- Hardcover: 432 pages
- Publisher: Voyager; 1st edition edition (15 July 2003)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0007157584
- ISBN-13: 978-0007157587
- Product Dimensions: 24.6 x 15.6 x 4 cm
- Average Customer Review: 2.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (95 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 656,183 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
The Elder Gods (Dreamers 1)
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Product Description
Amazon.co.uk
David and Leigh Eddings are reliable producers of bestselling commercial fantasy. The Elder Gods opens their new series "The Dreamers", likely to comprise four volumes at least.
In the island fantasyland of Dhrall, eight gods operate in two shifts of four: 25,000 years on, 25,000 years of peaceful sleep. The fly in the ointment is an insectile Dark Lord called the Vlagh, who lurks in the central wasteland and has bred a horde of hybrid nasties with lethal fangs and stingers. These will strike during the confusion of changeover, with the new rota of gods not yet fully awake and restored to power. The human race, generally favoured by the gods, will be wiped out to make room for hive-mind swarms...
But one God has a cunning plan. The four sleepers are wakened early, manifesting as the Dreamers: terminally cute children without knowledge of their real selves and names. Visions of the dark future haunt their dreams, which are also able to reshape the present. In their innocence these children can do the one thing forbidden to the Gods. They can kill.
Despite spies, attempted betrayals, and old rivalries between the gold-crazed mercenaries, preparations for the first defence of a God's domain go very smoothly. There's much feel-good camaraderie and enjoyable invention of warlike arts such as 3-D mapmaking and the mass manufacture of bronze arrowheads. Meanwhile, benevolent forces greater than the gods are on their side and ready to do favours for them and the Dreamers: Mother Sea, Father Earth, even the Moon. What could possibly go wrong?
Unfortunately, although the Vlagh's minions are individually rather stupid, their mass hive-mind is infinitely more cunning than anyone had suspected. There are nasty shocks in store and the initial too-cosy atmosphere of The Elder Gods begins to dwindle, with real darkness and danger looming as later volumes chronicle the three further assaults predicted against the remaining three domains of Dhrall. David and Leigh Eddings are experts in giving their fans what they want. --David Langford
Review
Praise for David Edings:
'My ideal summer read… Having enjoyed the entire ten-book serial, I was delighted to be able to read this latest addition as it not only provides fantastic escapism in itself, but, being a prequel, will make my re-reading of the other books all the more fascinating.' The Irish Times
'All the verve and pace we've come to expect.'
The Dark Side
'Offers an absorbing storyline and some memorable characters as, once again, the author touches all the right fantasy bases, with warring gods, political intrigues, supernatural creatures and appealingly human magicians involved in a titanic war over the course of seven millennia. Eddings fans will no doubt snatch this novel off the shelves while readers new to the authors' world won't find a more appropriate place to begin exploring it.' Publishers Weekly
'There's no denying Eddings' offerings do entertain. This novel is for fantasy fans fed up with more fusty fare, or for anyone who likes mischief and merriment.' West Australian
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
22 of 23 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Also a big fan of the Eddings works, and currently gripped by Regina's Song, which is outside their usual genre.
Yes Eddings uses the same gags over and over or had you noticed?... yes i thought i noticed you noticing... etc. Yes the characters are basically re-incarnations with a few variations. Yes the storylines are basically predictable. But up until now they've managed to remain absolutly enchanting.
If repetition annoys you, just read one series. I'd be happy to recommend Belgarion/Mallorean or Elenium/Tamuli or even the stand alone Altheus, to anyone who doesn't know what the Eddings buzz is about. But I could never recommend The Elder Gods for fear it would put people off the good stuff.
Point being its not the repetition thats the problem, its the fact that its so weak! Where as the above books used the same ingredients cooked to perfection, this is like a thin soup with whats left of the ingredients boiled to death.
Its not even complacent, or tired, its just so bad that it smacks of a cynical ploy to milk a loyal fanbase.
I'm deeply disappointed
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I enjoy the eddings worlds, and bought this one and enjoyed it. I must admit i am partial to books that are in series (once i've found a few characters, i take an interest in how they are getting on over time!) and i look forward to reading the following series. I must admit i wasn't as enthralled with this initial book as i was with the belgariad, mallorean and elenium, but it definately has the eddings humour and some lovely characters, smart humour and as a very different story to those noted above, i found it enjoyable and would recommend it for anyone, whether new to the eddings ot nor.
16 of 17 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Having read the Belgariod, Mallorean and the Sparhawk sagas, I considered myself a fan of the Eddings work. I then embarked on the 'prequels' Belgarath and Polgara and was disappointed at how blatantly these were simply cashing in on the earlier works. Althalus was a slight improvement but was obviously a blip on the downward trend in quality. This latest 'saga' was the biggest disappointment to date - dull, poorly written, obvious plot and a simple re-hashing of characters from previous sagas. Did anyone else see the similarity between the girl dreamer and Flute/Aphrael? The writing was awful - a conversation takes place and then is repeated 4 times by the different leading characters ... must have been a way of making the book long enough.
I'm afraid this is it for me. I will continue to reread the old favourites but I will not be buying any more Eddings.
I'm afraid this is it for me. I will continue to reread the old favourites but I will not be buying any more Eddings.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
I am reviewing this book with this review
There is a fine line that all writers have to deal with at some point in their work - how to deal with revealing plot details. Too little, and the reader can be left confused. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Stephen Buxton
Caution!
This is a review of "The Dreamers" series overall.
I'm an avid Eddings fan and have been for a couple of dozen years. Read more
I'm an avid Eddings fan and have been for a couple of dozen years. Read more
Published 9 months ago by T. Lewcock
Don't waste your money.......
This is the worst series ever written. If your new to David Eddings DO NOT READ THESE - if your a fan DO NOT READ THESE. Read more
Published 23 months ago by Elaine
Probably The Worst Book Ive Ever Read...
I had never read a book by Eddings before but i had always seen them in bookstores and thought they sounded quite good from the synopsis so one day i decided to buy this book. Read more
Published on 18 Dec 2009 by Pyro Stick
Bland and simplistic
This is an odd book. The style of storytelling is very... simplistic. Bland, and curiously devoid of emotion. Read more
Published on 1 Feb 2009 by I. Cupples
He's become lazy
I have to say I loved all of David Eddings' earlier work. The belgariad, mallorean and the two Sparhawk sagas were brilliant. Read more
Published on 27 Nov 2008 by Mr. P. J. Schofield
pretty boring
A colleague of mine spoke very highly of this book so, although I wasn't familiar with David Eddings' work, I decided to give it a try. Wrong decision. Read more
Published on 2 April 2008 by Michelle
Give it a chance
I can't help but think, when I read others' reviews, that they are being slightly unfair.
The Elder Gods is not as good as previous offerings, but if you take it at face... Read more
The Elder Gods is not as good as previous offerings, but if you take it at face... Read more
Published on 29 Nov 2007 by Alexis Farseer
Its a photocopy
If you have read other books of David Eddings then dont read this. It's almost a photocopy of the elenium series with a couple of characters from The Belgariad thrown in. Read more
Published on 2 Oct 2007 by Mr. S. Gray
Lazy writing, same old plot, shallow repeat characters
David Eddings's early books were enjoyable romps, even if not in the Tolkien category that his publishers would have had us believe. Read more
Published on 26 Sep 2007 by Steve
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