Details Books Toward The Diamond Throne (The Elenium #1)
| Original Title: | The Diamond Throne |
| ISBN: | 0345367693 (ISBN13: 9780345367693) |
| Edition Language: | English |
| Series: | The Elenium #1, Sparhawk Universe #1 |
| Characters: | Francis Flute, Sparhawk, Ehlana, Kurik, Sephrenia, Vanion, Kalten, Bevier, Tynian, Ulath |
David Eddings
Mass Market Paperback | Pages: 435 pages Rating: 3.95 | 31638 Users | 512 Reviews
Mention Based On Books The Diamond Throne (The Elenium #1)
| Title | : | The Diamond Throne (The Elenium #1) |
| Author | : | David Eddings |
| Book Format | : | Mass Market Paperback |
| Book Edition | : | First Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 435 pages |
| Published | : | June 13th 1990 by Del Rey Books (first published 1989) |
| Categories | : | Fantasy. Fiction. Epic Fantasy |
Rendition During Books The Diamond Throne (The Elenium #1)
'You'd better get ready to ride, Sparhawk.'Meet Sparhawk: Pandion Knight and Queen’s Champion. If this were D&D his character class would likely be Paladin; he can cast spells, but mostly prefers to just chop off heads with his considerable broadsword.
Sparhawk is a bit of a bad-ass. So is his horse, Faran.
'It's the Queen's Champion. Don't ever stand in his way.'
I fairly devoured this novel in short order. Sparhawk has a zero tolerance approach to BS which is immensely refreshing and enjoyable.
The Diamond Throne is a no-nonsense tale. The writing style on display here is sometimes a bit workmanlike and without literary flourish, but it seems to suit the story (and especially the protagonist) rather well.
'It's going to be dangerous.'
And thus our hero sets out on a quest to save the kingdom, accompanied by a few companions.
Ah, the tried and tested recipe for a fantasy story. Fortunately it’s hardly possible to make a mess of a book when it has such an endearing protagonist. Eddings seems to have struck gold with Sparhawk, because I was willing to forgive all kinds of faults.
It’s an old school story that (in my opinion) leans slightly more toward the heroic fantasy of Gemmell than it does the high fantasy of Tolkien, and yet it still sits somewhere in between. I haven’t read The Belgariad yet, so I’m unable to draw any comparison. Eddings, it seems, was somewhat hot property in the 1980s, alongside the likes of Raymond E. Feist. Just don’t expect dragons or elves.
'What are you planning, Sparhawk?'
'Chastisement.’
One of the major selling points of this story is the dialogue. It’s rather good, what. In fact, it’s absolutely delightful more often than not.
The bantering between the characters, and especially the knights of the different orders, is deftly dealt with. It’s remarkable that, for all the humour in this novel, it never stoops to being silly or a parody.
'It should be almost like a cheese grater when we start to grind them up against your walls.'
'And I can drop some interesting things on them from my battlements as well. Arrows, large rocks, burning pitch - that sort of thing.'
'We're going to get on splendidly, my Lord,'
The story won me over with its simple charm. It’s not as complicated and reality-ridden as the modern fantasy, but it does have a bit of dirt under its fingernails.
There are some religious and philosophical leanings, but for the most part these serve to underscore elements of the story.
'Has he ever bitten you?'
'Once. Then I explained to him that I'd rather he didn't do it any more.'
'Explained?'
'I used a stout stick. He got the idea almost immediately.'
In short: it’s a fantasy adventure that should appeal to readers that don’t have a very straight literary stick wedged somewhere tight.
For literary merit, cleverness and all that jazz: 3.5 stars
For pure unadulterated entertainment value: 4.5 stars
Rating Based On Books The Diamond Throne (The Elenium #1)
Ratings: 3.95 From 31638 Users | 512 ReviewsAssess Based On Books The Diamond Throne (The Elenium #1)
Read this many years ago, and ended up skimming the second half. I could see why Eddings has such a poor reputation: the writing was boring and the characters were caricatures, with flat dialog and a generic Epic Fantasy Quest plot. I've never been tempted to read anything by Eddings since.The most I can say about this right now is:First, the story is not tied up at the end of this book. Not in any way. (I've read this before but forgot that fact.) I got to the end and actually went, "Wait a minute. What???"Second, do yourself a favor and don't listen to the audiobook. If you must listen you can speed the narrator up to a more human sound, but still I'd recommend avoiding it all together.It gets 3 stars because I remember liking it fairly well when I read it years ago. Listening
4.5 ok, so it's kinda formulaic, but the characters and their dialogues are just so utterly charming, I wasn't immune. On to The Ruby Knight!
I asked someone to buy me this book in grade seven, if memory serves. I had read and loved Eddings' other series The Belgariad by that point- Pawn of Prophecy was the first novel I ever read by myself, giving it a special, permanent place in my heart - and I was eager to read something else from the guy who, at the time, was my favorite fantasy writer (and the only one I knew, which would be why). I read maybe a third of The Diamond Throne before realizing I didn't care; and I stuffed it,
This is the beginning of a new edding series and I am not as hooked as I was with the prior series of his. Plot line is ok so far.Characters are brilliant. I love sparhawk and Kuriks constant bickering, like an old married couple.Just not as gripped by this as I was before with eddings. Still good just not great. I will perservere!
Stating this upfront. It's not genius writing. The characters are two dimensional and perfect. They look perfect (except for when they have a feature that turns them from perfect to unique), they act perfect, their motives are noble and honorable, except for the villains who twirl their mustaches and laugh at their maniacalness. Okay, maybe not quite that bad but it's close. Every cliche that could be hit seemed like it was. No it didn't wrap up the main conflict. There don't seem to be any
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