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Mythmakers and world builders of the first order, the Eddingses spin tales that make imaginations soar. Readers have thrilled to The Belgariad and The Malloreon, magic-filled masterworks chronicling the timeless conflict between good and evil. But with those sagas brought to their triumphant conclusions, fans were left hungry for more. Now at last the wait is over. With The Redemption of Althalus, the Eddingses have created their first-ever stand-alone epic fantasy . . . It would be sheer show more folly to try to conceal the true nature of Althalus, for his flaws are the stuff of legend. He is, as all men know, a thief, a liar, an occasional murderer, an outrageous braggart, and a man devoid of even the slightest hint of honor. Yet of all the men in the world, it is Althalus, unrepentant rogue and scoundrel, who will become the champion of humanity in its desperate struggle against the forces of an ancient god determined to return the universe to nothingness. On his way to steal The Book from the House at the End of the World, Althalus is confronted by a cat--a cat with eyes like emeralds, the voice of a woman, and the powers of a goddess. She is Dweia, sister to The Gods and a greater thief even than Althalus. She must be: for in no time at all, she has stolen his heart. And more. She has stolen time itself. For when Althalus leaves the House at the End of the World, much wiser but not a day older than when he'd first entered it, thousands of years have gone by. But Dweia is not the only one able to manipulate time. Her evil brother shares the power, and while Dweia has been teaching Althalus the secrets of The Book, the ancient God has been using the dark magic of his own Book to rewrite history. Yet all is not lost. But only if Althalus, still a thief at heart, can bring together a ragtag group of men, women, and children with no reason to trust him or each other. Boldly written and brilliantly imagined, The Redemption of Althalus is an epic fantasy to be savored in the reading and returned to again and again for the wisdom, excitement, and humor that only the Eddingses can provide. show lessTags
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souloftherose Another epic fantasy tale featuring gods
Member Reviews
Unlike most of Eddings' previous works, 'The Redemption of Althalus' takes place in its own world, though the basic plot isn't dissimilar to the various books featuring Garion and his companions.
Althalus is definitely *not* a nice man, brought up to be a liar and thief until the time when he's approached by a stranger who wanted him to steal a book. No problem Althalus thought, well, except - what's a book? the untutored Althalus wanted to know. A box contained bits of paper, he's told and he didn't see a problem with taking that, especially as the book was supposed to be in an empty house. The location was a bit strange: The House at the End of the World! But there was a lot of money involved and Althalus was always interested in show more money, especially if there was lots of it involved.. Althalus' source's information was a bit out of date though; the House was not deserted; there was a cat with the voice of a woman, and the powers of a goddess. Over time, Althalus is educated in the way of the Book and of the conflict he has been promoted to lead.
Again, there is no way that this could be described as a sophisticated book but it's fun and interesting in its own fashion and it is a bit more sophisticated than his earlier series books. show less
Althalus is definitely *not* a nice man, brought up to be a liar and thief until the time when he's approached by a stranger who wanted him to steal a book. No problem Althalus thought, well, except - what's a book? the untutored Althalus wanted to know. A box contained bits of paper, he's told and he didn't see a problem with taking that, especially as the book was supposed to be in an empty house. The location was a bit strange: The House at the End of the World! But there was a lot of money involved and Althalus was always interested in show more money, especially if there was lots of it involved.. Althalus' source's information was a bit out of date though; the House was not deserted; there was a cat with the voice of a woman, and the powers of a goddess. Over time, Althalus is educated in the way of the Book and of the conflict he has been promoted to lead.
Again, there is no way that this could be described as a sophisticated book but it's fun and interesting in its own fashion and it is a bit more sophisticated than his earlier series books. show less
A perfect, self-contained fantasy adventure. For a 700 page novel I breezed through this. The writing flows effortlessly and the characters are all endearing. While it doesn't reinvent the wheel by any means, it knows exactly how to spin the wheel for what is quite an enjoyable ride.
I have not read any books by David & Leigh Eddings for years and I was a bit concerned that this book would be a letdown, but I was immediately captivated by the storytelling style and by the protagonist, Althalus.
The secondary characters were all interesting as well, filling their roles in the overall story and adding a few surprises here and there.
While not quite high fantasy, there are a quest of sorts, puzzles to be solved, and battles to be won.
Entertaining and satisfying as long as one doesn't look too closely or delve too deeply into the how and why of things.
The secondary characters were all interesting as well, filling their roles in the overall story and adding a few surprises here and there.
While not quite high fantasy, there are a quest of sorts, puzzles to be solved, and battles to be won.
Entertaining and satisfying as long as one doesn't look too closely or delve too deeply into the how and why of things.
The first fantasy book I ever read was David Eddings' Enchanter's End Game, Book 5 of The Belgariad. I searched out and found books 1-4 and then tore though The Malloreon, The Elenium and The Tamuli. I have read these series countless times. I read The Losers and even though it was in a modern setting the writing style was similar enough that it was a comfortable fit. I read all the expended books associated with the world of the Belgariad. Then I read The Redemption of Althalus. Every bad habit, every small flaw in Eddings' other books combined to form the terrible monster that is The Redemption of Althalus. This book feels rushed, recycled and phoned in. It's my belief that one of two things happened here.
1. David let go of the show more reigns and let Leigh write this one herself (or vice versa, they claim all the previous books were a group effort)
or
2. The Eddings needed to finance a new expansion onto the guest house.
If you love the works of Eddings, do yourself a favor and NEVER READ THIS BOOK. It was a massive dissapointment. show less
1. David let go of the show more reigns and let Leigh write this one herself (or vice versa, they claim all the previous books were a group effort)
or
2. The Eddings needed to finance a new expansion onto the guest house.
If you love the works of Eddings, do yourself a favor and NEVER READ THIS BOOK. It was a massive dissapointment. show less
Entertaining enough, but a bit confusing to anyone who has read the Belgariad, Elenium, Tamuli, and Malloreon series'. Its like the author took personality traits from characters in those series' and mixed them in a hat and assigned them to new characters. It gives a weird feeling of having read this before.
David Eddings wrote roughly three books in his life. Unfortunately, he convinced people to publish them, over and over, with minor changes in wording and characters, and must have turned them into quite a gold mine. This book is a shorter version of the Belgariad (unlike the Mallorean, which is a version of the Belgariad with an identical length).
Here's what makes this book difficult to rate: If you don't know it's the same book as the Belgariad, it's pretty good. Probably 3.5 or 4 stars. But why give that many stars for ripping off another book?
So, I rate it low. Read the Belgariad instead, for the same experience with a fuller story.
Here's what makes this book difficult to rate: If you don't know it's the same book as the Belgariad, it's pretty good. Probably 3.5 or 4 stars. But why give that many stars for ripping off another book?
So, I rate it low. Read the Belgariad instead, for the same experience with a fuller story.
For Eddings fans, this book will be very familiar. A typical Eddings contest between good and evil, with gods on both sides actively involved, mainly through their somewhat more than human surrogates. A number of archetypes are involved, though with Edding's usual take on them, making it a bit different. There's also some overly convenient time travel involved. Basically, this is a mini-Belgariad. Its not a bad book, I enjoyed it, but I really wanted it to be more.
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Seit dem großen Erfolg seiner fünfbändigen Belgariad-Saga gehört David Eddings zu den beliebtesten Autoren der modernen Fantasy. Galt es bisher als sein Markenzeichen, keine Serie unter drei bis fünf Bänden zu schreiben, überrascht er seine Fans jetzt mit einem in sich abgeschlossenen Roman aus einer neuen Welt mit einer ungewöhnlichen Hauptfigur.
Althalus ist ein Dieb und Schurke, der show more zu allem bereit ist. Als er einmal wieder dringend Geld benötigt, nimmt er den Auftrag an, ein Buch zu stehlen -- ein Buch, das so selten ist, dass er zuvor noch nie etwas von ihm gehört hat. Er findet es im Haus am Ende der Welt und muss sich von einer sprechenden Katze erklären lassen, wovon es handelt: von der Schöpfung aller Dinge. Als Althalus das Haus schließlich verlässt, hat er seine Meinung hinsichtlich seiner ursprünglichen Auftraggeber geändert. Mit grimmiger Entschlossenheit versammelt er eine Reihe von Gefährten um sich, um den Kampf zur Rettung der Welt aufzunehmen.
Wie die bisherigen Romane von David Eddings handelt Althalus in erster Linie von zwischenmenschlichen Beziehungen. Dabei erinnern Althalus und seine Kampfgenossen etwas zu sehr an die Figuren der Belgariad-Saga. Der theologische Rahmen ist nicht ganz so differenziert ausgearbeitet, wie man es gewohnt ist. Statt der Vielzahl von Göttern in früheren Werken müssen die Leser jetzt mit nur dreien Vorlieb nehmen. Dem entspricht auch der Mangel an ernsthaften Konflikten: Allzu leicht überwinden die Helden auch die schwierigsten Hindernisse, die Schurken scheinen von geradezu peinlicher Einfallslosigkeit.
Wer bisher noch nichts von David Eddings gelesen hat, sollte es auf jeden Fall erst einmal mit Kind der Prophezeiung probieren. Seine Fans sollten ihm Althalus nicht allzu übel nehmen und auf den Beginn einer neuen Serie hoffen. show less
Althalus ist ein Dieb und Schurke, der show more zu allem bereit ist. Als er einmal wieder dringend Geld benötigt, nimmt er den Auftrag an, ein Buch zu stehlen -- ein Buch, das so selten ist, dass er zuvor noch nie etwas von ihm gehört hat. Er findet es im Haus am Ende der Welt und muss sich von einer sprechenden Katze erklären lassen, wovon es handelt: von der Schöpfung aller Dinge. Als Althalus das Haus schließlich verlässt, hat er seine Meinung hinsichtlich seiner ursprünglichen Auftraggeber geändert. Mit grimmiger Entschlossenheit versammelt er eine Reihe von Gefährten um sich, um den Kampf zur Rettung der Welt aufzunehmen.
Wie die bisherigen Romane von David Eddings handelt Althalus in erster Linie von zwischenmenschlichen Beziehungen. Dabei erinnern Althalus und seine Kampfgenossen etwas zu sehr an die Figuren der Belgariad-Saga. Der theologische Rahmen ist nicht ganz so differenziert ausgearbeitet, wie man es gewohnt ist. Statt der Vielzahl von Göttern in früheren Werken müssen die Leser jetzt mit nur dreien Vorlieb nehmen. Dem entspricht auch der Mangel an ernsthaften Konflikten: Allzu leicht überwinden die Helden auch die schwierigsten Hindernisse, die Schurken scheinen von geradezu peinlicher Einfallslosigkeit.
Wer bisher noch nichts von David Eddings gelesen hat, sollte es auf jeden Fall erst einmal mit Kind der Prophezeiung probieren. Seine Fans sollten ihm Althalus nicht allzu übel nehmen und auf den Beginn einer neuen Serie hoffen. show less
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Author Information
117 Works 123,497 Members
David Eddings was born on July 7, 1931 in Spokane, Washington. He received a B.A. in English from Reed College in Portland in 1954 and a M.A. in Middle English from the University of Washington in 1961. After serving in the U.S. Army for two years, he worked as a grocery clerk, as a sales clerk for the Boeing Company, and as an English teacher in show more a business college and a teachers' college. During his lifetime, he wrote more than 25 books, many of them with his wife Leigh Eddings. His first novel, High Hunt, was published in 1973. His other works include the Belgariad series, the Mallorean series, the Elenium series, and the Dreamers series. He died on June 2, 2009 at the age of 77. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
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Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- The Redemption of Althalus
- Original title
- The Redemption of Althalus
- Original publication date
- 2000
- People/Characters
- Althalus; Dweia; Em; Daeva
- Important places
- the house at the end of the world
- Dedication
- For the sisters, Lori and Lynette, who have made our lives so much more pleasant.
Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you! ! ! ! ! ! - First words
- Prologue:
In defense of Althalus, it should be noted that he was in very tight financial circumstances and more than a little tipsy when he agreed to undertake the theft of the Book.
Text:
Althalus the thief spent ten days on the road down out of the mountains of Kagwher to reach the imperial city of Deika. - Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)Prologue:
And with that, Althalus drained his cup, bowed floridly to the other men in the tavern, and gaily set off to see the wonders of civilization for himself.
(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)Text:
He took her in his arms and held her with tears of joy streaming down his face. ’Oh, I do love you, Em!’ was all he could say. - Original language
- English
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