Books: 'The Elenium' by David Eddings (1989-1991)

'The Diamond Throne' (1989)

This is actually rather impressive. I've always been a little reluctant to re-read the Elenium due to the ticking timer at its core, and the more adult tone, but courage has been accumulated and the sense of wonder re-stoked. The 'Elenium' and the 'Belgariad' represent the peak of David Eddings, when he was constructing whole worlds with seeming ease, and not merely repeating the same patterns with a twist.

After the raging medievalism/barbarism/whatever-ism of 'The Belgariad', we get a totally different setup in 'The Diamond Throne'. Gone are the various races, each with its own stereotype or cliches, and the innocent naive hero with his soldierly companions and sorcerous mentors. Here we have a battered Knight of the Church, a continent-wide religion which crosses state lines and influences everything to some degree, with its own capital city and leader. However, Sir Sparhawk is also the Champion of his own Queen, and she has been poisoned. It's a very different scenario when your hero is returning from an exile, already knows the ropes and levers of government, and is as cynical as they come. The magic is different too, operating not by the Will and the Word, but by spells and incantations calling on the power of the mysterious Younger Gods of Styricum, a minority race on the continent.

Now, having read this at a formative age and reacting a little negatively at the time, I can't entirely pretend to be impartial about 'The Diamond Throne', but the writing is impressive. That is undeniable. It's not as driven a story as the first part of the 'Belgariad', with protagonists who don't have a clear path to follow, but the meanderings as they work out just what is going on around them are entertaining, and the characterizations are nice. The power is mainly in the world-building and the variations of the kingdoms of the conintent of Eosia, as well as in the complex shenanigans of a world with an overriding Church and occasional ghosts. Fiction wouldn't be fiction without a few ghosts wandering around with things on their minds.

That ticking clock still annoys me, though. It's integral to the whole thing and vexes considerably. Blast it all.


'The Ruby Throne' (1990)

'The Ruby Knight' has a very odd moment, where everything is supposed to turn around, but the effect is that of a handbrake turn toward where the story needs to go. As a consequence, it's a book which is definitely of two halves. To begin, we have the continuation of 'The Sapphire Throne', and then we segue fully into the proper and directed hunt for 'The Bhelliom' and the conclusion that will come in 'The Sapphire Rose'.

We get lots of character work, a segue into horror, some tussles with the hideous creature that is the Seeker, a bit of necromancy, some flirtation, and a lot of intrigue. Mainly, however, 'The Ruby Knight' sets us up for the final part of the story. What will happen once they release Ehlana from her sustaining crystal and heal her? And what has the hideous god Azash got to do with it all? The final book will reveal all. Or will it?


'The Sapphire Rose' (1991)

And so we come to the end of 'The Elenium', and wonder just what we have read. Sparhawk ends up married to his Queen in the opening of the book instead of the end, an emasculated god is killed, a protagonist dies, and we get one of those epic endings. Actually, we also get one of those post-script endings that I enjoy so much, after the main narrative has completed, and everyone settles down into an idyllic life of sorts. Well, it's not quite like that time, as we get a global grieving of sorts, followed by a monumental Spring, but it's still nice. Things do go on, and just as we enter the story 'en media res', so do we also leave it, at a new beginning.

'The Sapphire Rose' is much more cohesive than 'The Ruby Knight', with no need for authorial interventions to turn the story. It does feel oddly disconnected, though, with the absence of the Child Goddess Aphrael, the ever so brief honeymoon, mental manipulations by dark forces, and the confrontation with the twisted God Azash. In between, we have the election of a new Archprelate (Pope) and the siege of the Holy City, so there is a lot going on. The intricacies of papal elections and corrupt ancient democracy are quite nice.

Despite the implied gripes, it's an amazing world construction, and the idea of the Child Goddess is very impressive. It's a bit gruesome, though, and probably unnecessarily so.


Overall, 'The Elenium' is a grand trilogy, which hooks up oddly in the middle. There is a massive amount of dialogue, and sometimes the characters seem a bit interchangeable, but it's a worthwhile read if you liked 'The Belgariad', without really equalling or surpassing it. Oh, the joys of very lengthy narrative!

O.