The Ruby Knight (Book Two of The Elenium) [Hardcover]

David Eddings (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 31, 1990

Presevred within a tomb, Ehlana, the Queen of Elenia can only be saved by using the Bhelliom, a magical jewel that has been lost for centuries. Sparhawk, the Queen's Champion, must set off on a quest to locate the stone. But the evil god Azash has plans for it himself.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In The Diamond Throne , the first book in this trilogy, Sir Sparhawk and his companions discover that Ehlana, Queen of Elenia, had been given a rare poison, administered by Primate Annias, head of the country's church, in his effort to use the royal treasury to buy the election of the next Archprelacy. The only possible cure is the Bhelliom, a lost, powerfully magical artifact that even the Elder Gods are hunting for. Here the members of the group search for Bhelliom themselves, in spite of rival search parties, church and mundane politics, war and an angry, evil God. Eddings's delightful style propels the reader along a well-crafted and carefully unfolding course, and even through the few places he falls back on cliches of the genre. His characters are satisfyingly drawn; Sparhawk, his friends Kalten and Sephrenia and their companions are complete individuals, and the minor players are distinctive. A thoroughly enjoyable fantasy/adventure.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

The Pandion knight Sparhawk and his companions continue their quest for the Bhelliom, the legendary jewel whose power alone can save a dying queen. Eddings's strength lies in his ability to create thoroughly likable heroes with personalities that transcend the formulaic fantasy genre. Graceful prose and judicious humor add style to this excellent addition to fantasy collections. Recommended.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 406 pages
• Publisher: Del Rey; 1st edition (October 31, 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0345370430
• ISBN-13: 978-0345370433
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.3 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (29 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #861,647 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

David Eddings was born in Washington State in 1931 and grew up near Seattle. He graduated from the University of Washington and went on to serve in the US Army. Subsequently, he worked as a buyer for the Boeing Aircraft Company and taught college-level English. His career as a fantasy writer, with his wife Leigh, has been spectacular.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars "Middle-child syndrome", June 2, 2004

By 

Ashley Megan "amazonfox" (Vernon, CT United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Ruby Knight (Book Two of the Elenium) (Mass Market Paperback)

Unfortunately, the "middle child" syndrome continues its time-honored tradition here. Although there is some action, for the most part "Ruby Knight" is a place-keeper, marking the time between when Sparhawk figures out what he has to do and finally does it.
At the end of "Diamond Throne", it was revealed that the only thing that would save Queen Ehlana was the Bhelliom, a legendary sapphire of enormous power. Once it was a part of the Royal Crown of Thalesia, but was lost during the monumental Zemoch War several centuries earlier. Now Sparhawk has to track it down, dig it up, learn how to control it, and get it back to Ehlana, before the spell preserving her life fails, and those of his friends who are supporting the spell die with it.
So Sparhawk and Co. trek across the continent, fighting a few battles, meeting a few characters (some of whom will become important later, so pay attention), avoiding the Bad Guys (as led by Annias, the churchman who's seized control of Ehlana's kingdom and is looking to take over the Church as well, and Martel, Sparhawk's nemesis) and learning much more than they planned about the REAL history of their world. We finally find out what the heck is the deal with Flute, the Styric orphan Sephrenia adopts, but as I said, this book mostly exists to keep Books 1 and 3 from bumping into each other.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Absolutely Addictive!, March 29, 1998

By 

Joanne Garcia "reader, knitter, mom" (Massapequa, Ny United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Ruby Knight (Book Two of the Elenium) (Mass Market Paperback)

In his sequel to The Diamond Throne, Eddings spends more time developing the characters as well as taking the reader on a whirlwind quest for Bhelliom. This book was one that I couldn't put down. I took it everywhere with me and read it until it was DONE. It left me wanting more. I recommend it to all you fantasy readers out there. I liked it much more than The Diamond Throne!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Ruby Knight - by Robin, December 21, 2006

A Kid's Review

This review is from: The Ruby Knight (Book Two of the Elenium) (Mass Market Paperback)

I have read the two first books, The Diamond Throne and Ruby Knight, they are both very good. However, I will focus on the ruby knight.

I give this book five stars for an excellent story, short and good environmental descriptions and a great character build-up.

Sparhawk is the main character of the book, he is a Pandion knight, which is a religious knight order of the church. He and his fellow knights goes on a mission to find a magical stone whom can save the young life of their queen. On their journey in the Ruby knight they encounter magical beings and other evil creatures, they use different tactics and methods to get away from them, and solve the mystery of the since long missing stone, lost in the old battle by the Randera Lake. Azash, the evil god, sends out his spies to find and eliminate the Fellowship.

This is the second book of three, it brings an extra touch to the whole story, the first one mostly brings one detail about the land the live in (Elenium) and some character based story, completed with some background information. I love David Eddings books since they are so full of life, they are both romantic as well as exciting. He uses a quite simple language compared to some other authors, like Brian Craig - Plague Daemon, I never finished that book, it was great fun, when you could read a full sentence without checking the vocabulary.

Back to Eddings, this is the 14th book I have read, written by David and Leigh Eddings.