The Treasured One: Book Two of The Dreamers [Mass Market Paperback]

This book is not up to Eddings old style or even the standard of later edition books by David & Leigh Eddings. It was sorely disappointing yet I kept reading, like probing a sore tooth!

The first book was not very good, the repartee is getting dull and standard as well as every character seeming to be a cardboard copy of those who have gone before - just about every man is an amalgam of Belgarath/Silk/Sparhawk/Barak etc etc- with none of the warmth, humor and originality that made them all such lovable characters. (the women are either Polgara's or the rather nauseating Elenia character childgoddesses)

In this book:
Zelana's domain has been secured from the invasion of the servants of insect-like overmind the VLAGH but now her brother Veltan is having a premonition of trouble along his borders. The Dreamers have dreamt of 2 invasions and a great deal of chaos.

Sadly the characters may as well be interchangable because they all have the same supposed to be dry humor but now standard overdone satire. This makes it hard to follow the conversations, as they all reads like one long monologue.

Is it because I read that Eddings book (was it the Rivan Codex?) where the Authors described their formula for writing? I cannot believe that the reason this book is so stale.

Every passage is described in at least three ways before we are allowed to move on, and the authors will always take the opportunity to retell a plot direction ie battle tactic, at least 3 times. As if this was not enough interminable repetition, I discovered to my horror around the 6th chapter that the past chapters & events are retold from different viewpoints.
The authors take this opportunity to describe origins and motives, (which seem to be similarly interchangable)and then go on to relate, in torturous detail, the past months happenings.

This is repeated at least 6 times and what makes this so boring instead of interesting, is we already know exactly what happens and has happened on account of it being described at least 3 times in great detail from one character to another already. . .

Is my review beginning to sound repetitive? Perhaps it's an infectious virus...

So. The child/dreamers are vile little know-it-alls, as well as being revoltingly snide, whilst at the same time that usual gooey sweetness (eg: "well I'm always right, now give me a kiss-kiss").. Urgh.
Still the children are also the most likeable figures, but are only briefly aired*

The mysterious benefactor we know exactly who it is.

The only arch villian appears in bug form, and alas we only hear his voice through roars. I am sure if the authors gave him a voice it would be full or the same sort of overblown sardony with which every other character speaks.

Can I bear to review my beloved David Eddings this badly? I think I must.

If you borrow it from the library you will be disappointed but not as much as if you brought it... I purchased this book at the airport to read on the plane and now, 5 months later I have read it, but it's not a page-turner.

Poor show from David Eddings and I must say I feel that his books have taken a turn for the worse since Leigh Eddings began to be credited as authoring.

It is still more enjoyable than some really poor grade fantasy books and my rating of 2 stars is in comparason to other Eddings books, not what is on the market.
The plot is quite good, the characters, were they depicted less stiltedly are still good, and I will read part 3, bc I'm hoping that a little bit further into the series they might pick up the pace a little?

I also confess to being intrigued with whether any of these dopey or dull men are intended for the ladies - the only girls are the goddesses & Ara, wife of stodgy farmer Omago who invents the spear? and various other weaponry.

*perhaps the authors are saving that for a separate book - book 2, point of view of dreamers??

Readers will find an interesting conclusion to the book wherein it seems that the armies needen't have been gathered at all, if only everyone had done a little more communicating. This may seem a bizzare statement to make, as I have already complained about the excessive and repetitive conversations, but there you go. Just a little contrast for you to mull over.

"The Treasured One" is the second book of David Eddings' new series "The Dreamers". The first book in this series, "The Elder Gods", was a complete disappointment and it is only my fondness and nostalgia for Eddings' earlier work that keeps me reading this series. After the Domain of the God Zelana was saved in "The Elder Gods", the enemy, the creature the Vlagh, has targeted another Domain for invasion: that of the God Veltan. As the Gods cannot actually act directly to harm another or protect their people and Domain, they must use good willed men and women to help protect the land of Dhrall.

Veltan has discovered that the Vlagh and the bug like minions of the Vlagh are going to invade his Domain. He is able to get his peaceful citizens to form and army and also hire out the mercenary army which helped save Zelana's Domain. Most of the characters from "The Elder Gods" only play minor, supporting roles here. Instead we are introduced to Omago, a favorite of Veltan. Omago, like any good hero is incredibly provincial but intelligent and quick witted. For example, Omago invented the spear. Perhaps this doesn't seem like much, but in Veltan's Domain nobody had ever seen or heard of a spear. So, while the rest of the world has had a spear for centuries (if not longer), Omago invented the spear. Omago is one of the leaders finding a way to defend Veltan's Domain. Meanwhile a former priest turned soldier, turned traitor has betrayed the Domains with the intent of acquiring all of the gold which was promised the mercenary soldiers for fighting.

If this all sounds kind of dumb, it is. But it gets worse. "The Treasured One" is told through the perspective of several characters: Omago, Jeltan (the traitor), and a couple of other characters. The trouble is that "The Treasured One" is more background than it is story. Eddings tells us the individual background stories which have nothing to do with the conflict at hand and all of this background leads up to the same place: the Vlagh is about to invade Veltan's Domain. But when we get back to the "present" time, we are then in another Section of the book dealing with another character's background. By the end we are brought up to the present a good four or five times with very little actual progress in the novel. Besides which, the writing here isn't very good, either. The characters are still variations on the classic Eddings characters of Polgara, Silk, Sparhawk, Talon, Barak, and Flute (and others). There is just nothing original here. The action is described the same, though with somewhat less detail. The characters all sound the same and act the same, and the old jokes are still repeated. I hate that I have to admit that with this series it appears that David (and Leigh) Eddings has lost whatever craft they had with their earlier series, and this is very disappointing because I grew up reading The Belgariad and I loved those characters, and I enjoyed his other three series and there should have been no reason why this series couldn't have been as good as his earlier work, except that it is so much work. If you must read this book, borrow it from the library. It's just not very good and right now I would be very surprised if the series gets better.

-Joe Sherry

I'm afraid to admit that since they wrote, "The Redemption of Athalus," the Eddings duo has done nothing but dissapoint me (albeit I have yet to read "Regina's Song"). I've read, "The Belgariad," and "The Mellorean," (not to mention his other two series that are almost the same but not exactly) countless of numbers of times. It's these books that keep me reading the stuff that keeps coming out by the Eddings duo and I keep hoping that they're going to strike gold again but they just keep striking out.

I was insulted when I read the begining of the book. It didn't get much better when I realized that the Gods in the land of Dhrall are all idiots. For the first half of the book I couldn't read more then two pages before I fell asleep. I did enjoy the segments when they gave insights into some of (okay most of if not all of) the mortal characters lifes, because while they were doing this they left out the sniveling idiotic Gods from the land of drool.

After Eddings beats it into you that these things had to happen and the many different point of views of them happening, it turns out that they didn't have to happen and now everyone is in the way. During a short anti-climatic war between the "churchies" and the minions of "the vlagh," who your never really sure which side is winning it seems like Eddings remembered that he had a dreamer and why not put him to use making a river that seperates "The Bla," from Veltans domain.

Please Eddings I put up with Flute in the Elenium and the Tamuli with nary a complaint but I think if I have to endear another kiss-kiss I'm going to yak-yak.

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