The Sapphire Rose

The book definitely brings the series to a satisfying conclusion, but the denouement runs a little long (though, to be fair, getting the denouement the right length is something that lots of writers have problems with). Probably the bigger problem with the book's end is that, approaching the conclusion, it screams, "The writer got the publisher to agree to another trilogy, so he's going to lay some plot hooks for the next one!"

This is aggravated by the fact that I'm reading the book's first printing, and right after th end of the story we get this little bombshell.

Here ends The Sapphire Rose, thus concluding the tale of The Elenium -- but not the adventures of Sparhawk and his companions. Watch for further danger and magic in The

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Tamuli, a new series from David Eddings, forthcoming from Del Rey Books.

Far be it from me to deny an author the right to make all the sequels he wants to his book series, but once it's done, presently surprise me with the next series with these characters, instead of dropping a "Tune In Next Time" on me. It actually ends up lessening the tone of the conclusion, changing things from a satisfying, hard earned conclusion, to a short breather before the next storm comes in. It's clear from the writing that Eddings is aiming for the former, but because of that little pre-advertising blurb at the back, it becomes the latter. show less

Enjoyed it enough.
Moved along fast enough,
Liked the epilogue,
It avoided what often happens (that annoys me) where after 3 books the finale comes swiftly and easily and then the book just ends.
But,
I got a little sick of repetitive dialogue, such as:
"You're a very bad man"
"I know"
Also, the Eddings seem to have a little trouble writing female characters. While being dry and treating the men around her like idiots worked for Polgara in the Belgariad, I felt like Ehlana alternated between this and her supposedly charming little girl acts and tantrums. I found that after all the talk involving how great she was, she was a disappointing and dislikable character.
Also -
I found the grooming aspect of a certain relationship rather creepy - show more especially that there was little attempt to justify it or handle it as anything but perfectly acceptable. But hey, the authors came from an era where it was OK for Woody Allen to get it on with his own stepdaughter so I guess my uncomfortableness at this is just me being a product of my times?
But, I rate these books according to my overall enjoyment, which was quite high despite my criticisms. show less

A good conclusion to the Elenium. The storyline of the previous novels comes to a resolution, with just enough fear of possible death, political intrigue, and humor to round out the series. Fun reading and a good ending.

The Sapphire Rose is the final book in the David Eddings fantasy trilogy The Elenium, and overall it provides a satisfactory conclusion. There were even a few twists I wasn't expecting. Rather than summarize the book and give away some of the events of the earlier two books, I will simply say that The Sapphire Rose continues to tell the story of Sparhawk's quest to save his queen from death, while at the same time trying to prevent the evil god Azash from getting loose and wreaking havoc on the land. Fans of traditional epic fantasy will likely enjoy this final book, especially if they liked the first two books in the series.

I didn't like the dark, disturbing scenes in the series, nor did I care for the its treatment of the religion of show more the Elenes. The Elenic religion is a thinly-veiled caricature of Catholicism, and I found it shallow and disingenuous.

Overall, The Elenium is a decent fantasy series, but not one to which I will likely return. show less

Too long, and lacking in the lightheartedness of the previous volumes. This is the conclusion to the trilogy, and while it does manage to wrap up all the loose ends there are too many to make it as enjoyable as the previous volumes. The seriousness of the Quest finally impacts on the writing, which is no bad thing, but it comes very late in the day, and hence doesn't sit comfortably with the previous volumes.

With the Magic Trinket now in his possession Sparhawk can finally restore his queen to her radient health. Apparently only 6 months have passed since the prelude to the first book - they seem to have been travelling an awful lot longer than that. This first quarter of the book I would have included in the previous short volume, show more making this one more reasonable. Having solved this issue the next on the agenda is dealing with the rogue churchman and his designs on the Archprelate's throne. Cue much politicing, long speeches and a big siege, before finally the matter of the Evil God can be dealt with. Given a bit of detail to the characters and world building this could easily be subject of three books, instead it all gets trimmed, glossed over, and crammed into one.

The tone is a bit darker than the previus volumes with the characters' banter less prevalent - which is a shame because that was about the highlight of the series, such as it was. Fortunetly one of the main fantasy cliches - invincible heros - is avoided and a main character is killed. The way that this is handled is probably the best bit of writing in the entire series, maybe in Eddings' entire fantasy writings. Suddenly for a few pages, the characters have depth and feelings, and just about to manage to emerge from their stereotypes. Unfortunetly it doesn't last, and they all revert to form again. An exceptionally long epilogue rounds out the tale, setting the scene for the sequels.

Overall I suppose it's a fair ending to the series, all thoroughly predictable though. show less

The adventure story was good.

But the marriage of Ehlana and Sparhawk made me very uncomfortable. He is an older experienced warrior. She is young and in very many was inexperienced. Sparhwak had basically raised her as a child until he was exiled when she was eight years old. When he describes how he feels about her it is very paternal. It feels like Ehlana is fulfilling a childhood fantasy by marrying him right away. She hasn't seen him for over half her life. Her letters are very much like speeches. She doesn't write like a young girl in love.

I know that David Eddings books are very much a repeated formula from series to series but that does not take away from my enjoyment of them. I first read his books many years ago when I chose them because they were the longest books I could find. I enjoy his characters and the plot and I find that in general they stand up to the test of time as long as you can enjoy the raging sexism.