Item: The Redemption of Althalus
Rating: 2.00
Author: metaphorosisreviews

by David Eddings and Leigh Eddings

David and Leigh Eddings were mythmakers and world builders of the first order. With The Redemption of Althalus, the authors of the Belgariad and Malloreon sagas created a thrilling stand-alone epic—boldly written and brilliantly imagined.

It would be sheer 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.

Praise for The Redemption of Althalus

“Highly recommended . . . Featuring a cast of engaging characters, some fanciful plot twists, and a light-hearted atmosphere that should appeal strongly to fans and first-time readers alike.”—Library Journal

“The story takes off. The interactions between characters, straightforward plotting, and doses of wry humor keep the tale humming.”—Booklist

“An engaging young reprobate hero . . . [A] magical realm of good-natured fun.”—Publishers Weekly

“A compelling, involving story.”—Science Fiction Chronicle

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.

The Redemption of Althalus

by David Eddings and Leigh Eddings

Reviewed by Metaphorosis Reviews on Mar 10, 2011

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