The Elder Gods: Book One of the Dreamers

Well, as stated by many other readers this book from the Eddings reads much like their other books. In fact it follows the styles, and personalities that have been laid out before.

I however feel that it deserves a decent rating.

After all, granted its been done before. But I feel like its an old friend, I enjoy the humor and I even chuckle when I guess lines/actions prior to reading them.

Its a fun book and decently written, I enjoyed it and will shortly be picking up part 2

This is the worst I've read from Eddings. It was interesting enough that I read the whole series but I honestly regret that decision.

The plot was shallow. The characters were shallow and repetitive. Most had no personality or, worse, identical personalities and mannerisms. Many scenes were repeated two or more times from different character's perspectives with only subtle differences. This could have been interesting but it played out as ridiculously boring filler instead.

*spoiler alert*

The series ends with something similar to the classic "and then I woke up and it was all just a dream". To me it was a final insult piled on top on a series that seemed focused on insulting my intelligence as best it could.

After 17+ books, he's still doing the exact same thing and much worse than usual. I love the Eddings' writings. I put up with four series of blue and red rocks in two different worlds because they were excellent in writing even if the plot and characters resembled each other. But don't go for this series, just don't. Pick any of his other ones and you'll love them. But not this series.

I have been a huge David Eddings fan from the Elenium, Belgariad, Malloreon, The Redemption of Althalus and was looking forward to a new series from him. So it was with excitement that I picked up this book.
I couldn't even finish it, I felt like I was reading written by a 13 year old from the pink dolphins to the pet lightning, ugh! I was bored almost to the point of dying from it. I was heartbroken too, David Eddings was a beacon of light in the fantasy genre, I loved Sparhawk from the opening paragraph of Diamond Throne through to the end, and Silk and all of the rest from those storylines, and Althalus. But this, this is too much and he will be needing to redeem himself if I am to be a reader again. I was sorely disappointed.

There is quite a bit to like about this book...if you haven't read his other books first. Longbow, Red-Beard, and Rabbit are all excellent characters. The way the Gods transport themselves over long distances is kinda cool, and
All of his female characters...Belgariad, Mallorean, Elenium, Tamuli, and now the Dreamers are the exact same. His theme about all things being cyclical is wearing thin. He also seems to be losing his knack for writing good dialogue. Almost all of his characters talk in the same folksy way. I don't know anything about why he's with Aspect instead of Del Rey now, but I'd say this book isn't up to Del Rey standards.

I am extremely disappointed in this book, as I have been in the Eddings' last few books. David Eddings was once an Epic Writer (note caps) who had a gift for adding the more mundane things, such as eating or bathing, that really make a book seem real. his characters were well developed, and he usually avoided "cut-out characters" whithout any real personality. however, in recent years, that gift for little details has become a major flaw, with monotony on every page. also, his characters and their interactions have become painfully cutesey, with lots of love and kisses and little girls throwing tantrums; all of it is generally sickening drivel. now, it seems to me that Eddings is writing the kind of books that give "fantasy" a bad name: escapist novels that show little talent and have no grounding in reality. and this is a terrinble thing indeed, since, to the contrary, the Eddings' are one of the most talented writing teams I have ever found, and their early work (credited solely to David Eddings) contains some of my favorite and most "real" characters ever.
in this book, the first section is about an airheaded goddess' disdain for humanity and her subsequent retreat to the land of pink dolphins. another god spent millenia contemplating the color blue. (what is up with Eddings and the colors blue and red?) neither of these is interesting. and relationships between people are playful, even when they hate each other: you know that if they just got to know each other, they could be the best of friends. it almost hurts to read.

in the end, reading this book and comparing it to the Eddings' earlier work is like comparing Mother goose stories to those of the brothers grimm: latter is the TRUE stuff, with all the details that, later, so offended the modern sensibilities that someone felt the need to cut out all the interesting bits and water them down to a story where everyone vaguely ends up happy. even evil is not Really punished, but instead it just sort of goes away and doesn't come back.
if you want my advice, read eddings' earlier work, like the belgariad. you wont be disappionted. otherwise, read another book, perhaps one by George R.R. Martin. and hey, there's always Tolkien, right?

Sad sad sad. I was a huge fan of the Sparhawk series. In this book he seems to have ripped off his own characters from that series! The little dreamer girl is a copy of Flute ( who was cute in that series) but in this one is just down right annoying. All the other characters seem to mirror ones from his past books. Its dull, repetetive and boring to read, I admit I can't even finish this one. I just skipped to the back half way through. I don't think I will buy the rest of this series when it does come out. Save your money and just read the Sparhawk series.

Like many, I have enjoyed Eddings series in the past. I have read and re-read all of his books. So I figured I would pick this one up and it should entertaining at the very least. How wrong I was. Simply put, this book was so poorly written that I struggled to finish it. And no, I won't be continuing the series. The characters were poorly fashioned and nothing seems to go wrong for the "good guys." They hardly describe who the enemy is, just telling the reader that they are evil and insect like. One of the things that was my biggest pet peeve was that the characters kept repeating the same story over and over. It's like they ran out of things to write about! This book was one of the worst fantasy books I have ever read and I hope to God this isn't what is in store for all the Eddings lovers out there in the future.

Do not waste your time with this book, read the Belgariad instead. The characters are the same to the point of being easily identifiable as the characters from the Belgariad series.

Silk = Rabbit, Hettar = Longbow, Barak = Sorgan, the relationship between Veltan and the thunderbolt (puh-lease! like we couldn't see the reference to Polgara and Beldin) and so on ad nausem. A sad end to my run as an Eddings fan.

What a disappointing series! I've always been a huge Eddings fan. The Belgariad, Mallorean, Tamuli, and Elenium are some of my all time favorite series of books. The Dreamers on the other hand...horrible...I find it hard to believe Eddings wrote this nonsense.

The story had a decent basis to start with, but fell flat quickly. There was never any flow to the story, because once an event took place, that event was re-told from another character's viewpoint. Now this may have been ok if it would have added something to the story, but it never did. It just seemed a simple regurgitation of events to fill out the pages. Even how the "end" of the Vlagh happened, was told twice..from the same viewpoint. Still scratching my head over that.

I think the most irritating thing about this series though, was the very frequent repetition of phrases used by the characters. I'm sure in the 4 books, the phrase "wouldn't you say?" was used 200 times(if not more)....heck, sometimes you'd see it 2-3 on a single page! I also lost count how many times a character covered their mouth with a hand to conceal a grin.

Save yourself time and money. Here's how the 4 books all play out:

1) Bugs attack 2)Outlanders create breastworks and forts. 3) Blah blah blah for 300 pages. 4)One of the gods finishes off the bug army.

Wash, rinse, repeat.

The Eddings have always been likeable for their commentry on the human condition via the use of archetypal characters that represent one type of person (ie, Tolnedrans are materialistic, Angaraks are religiously fanatic etc) What this book fails to do is to come up with characters that are original to Eddings' work! For example, Longbow is strongly reminisent of Hettar, Rabbit of Silk, Eleria of Flute, etc etc etc.

Coupled with this lack of characterization, is an overall lack of oomf. The story just does not motivate one to keep reading - i only stuck with it becuase I kept hoping that the plot would shift up a gear. it didnt.

This book offers nothing that earlier Eddings doesnt provide in abundance, and furthermore, it just isnt an entertaining read. The style is strained and unnatural, and seems forced.

Save yourself some time and money: avoid this book.

This is the first book i have read by this author and it frustrated me enough to write this. (Deep breath) The characters are too simple and are poorly developed. They all think, talk and act same regardless of whether they are a pirate or a god. Events that happen in this book are retold by the characters over and over. It is enough to say "Rabbit told Red-Beard about the harrowing night time fight aboard the ship." We don't need a play-by-play description of what we just read 3 pages ago. What is worse is that these events were not all that impressive to begin with. Nearly everything turns out as the character expects and when it doesn't turn out just as the character expects, it is all solved rather easily anyways. I realise that i myself couldn't have done any better and that i'm just ranting but how could someone who has sooo many books write sooooo poorly.
Chris

I was a great fan of Eddings and the Belgariad series, and was excited to pick this up a few weeks ago. Usually, I can get through an science fantasy book in a day or two, but, after almost a month, this is still a struggle. By far the worst aspect of the book is the manner in which it is written. At first I thought that maybe it was because, as I grew older, my reading style had changed and become more "grown-up", but no, after re-scanning the Belgariad I discovered the incredible difference between the styles. Belgariad is well-written, whereas the Elder Gods reads like a book for the challenged: much repetition, as if we've forgotten descriptions given in the previous chapters, language so simple that it's difficult not to shudder. The book is almost condescending. Maybe it's time for David to ditch Leigh and write solo again?

As the Elder Gods are portrayed in this book, Eddings too is suffering from senility. Lord this is by far the most boring, predictible and rehashed of his books. IF you are a long time Eddings fan and over the age of 18, SKip this series. He offers nothing new, and is just a rehashing of his older masterpieces. This series isnt even worthy of 4 books... the whole series could have and should have been written down to 2 or 3. The characters are all the same, and the same old 'witty sardonic' humor Eddings is famous for is over used here. EVERYCHARACTER thinks they are funny and GOD the dialogue is just repeated over and over and over. These books are such fluff and a waste of a read. Read the Belgariad, the Mallorian, the Sparhawk books, but skip this series

I have always been a self-titled die-hard Eddings fan but I cannot in good conscience reccomend this book, especially to someone who has never read anything by David Eddings. It actually makes me want to cry that he would put out something that seems so sloppily constructed. I have always had a great respect for his characters but the ones featured in this book are, as everyone before me has pointed out, copies of his other characters. I did finish this book but it was with no sense of joy or desire for the next series to come out. I would almost rather Eddings ressurect my beloved Sparhawk than put out a book like this. My hope is that word of our discontent will reach Eddings' ears and he will be beholden to create a better work than has recently reached us. I beg of you, my favorite writer!! Don't let me down!

Most people ... complained that the book is unlike previous book by David Eddings (i.e the belgariad series). I found this book to be a very good read, and that the differences from past series actually made it more interesting. But there are definately parts where the story did lag. The characters are all great as usual for Eddings, but the story all centers around one battle, that maybe lasts 10 percent of the book, while the rest is preparing for it. The battle scenes dont have much detail and seem sloppily put together. But I am hoping book two will b better as 4 part stories usually get more entertaining. Id suggest the Belgariad and Mallorean series to readers first getting into Eddings, but anyone who has read those books already and like them should pick up this one.

Zero stars.

Atrocious, simply awful drivel. It is very hard to believe, actually impossible to believe that this was written by the same author of the Belgariad series.

don't bother, don't even waste your money if you can get it for $1.

WHY? Boring, predictable, annoying, unbeliebable, repetitious. Stuff happens, characters spend 20 pages revising what just happened, more stuff happens (that you knew was going to happen) and the characters revise everything that has happened in the book so far. Repeat ad nauseum.

Complete drivel. I hope David Eddings stops letting his wife write and flexes some of his imaginary muscle that worked so well in the past. I can't believe this got published...

My wife picked this book up for me and I just finished it. While I enjoyed his original works, you really start to see a pattern in his writing. I found this book to be quite formulaic. Essentially I just found myself surrounded by the same old characters in some fashion or another. To me The Belgariad was a great read, but everything else is just hammered out from that mold. So same old same old. It was a decent book but I would not recommend it. Your just reliving the other series he has written. You can even see his formula on the Wikipedia entry for David Eddings. :)

What a sad day, I never thought I would give anything by David Eddings such a low rating. I love his previous series and even "Redemption", but this was not what I have come to expect from a beloved author.

This novel was dull and repetitive and the characters were a little too obvious. Not what I was expecting and quite a disappointment.

Like many of the other reviewers here, I devoured the Belgariad and the Mallorean (even the Tamuli), so when I saw that there was a new series out I got really excited and rushed out to buy the first. What a disappointment. There was none of the complexity of the previous worlds, and for "gods" these folks seems to have a pretty inconsistent level of knowledge/interest in their lands/people. I felt like I was reading dialogue of little children repeating conversations overheard from their parents (the parents in this case being Silk, and Barak, Polgara, etc.) I love the Eddings, and of course I'll buy the second, third, and fourth, despite this book, but I won't rush to put them at the top of my reading pile.

I have been an Eddings fan for a long time. The Belgariad and Mallorean series have been my favorties since i first read them about 10 years ago. I was sorely disappointed when I began reading this series when it first came out. Basically the characteristics from older characters have been moved around and given new names. If you like predictability you might like these books. I own the first three books of this series but I haven't even finished the second one and doubt that I will anytime soon.

In David and Leigh Eddings previous works, their use of ironic situations and witty dialog leaves me unwilling to put the books down. These staples of their early works are strangely absent in the Elder Gods. The characters in the Elder Gods are likeable, but lack the wit of Althathus or Belgarath. Rarely in the Elder Gods did I laugh, but picking up Redemption of Althathus (which I have read four times) I still find amusing tidbits on nearly every page.
Pros:
1)New Ideas that could be implimented well in the next three books.
2)Likeable characters.
Cons:
1)Characters similar to characters in their other books without their charm.
2)Story pace is very slow
3)Not very funny, which is out of character for Eddings

Summary: Tired story, weak plot, bad ending

More of the same, and it's getting worse. The character interaction is pretty much the same as every other Edding's book. It was entertaining for awhile, but it's getting old.

The plot is even worse. The climax of the "battle" happens well before the end of the book, and you're left with slogging through several dozen pages of schlock to see if anything interesting occurs.

It doesn't.

Most of the book concerns the outlander mercenaries and the natives preparation to fight the battle with the evil nasties. In the end though, all of their efforts are pointless because one of the not-so-elder-dreamers takes care of the situation, thus making the need for mercenaries, and thus most of the book, pointless.

I read the first book of the series and just couldn't go on. The character development was okay but the story was so watered down and thin. The writing itself didn't flow at all. I'm a fan of the Belgariad so I was expecting much, much more.

Four Gods commanding a specific directional point each control the Land of Dhrall and its people. Brothers dominate north and south while sisters rule east and west. However, in the center where the compass converges lies That-Called-The-Vlagh, a creature not under godly power with ambitions to conquer the land.
The deity quartet raise children to become dreamers to fulfill the prophecy that claims one who would defeat That-Called-The-Vlagh will come. As the latest cycle comes to a close, only the Dreamers can save the day, but meanwhile as the Gods wait for the right time the foursome raises a human army to combat That-Called-The-Vlagh and his horde.
The opening book of the four-novel set The Dreamers sets the stage for what could prove to be a strong series centering on the recycling of life and death. However, THE ELDER GODS spends so much time setting the table, no one dines. Instead the wide cast especially the Gods pontificate with soliloquies. Still the potential for a powerhouse has been placed in motion so that it appears the action will step forward and readers will end up with a feast. Please do as I say, not as I do or feel, by being patient.
Harriet Klausner

I have been a huge fan of David Eddings for over 10 years and was really looking forward to his latest book. What a let down after the fantastic earlier series! If you haven't read David Eddings before - skip this one and read all of his old books!

This book promised a good, medium-paced read and delivered it was a literal 'bang' at the end. The direct involvement of Gods worried me for a while before the laws or what they could and couldn't do was set. Full of good characters as I've come to expect from Eddings books, and an added bonus of being set against creepy bad guys who have the upper hand.

I read David Eddings for his interesting story lines and great character development. In this book, the 'younger' gods are bland and the mortals even blander. I also find characters retelling the same part of the story over and over again tedious. The first battle comes much too late and too much goes right. Duex ex machina seems to rule in this book.
Writing style is still crisp and an interesting world. The characters need to be brougnt to life.

i had to stop when the god mounted his pet lightning bolt (insert incredulity here) and tells her "let's go home, baby"... let's go home baby????? seriously? (insert vomit sound effect here). unbelievable. i suffered through 164 pages of this dreck before i had to check other reviews to see if i was just crazy. alas, i am not crazy. this appears to be a lazy attempt to make publisher's happy. i absolutely loved the belgariad and mallorean, and i can't believe eddings wrote this s#*&t.

I was so disappointed in this book. I have reread the Belgariad and Mallorean series more than once and enjoyed the style and humor of the books. However, this series seems to me like the Eddings are just capitalizing on their name. The writing style is annoying and the plot juvenile. Don't waste your time.

I never thought I'd say this about any piece of work by Eddings, but The Elder Gods put me to sleep. This would have been fine if I was in bed at the time, but I was down at the local swimming center, thinking to catch up on some reading while my daughter and friends played. How embarrassing when my head started nodding!

Honestly, the only thing more boring than this would be a tutorial on PHP. The writing style was annoying, Eddings started far too many paragraphs with "Now" which made me want to scratch my own eyes out... All in all it was incredibly disappointing. Pfft. Understatement.

Don't buy it, except perhaps to send back to the publishers for a refund like I did after reading it. I was never so dissapointed in my life, the ending of the book and the series was a slap in the face to all loyal fans.

I have been an Eddings fan since i read the Belgariad. After that i have read and re-read all his series and loved every one of them. I have to say however that this book was excruciatingly painful to read. The characters seem to be remakes from all his prior books and there is no ingenuity or energy in his writing. This is the ONLY time I willing put down one of his books and stopped reading in the middle. I hope that his upcoming books are able to salvage the mess this one has created.

I love the other Eddings' books, but this was terrible. It is boring and long. I forced my self to read about half of the book since I had spent money on the hard-cover edition, but it never got any better. The characters are not likeable.

I felt that I needed to write a review to bring up the average a little bit. The book isn't nearly as bad as these other reviews make it out to be. It is not particularly insiteful but it is an enjoyable read. Yes, it seems to be rather simplistic and superficial, glossing over many details with a stroke of the pens, but for that matter many of Eddings works fit this description to some extent. I would rather say that it is an Innocent tale that would appeal to me if I were still the middle school kid that I was when I first picked up "The Belgariad" series.

I picked this book up on the bargin table at a local book store. I have always enjoyed Eddings work but this book falls far short of his previous series. The characters and plot are predictable. There are no twists or surprises. The book seems to drag on and on with details being repeated sometimes three and four times. I fell asleep often while reading this book but did manage to get through it.

I only recommend it if you have nothing better to do and are a die hard Eddings fan.

I am a David (& Leigh) Eddings fan, having read just about all their work for about 20 years. But (relatively speaking) I found The Elder Gods......dull. The characters lack depth, and I had no emotional attachment to them. The fairly predictable storyline spends 80% preparing for battle - far too long. As usual the good guys fatality rate is far too low.
Sadly, after so many books, the typical Eddings writing style is starting to become predictable and annoying. Instead of writing about a collection of people (mostly adults) with exceptional ability, I wish the Eddings' would include more vunerable, naive characters (e.g. a young Garion) - they can be so much fun.

This book was so bad that I actually gave up 35 pages from the end because I simply couldn't care any less. As I read I kept waiting for something to happen, anything, I wasn't even picky! But even when it seems like something is in fact happening, still nothing even remotely compelling occurs! This book was horrible.

I have to agree with the previous reviewer. This was the first Eddings book, that I never finished reading. I read maybe 150 pages and then said forget it. Not worth reading. His earlier works were great, but eddings keeps playing the same theme over and over, using the same characters from previous books, but different names.
If you must read it because it is Eddings, borrow it from the library, or friend. You won't want to pay money for this book

When I hear a new Eddings book is due to arrive, I count the days. However with this book, I admit to being disappointed. The characters are pale immitations of the great Eddings books of the past. I was looking for a great story plot with characters that I could connect with and a story that I could get lost in. This book ruined a perfect rainy day for me. What went wrong??

Contrary to other reviews I enjoyed this book, sure its not as good as The Belgariad, but seeing the gods point of view was different from his previous work.

People are blaming Leigh Eddings for the quality of work going down, this isn't fair, nor is it true, Eddings himself has said that his wife had worked with him closely when he wrote all his books and he felt it was only fair that she was given credit for it, if his quality of work has gone down (which I don't believe it has as much as people are saying) then it is because of other reasons.

An enjoyable read, likable characters and a decent plot.

This book is unreadable. I have read every other Eddings and enjoyed them very much. This book is poorly writting and dull. If this was Leighs first book by herself just using her husbands name then it was a miserable failure!! I got in about 100 pages and the dry jokes and dialog were to much for me. Every time someone said somthing the other person would repete it. It had some good caractors but the silly dialog makes this book a MUST NOT READ!

I have long been an Eddings Fan - The Belgariad introduced me to epic writing, and I've shared it with my family. I wouldn't share this book with the town drunk. I am sorely disappointed in the repetitious storyline, redundant dialogue, and overdone punchlines. I can't even tell that this is an Eddings' work - it reads more like an elementary kid's attempt.

David Eddings started his fifth big saga with "The Elder Gods" and it is quite good, with huge potential for the next installments. The characters are pretty different, compared to the old ones, more comical and satirical. The author offers a completely new idea of villain (it's a bug:) and some memorable scenes.
Still, the best thing about "The Elder Gods" is that the next installments will be better for sure. Here, the authors are "preparing" the feast and we must wait for it till the next volume. I'm happy that Eddings is still active - he is one of my prefered authors and his products has some literary quality, which is hard to say about most of the "epic" sagas.

I read Edding's Belgariad and Malloreon about 15x or even more...and still love them and would go back reading the books from time to time. But this...this....I can't even go thru chapter 4!!! It is totally unbearable!!! It's boring, boring, boring! I'm sooooo disappointed...what happened?

David Eddings and his wife Leigh created another spectacular fantasy with their new book "The Elder Gods", the beginning of the new series "The Dreamers'. again the reader will find memorable characters, interesting lands and twisted villains. I can hardly wait for the next one, thank you, Eddings team!

The Elder Gods appears to be a different style for the Eddings. It lacks the pizzazz of the Belgariad and the Mallorean. Writing seems to be on a lower plane, targeted for a less discerning reader than previous works. I suppose I will buy the next installment just because I like the Eddings and I want to see if the writing improves, but I somehow doubt that it will.

The story is gripping from the start, and really makes you want to read on.

The Elder Gods is truly a masterpiece, delicately woven into an epic novel.

The Land of Dhrall was invaded by the servants of the Vlagh, a hideous egg laying creature. To protect the sacred land, the God Dahlaine brought the Dreamers into existence. However, he didn't anticipate what the Dreamers were truly capable of.

I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys action and suspense.

I was a huge Eddings fan until I read this book. The characters are uninspired and boring. It was like reading something from a Jr. High student. If this is the best of what Eddings has left in him, then I suggest that he take up a new career. In other words I do not recommend this book. Read some of his earlier writings. Those you will enjoy.

Frankly I think the other reviewers are idiots for not liking this series. I'm in the third book of this series and so far I have found it a refreshing change. I've read both the Belgariad and the Mallorean, as well as the Eddings' Elenium and Tamuli and I found the Dreamers to be every bit as good as those were. To anyone who says that the Eddings should just have continued writing books in the world of the Belgariad/Mallorean, I say this reader is glad they didn't. The Dreamers series is well written, the plot is fresh and not overdone and the characters become just as dear to your heart as all of the other Eddings' series. I can't wait to start the fourth book and read the conclusion!

This is more an arguemnt for giving the book a try than it is a review.
After reading all the negative reviews I was reluctant to buy this book, but did anyway because David Eddings is one of my favorite authors.
I find the negative reviews short-sighted and look at the "Elder Gods" as a stepping stone to something great! In fact, I can't wait to buy Book 2 and enjoyed reading Book 1.
Would I recommend it? Definitely and without hesitation!

First of all this is not by any means one of Eddings best books, but it's not nearly as bad as many people would have you think. The concept of a fantasy series told from the point of view of the gods was really neat and original. The plot twists were a little predictable, but not annoyingly so. It is an easy read and not a bad purchase if you can pick it up cheap. I wouldn't waste money on the hardcover though. Pick up a used paperback and enjoy...

Don't let all the negative reviews put you off from this book. I read it when it first came out and just read it again recently and found it to be even more fun the second time around. The land of Dhrall is one of the most brilliantly crafted and richly peopled settings in the history of modern fantasy writing. The characters are very well drawn out and impossible to forget. I won't say all the criticism about the characters being similar to those from previous books by the authors or in regards to the bleeding dialog are wrong exactly but more misplaced in nature, I believe. For those of us who are fans of the Eddings' other works reading this book is like sitting down with some old friends. You may have heard some or even all of their stories and jokes before, but that doesn't subtract one bit from the joy of listening to their beloved voices tell them all over again.

Compared to all the drivel that passes for fantasy these days, this book stands out as a shinning star hidden behind a mountain of garbage. Do yourself a favor and climb that mountain. The view on the other side is pretty sweet.

Call me crazy, but I actually thought it was pretty good. Even though it was predictable, I liked it. I would recomend it to others, but only if you have a lot of time to spare...like an 8 hr. road trip or something...

This is the beginning of the new series by David and Leigh Eddings and it is not bad. I saw some negative reviews, but they are misleading, after all, this is just the first book and the next one will be better for sure.
I enjoyed it pretty much, even if I find other recently published books as "Eragon" and "Jarka Ruus" better.

How dare u people call ur selves eddings fans then bag out his latest book?!? Sure, it is not his greatest, but it is by eddings, and that counts for something. For goodness sake, it's a book one and setting up the storey for the next book.

And enjoyable read for eddings fans, (if u dare call ur self that) and enjoyable read for those how are starting eddings, but this would not be the best book to start on. Sure, he repeats himself a little with storey line and all, but the characters are likeable and for goodness sake........IT'S BY EDDINGS WHICH MAKES IT A DAMN FINE BOOK!!!

If you are a fan of David and Leigh Eddings'books, you'll be eager to read this one. It's a quick read and interesting, with likable heroes, terrible baddies and interesting adventures.
Very cool. "Treasured One", the second book, is sheduled for the next year, I really can't wait!

Love Eddings. This book wasn't quite there in his typical fashion . Still an entertaining read and I'll read the series... So take my "4-star" with s grain of salt. Perhaps I hold Eddings to too high a threshold of expectation.