I used to think David Eddings had some talent as a fantasy author. I haven't read anything of his in several years so I bought the Dreamer series expecting a good read. I was extremely disappointed. The writing is very weak. The characters are shallow and one dimensional. I cannot believe the dialogue is so silly and repetitive. The characters seem to say the same thing every 5 or six pages. The plot line is predictable and there is no suspense or intrigue to be found. I thought after the first book that it might get better, but it continued to plod along. I do not recommend any of the books in the series. Save your money and find a good fantasy book/series. This is not it. It has turned me off to ever wanting to read Eddings work again. ( )

Uch. A rehash of every other Eddings book I've ever read. ( )

This review is for the whole dreamers series. I can't say this is Edding's best work. it's a good story; there's and evil creature that wants to take over the world with its minions and a group of gods, goddesses, children and other various characters who fight it off in a series of wars. But the reader quickly gets annoyed by the sardonic sense of humor that EVERYONE in the books seems to have. in his earlier books there was one or two characters that could make funny jokes by pointing out the obvious and making cryptic little remarks but in this series it seems everyone is that character and it gets a little tiring. and confusing there are so many characters in this series and they are all so much alike one loses track because it doesn't really matter who is talking as they all talk alike ( )

The Elder Gods is the first book in the Dreamers series, which takes place in the land of Dhrall, where gods live on the Earth along with men and an evil, insect-like creature called the Vlagh. For this first installment, the people of Dhrall have become threatened by the Vlagh and its minions, and so the gods of the land have created the four Dreamers to help in the fight. Much of this book involves familiarizing the reader with the world and its history, as well as introducing the important characters. While I don't read a great deal of epic fantasy, I have read it in the past, and this particular series is just not for me. The world that the Eddings' have built and its intricate history had the potential to be interesting for me, but in the end the writing itself felt kind of cliched and wooden, and few, if any, of the characters were compelling. All this could have been salvaged for me with some intense action, but that was largely absent as well. I probably will avoid reading further volumes in this series, but fans of the Eddings' could very well find lots of enjoyment here. Unfortunately, it left me, personally, cold. ( )

(Alistair) What can I say?

It's Eddings. It was brain-candy night-time reading that required nothing from me during a period of 3am mornings, so I hope you're not expecting much of a review, here.

Except -- you know all those Eddingsesque tropes that have gained in intensity with every series since he started writing? Yeah, the trend continues. They're all even more so.
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