Just Stop Writing!
It’s been a while since I posted a book review here, but I think it’s time. I just got finished reading The Elder Gods, written by one of my favorite authors, David Eddings. When I was younger, I loved his Belgariad, the Malloreon, the Elenium and the Tamuli.
In general, I hate repetitive authors. I really enjoyed The DaVinci Code and Angels and Demons to a lesser extent. After I read Digital Fortress, I hated Dan Brown. It was absolutely clear that he was a one trick pony. All of his books are almost identical. Only the subject matter is different. If you’ve read one of his books, you’ve read them all.
Now David Eddings also suffers from this. The difference here is that with his earlier works, he created memorable characters who you identified with and became endeared to. But with this new Elder Gods series, all of the characters are a mish mash of characters you already knew, and you don’t find yourself loving the characeters. I guess I’m a huge sucker for good character development. I don’t want to know what happens next, so much as I want to know what happens to the characters next. This explains why I like Tennis no Oji-sama so much. The plot is terribly predictable, but the characters are top notch.
Anyhow, back to The Elder Gods. Eddings’ writing has become stale. He’s telling the same jokes over and over again only with a new cast of characters. If I wanted to read the same book, I’d go back and reread his earlier works, (Which I have countless numbers of times), because then, I’ll at least like the characters involved!
Anyhow, even if you are an Eddings fan, you shouldn’t get this book. I had to struggle through it at many points, and I’m a die hard fan.
Next book on the horizon is Neal Stephenson’s Quicksilver. I’m going to be purchasing another book this weekend. Blink is a top candidate.