hadaad
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Registered: 08-2005
Location: Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
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David Eddings
I really liked The Belgariad, The Mallorean, The Elenium and The Tamuli, as well as Redemption of Althalus. There was another one, it was not fantasy, so much, The Losers. I really enjoyed that one as well.
I'm reading The Dreamers now and it just doesn't seem to be as good as his other stuff. It's like nothing is coming naturally to him anymore. The dialogue is forced, the action is nonexistent and he has found repeating the same story from different viewpoints, though he almost never reveals anything new with a different telling.
It's like a first draft that he sent to the publisher.
Anyone else like Eddings? Should I keep reading The Dreamers?
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Reading: Don Quixote - Miguel de Cervantes
Writing: Resurrection edits
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12/3/2007, 5:13 pm
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Corvus
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Re: David Eddings
I've read the Belgariad and Mallorean, along with their associated books, as well as the first book of the Dreamers series, and I don't think I'll read anything else the Eddingses (Leigh has been his writing partner since the beginning; he finally owned up to it) produce. Their writing has a laundry list of flaws, not the least of which is that the women are always in charge, men are always overgrown boys, and the dialogue is much too modern. I also don't like the recurring theme of "this god adopts these people, that god takes those people, and all these gods mold their people in certain stereotypical ways". Nevermind that all the people of a particular nation, according to the Eddingses, behave in exactly the same way (all Drasnians are spies, all Thulls are stupid, all Murgos are insanely evil, all Chereks are boisterous Vikings, etc.)
While I'm at it, they're probably the worst offenders I've ever seen regarding the twin crimes of "convenient geography" (everything lines up a little too unnaturally for suspension of disbelief) and "Realmia" (place names ending in "-ia").
Last edited by Corvus, 12/3/2007, 6:07 pm
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12/3/2007, 5:55 pm
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hadaad
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Re: David Eddings
I agree. His fantasy is overly simplistic. However, I still enjoy the older stuff. It's easy to read, and the camaraderie is definitely fun.
It's just with the Dreamers, even the stuff he was good at (easy prose, fun characters -- even if they're not very complex, and the quest stuff) seems lame.
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Reading: Don Quixote - Miguel de Cervantes
Writing: Resurrection edits
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12/3/2007, 6:59 pm
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QS2
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Registered: 03-2006
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Re: David Eddings
I used to read Eddings as well, though as you get older I suppose the weaknesses become ever more obvious. 
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12/3/2007, 8:53 pm
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Loud G
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Registered: 01-2005
Location: Maryland, USA
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Re: David Eddings
I love their old stuff. I loved it when I was younger and I STILL do. So very enjoyable.
However, I read the first Dreamer novel and just was not enchanted. I read it but it was a struggle. There just was not the normal magic they usually give out.
--- Reading: Mistborn
Writing: Eriadhin
"Life is like a book, except it takes longer to get to the climax."
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12/3/2007, 11:13 pm
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Reythia
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Registered: 11-2005
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Re: David Eddings
quote:
hadaad wrote:
I agree. His fantasy is overly simplistic. However, I still enjoy the older stuff. It's easy to read, and the camaraderie is definitely fun.
It's just with the Dreamers, even the stuff he was good at (easy prose, fun characters -- even if they're not very complex, and the quest stuff) seems lame.
Hadaad, I agree 100%. I read the first three Dreamers books, just because I assumed that they HAD to get better. They didn't. I already resold the first book (the others I'd borrowed), and won't even read the last one. All of the first three books have exactly the same problems that the first one does.
My two major disgruntlements about the Dreamer series were the unnecessary repetition of scenes from trivially-different viewpoints (which continues through the third book), and the fact that every single character speaks with EXACTLY the same voice. I mean, these are supposed to be characters who grew up a world apart from each other and in different cultures, but they ALL use the same idioms and annoying speech patterns?
Corvus is right about the Eddingses' books being very similar and having a list of "simplifying" flaws. But I knew that going in to the Dreamers, and was okay with it. While I'd love it if he'd try something new with fantasy (not just the "his god adopts these people, that god takes those people, and all these gods mold their people in certain stereotypical ways" that Corvus correctly described), I wasn't really holding out much hope for that. Still, even if I don't expect fine literature when I pick up something by David Eddings, I do expect a good, quick, enjoyable tale with amusing (if predictable) characters and snappy dialogue. That just wasn't there in Dreamers.
Hadaad and LoudG, my suggestion is to burn your copies of Dreamers and go back and re-read the Elenium again instead. It's a much better use of your time and will irritate you far less.
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12/4/2007, 5:01 pm
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