job done. No job is ever finished in a single day or a single series and the motivations of that man are neither pure nor truly dastardly, but tend towards the iconic in Arthurian tradition. Save the Damsel in distress, avenge the death of your friends, and serve the faith as it serves others. Almost all of Eddings good works subscribe to this formula, but within it are characters who jibe and jab like family members, like old army buddies or people you meet at work, college or on the bus. Everyone you bother to hear from in the Eddings universe is either a slack jawed simpleton, a hero with a few rough edges, a genius, or perhaps a God or their disciple. I hope I've spoiled nothing, but the reason you'll read Eddings and hopefully re-read him is because you miss the people you met in his books and would like to revisit them. This 900+ page tome replaces three tattered paper backs on my shelf, and will probably serve me until I buy a hard bound collectors edition or slam one on a Kindle in that contraptions 2nd or 3rd generation.