- Mass Market Paperback: 448 pages
- Publisher: Del Rey Books; First THUS edition (July 1990)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0345367693
- ISBN-13: 978-0345367693
- Product Dimensions: 10.5 x 2.4 x 17.5 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (36 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,189,269 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
The Diamond Throne
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Product Description
Review
‘What separates the grown-up authors from the boys is the quality of the writing and David Eddings is one of the best’
Western Mail
‘Sparhawk is the best-realized hero in modern fantasy’
Daily Telegraph
Product Description
Sparhawk, Pandion Knight, and Queen's Champion have returned to Elenia after ten years of exile, only to find young Queen Ehlanda trapped in a block of ensorcelled crystal. As Sparhawk sets out to find a cure for Ehlana, he discovers that only he can defeat the evil plots that threaten her rule....
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IT WAS RAINING. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is the first David Eddings novel I've read and I approached it with a bit of caution as I'm not a fan of the likes of Raymond Feist and Terry Brooks and I've always assumed Eddings was of a similar ilk. So I was pleased to find that he's actually refreshingly different to the aforementioned authors, and in The Diamond Throne has written a genuinely enjoyable piece of mainstream fantasy.
Eddings doesn't exactly push the boundaries of fantasy with this book. The story is very derivative (the opening prologue is a complete re-hash of Gollum and the discovery of the Ring in LOTR), and he uses the well worn "heroic knight tries to save his Queen from the forces of evil" type formula. But what sets this story apart from many of Eddings's contemporaries is his wonderful ability to inject genuine wit and humour into the story. It takes a lot of skill to stop a fantasy story from descending into the realms of pretentiousness and Eddings pulls this off superbly. The star of the book, the Pandion Knight Sparhawk, is not just a formidable warrior, but also a warm and genuinely funny character, enjoying much good-natured banter with his fellow knights, even making fun of both them and his superiors. This makes him so much more of a down to earth and believable character and you instantly like him as soon as he enters the story. Sparhawk is a hero, but he's also human, he's not perfect, and he's certainly not dull, like many heroes can be in fantasy books.
Eddings's characterisation in this book is definitely one of his strengths, The Diamond Throne is full of hugely contrasting characters that all bring their own subtleties and twists to the story. This story has action, but it also has political intrigue, deceit and betrayals as some very devious people try to bend the affairs of state to their will.
Eddings's writing style is very accessible, he's a very good story-teller and in Sparhawk he has a very strong lead-character that will definitely make you want to read more in this series.
Eddings doesn't exactly push the boundaries of fantasy with this book. The story is very derivative (the opening prologue is a complete re-hash of Gollum and the discovery of the Ring in LOTR), and he uses the well worn "heroic knight tries to save his Queen from the forces of evil" type formula. But what sets this story apart from many of Eddings's contemporaries is his wonderful ability to inject genuine wit and humour into the story. It takes a lot of skill to stop a fantasy story from descending into the realms of pretentiousness and Eddings pulls this off superbly. The star of the book, the Pandion Knight Sparhawk, is not just a formidable warrior, but also a warm and genuinely funny character, enjoying much good-natured banter with his fellow knights, even making fun of both them and his superiors. This makes him so much more of a down to earth and believable character and you instantly like him as soon as he enters the story. Sparhawk is a hero, but he's also human, he's not perfect, and he's certainly not dull, like many heroes can be in fantasy books.
Eddings's characterisation in this book is definitely one of his strengths, The Diamond Throne is full of hugely contrasting characters that all bring their own subtleties and twists to the story. This story has action, but it also has political intrigue, deceit and betrayals as some very devious people try to bend the affairs of state to their will.
Eddings's writing style is very accessible, he's a very good story-teller and in Sparhawk he has a very strong lead-character that will definitely make you want to read more in this series.
13 of 14 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This was the first David Eddings book I read and in my opinion the best he has ever written. I wasn't quite sure what to expect when I first picked it up and started to read it. I think I was expecting some pitifully bad story about a boring knight trying to save his equally boring queen. However, to my surprise, within the first few pages I was hooked! I was deeply engrossed within the plot and found myself liking each and every character I came across (except for the bad guys of course). I was amazed at how much I enjoyed this book and David Eddings is now without a doubt my favourite author! I even have an entire bookshelf dedicated to his books.
I heartily recommend this book to anyone, whether you've come across Eddings' books before or whether you have never even heard of him.
You may be wary of his books at first but I hope you find them as brilliant as I do.
Enjoy!
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Kindle Edition
I've owned and read this series in paperback, and thoroughly enjoyable it is: a good classic fantasy.
But the Kindle version is badly converted: often missing punctuation (full stops in particular) and letting dialogue slide into the main text - this ruins the reading pleasure as it constantly catches you, breaks your rhythm and prevents you getting immersed in the story.
Should do better.
But the Kindle version is badly converted: often missing punctuation (full stops in particular) and letting dialogue slide into the main text - this ruins the reading pleasure as it constantly catches you, breaks your rhythm and prevents you getting immersed in the story.
Should do better.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
The Diamond Throne
This was a christmas present for my daughter in law, I can't review the contents as I haven't read it, But she said 'It's excellent'
Published 4 months ago by S. Massey
Great book, shortage of punctuation
In the past i've read all of David Eddings books, I downloaded the Kindle version of The Diamond Throne for ease of transportation. Read more
Published 6 months ago by C. Matthews
Annoyance Factor 8
Regarding
The Diamond Throne (first book of Elenium) by David Eddings
Wonderful book, works fantastically well for Kindle only thing that annoys me is that the... Read more
The Diamond Throne (first book of Elenium) by David Eddings
Wonderful book, works fantastically well for Kindle only thing that annoys me is that the... Read more
Published 9 months ago by Elin
Shame about the Kindle
I originally bought the paper version of this and loved it. I've read it so many times it is falling apart so I got the kindle version, and what a disappointment that was. Read more
Published 10 months ago by ChristheDBA
Very weak - rushed, shallow - yeuk
Many years ago I enjoyed the Belgeriad books (glossing over the "nicey, nicey" sentimental vomit bits) - so looking for a light escapist read I bought this trilogy to read over the... Read more
Published 10 months ago by A. M. Smith
Why only book one
I read this in paperback but haven't yet bought it for the Kindle mainly because the entire series is not yet available. Read more
Published 11 months ago by Mr. Daniel W. Weinberg
Fantastic... but why only have book 1 for the Kindle?
Just wondering why only the first book of this series is available for the Kindle... talk about getting you hooked and then not delivering!
Published 13 months ago by Daniel Cross
Kindle version review
Not a review, per se. Simply a comment on the quality of the electronic version. Purchased February 2011.
Why does there have to be so many typo's? Read more
Why does there have to be so many typo's? Read more
Published 15 months ago by Estraysian
Kindle Review: The Diamond Throne
This was the first book of David Eddings I read many many years ago. I picked it up at a Borrow-a-book thing in a pub in Anstruther, Scotland for 50p. Read more
Published 17 months ago by Doc Anthrax
a great read
it must be 4 or 5 years or more since I bought this, lol, All Eddings books are a great read
Published 21 months ago by Mr. K. W. Moseley
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