Jo
Written on Nov 14, 2019
A fabulous brand new Eddings standalone fantasy, set in an entirely new magical world: the signed, de luxe edition A bronze-age burglar, armed robber and sometime murderer, our hero Althalus is commissioned to steal a book by a mysterious cloaked stranger named Ghend. Althalus sets off to the House at the End of the World to steal it -- after stealing Ghend's cloak, as well, since winter is coming on. (Althalus is a rogue who can get away with almost anything...maybe with everything!) At the House at the End of the World, he finds a talking cat...in the same...Read more
A fabulous brand new Eddings standalone fantasy, set in an entirely new magical world: the signed, de luxe edition A bronze-age burglar, armed robber and sometime murderer, our hero Althalus is commissioned to steal a book by a mysterious cloaked stranger named Ghend. Althalus sets off to the House at the End of the World to steal it -- after stealing Ghend's cloak, as well, since winter is coming on. (Althalus is a rogue who can get away with almost anything...maybe with everything!) At the House at the End of the World, he finds a talking cat...in the same room as the book Ghend described. What he can't find once he's in the house is the door by which he entered. Only 2467 years and an ice age later does Althalus re-emerge with the cat, Emmy, in the hood of his (Ghend's) cloak. By now he can read. He's read the book and discovered a tool mightier than the blunt instrument he once used to disable his victims. The book was written by the god Deiwos, whose evil brother Daeva is trying to unmake the world. Emmy is in fact their sister and she's setting out to save the world with Althalus to help her. No easy task.
First there is a quest to unearth the magical knife that will enable Emmy to assemble and command her band of essential helpers: Eliar (young soldier), Andine (leader of a small country), Bheid (black-robed priest), Gher (ten-year old orphan), Leitha (telepath/witch). Their respective commands: lead, obey, illuminate, deceive, listen. Althalus is commanded by the Knife to seek. Battles follow against Gelta the Queen of Night and the armies of Daeva involving many devious manoeuvres in and out of the House where Doors can be opened (solely by Eliar) to any place at any time. Daeva has his Doors, too. When Daeva can't win through battle, he tries revolution. When Dweia (Emmy) can't win any other way, Althalus will persuade her to lie, cheat and steal -- reciprocating the lessons in truth, justice and morality Emmy has been giving him for some while. The existence of the world hangs in the balance and love cannot be guaranteed to triumph in this glorious epic fantasy.
First there is a quest to unearth the magical knife that will enable Emmy to assemble and command her band of essential helpers: Eliar (young soldier), Andine (leader of a small country), Bheid (black-robed priest), Gher (ten-year old orphan), Leitha (telepath/witch). Their respective commands: lead, obey, illuminate, deceive, listen. Althalus is commanded by the Knife to seek. Battles follow against Gelta the Queen of Night and the armies of Daeva involving many devious manoeuvres in and out of the House where Doors can be opened (solely by Eliar) to any place at any time. Daeva has his Doors, too. When Daeva can't win through battle, he tries revolution. When Dweia (Emmy) can't win any other way, Althalus will persuade her to lie, cheat and steal -- reciprocating the lessons in truth, justice and morality Emmy has been giving him for some while. The existence of the world hangs in the balance and love cannot be guaranteed to triumph in this glorious epic fantasy.
- ISBN10 0007103522
- ISBN13 9780007103522
- Publish Date 3 July 2000
- Publish Status Out of Print
- Out of Print 23 April 2003
- Publish Country GB
- Imprint Voyager
- Format Hardcover
- Pages 704
- Language English
- URL http://harpercollins.co.uk
9780002247542
Hardcover
9780345440778
Hardcover
9781299218598
eBook
9780002261845
Paperback
9780345446923
eBook
Reviews
Metaphorosis Reviews
Written on Mar 10, 2011
reviews.metaphorosis.com
2 stars
Remember Polgara from the Belgariad ? How endearing it was at first that she was just wonderful and always right about everything? And then it was cute? And then tired, then tiresome, then irritating, and...Read more
reviews.metaphorosis.com
2 stars
Remember Polgara from the Belgariad ? How endearing it was at first that she was just wonderful and always right about everything? And then it was cute? And then tired, then tiresome, then irritating, and finally really annoying? Well, characterization in Redemption picks up right where the Belgariad left off - it jumps straight to annoying without the intervening stages. Eddings has always been a victim of 'late Heinleinism' - a disease that causes all men to be brave and foolish, and all women to be beautiful and wise, without fail. Here, he and Ms. Eddings have entered the final, Beyond the Sunset phase. Admittedly, there's less group groping, but there are hints of it.
The Redemption of Althalus is an effortless novel - but only in the sense that the Eddings team clearly didn't try very hard. While it starts well, it quickly drops into a careless, sketchy style that is more focused on clever quips than on either plot or character development. In some ways, it reads like the skeleton for a trilogy or quartet, never fleshed out. Magic is used widely, without much explanation, and very much ex machina. It's extremely frustrating to never know why magic can do this with a snap of the fingers, but can't do that; why key character Dweia can see and hear this, but not that; and most irritating of all, why she knows aspects of the future in great detail, but others apparently not at all. There's little to no suspense in the book; the good guys do all the right things all the time. Once in a while there's a small setback, but there's never any question that right will win not only in the end, but at every step along the way.
By about page 500 (of 700), the going is pretty hard. By 600, it's torture (by the way, offhand torture and cute violence are staples). But the end is in sight, so you push on, just to finish. Not worth it.