Customer Reviews

The Elder Gods: Book One of the Dreamers

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I couldn't believe that David Eddings could write a book as bad as the reviews were saying, so I had to read it myself. I'm sorry to say that the reviews were spot on. This is bad by any fantasy novel standard, not just Eddings's. The dialogue is terrible, the repetition of exposition is maddening, and the majority of the thinly-developed characters all sound alike and are almost interchangeable in any particular conversation. The authors were already taking on a challenge by having the main characters be "gods" who are never in any danger and seem like they could brush away what few obstacles they face with a wave of their hand if they wanted to, but when you add the element of "dreamers" who foretell the future with nigh perfect accuracy, and the events in the story play out just as they're foretold... I mean, how do you create suspense or any sort of compelling story out of that? The book needed to be either thought-provoking or high comedy to work, and it's not anywhere close on either count. It just has no redeeming qualities, and I've never said that about any fantasy novel, let alone an Eddings novel.

Someone gave me books 2, 3, & 4 so before I could read them I needed to get book 1. I am glad I did as the series was well worth the price.

I bought this book because I like David Eddings. I shouldn't have bought this. It was very slow and boring. I read the whole book hoping it was going to get better. I refuse to buy the second book.

If you like clever plots, actions, novelty, deep psychological background, surprises, you won't find it here. Read back the others series of the Eddings, you will have fun and thrills. Here, it 's shallow and repetition. When in the same book (the Second of the serie) you have three times the same plot, with a very small difference of point of view, and the same jokes, well, it's boring. The plot is one of PC game, Age of Empires, Civilization.
The foe : The BIG evil Vlagh, insectoids mama, who generates millions and millions of soldiers each week, and has the IQ of a lemming.
The gods :
4 gods who seems to discover humanity just before going to seep, and give 4 others gods ( the heroes) power to wrestle with the foes.
The heroes:
standard humans, who get along telling wise cracks and trying humor. One tactics against the insectoids, build forts, poison them, retreat, and once again, buil fort... at the end, a god finish the foe with pyrotechnics.
Do it four times, and you have four books.

If you know that you will be interrupt several times, and read it 30 pages a day, with a trepidating life around, you will forget that the Viking sergeant crack, was the same that the Indian ranger just said the chapter before.