The Younger Gods: Book Four of The Dreamers [Mass Market Paperback]

***Added on July 2009***

I have just learned that David Eddings has passed away in June 2009. I am deeply heart-broken to have learned this as this man is probably the sole purpose why I read so much today. I truly enjoyed his books (with the exception of the last three Dreamers novels) and I was looking forward to his new book which was left unfinished. Thank you David Eddings for your visions and entertainment. You will be dearly missed.

*****

David and Leigh Eddings final installment of the Dreamers series, The Younger Gods, is a welcome end to what turned out to be a disastrous story. Don't get me wrong here; I mean that in a very bad way.

I have to say this because I cannot say anything negative about anything from David Eddings without feeling terrible in doing so: I've been a David Eddings fan since the Elenium series. I've read the Belgariad and Malloreon (all 13 books), The Elenium and The Tamuli, as well as The Redemption of Althalus. I have to say, that the Dreamers was so poorly written, it's hard to say that David had anything to do with this series. A turn-for-the-worst type of pattern has developed ever since Leigh was labeled as co-author. Is she to blame? I can't truly say, but when the author was "just David", the stories flowed wonderfully, were humorous, had great characters, and were serious all at the same time. It's terribly noticeable when Leigh's been involved that: the female characters are horribly annoying, not one character is funny, there's too much "let's get married" and "what's for dinner" nonsense, and contains too much kiss-kiss-lovey-dovey stuff that belongs in children's novels. Sure there was Ce'Nedra and Flute, but they were tolerable; not like the annoying female characters in the Althalus book and this entire series.

The Dreamers series started out good, not great, but good nonetheless. The second, third, and now fourth books ruined anything good that was going to come about from the first installment. The plot just became a mess and the story kept on repeating itself over and over again. The whole series became so confusing that it seems as if the author(s) became lost in writing the story themselves. Characters and situations would get involved at points, then everything would hit a snag or a brick wall, and the only way the author would go about getting through the mess would be "hey, by the way, he/she's a God and can do anything". David Eddings ONLY novels never did that.

The Younger Gods follows suit to the second and third books of the Dreamers series. The book makes no sense at all, the actual younger gods are practically non-existent, and the protagonists are never in any danger even with going up against overwhelming odds. There's way too much kiss-kiss hug-hug nonsense that adds to the horrible dialog.

"You said what?"

Yes--Horrible. The characters say the same lame punch-lines and they all talk the same. Ridiculous surprises (hey, this character is a God. Oh, and by-the-way, this other character is also a God because she used to play with dolphins) plague this novel. Too much jumping around, not enough action sequences (there is, though, a graphic death involving a gutting and beheading), too many nicknames and name-calling, and an overall story that is just far too poorly written to be any good. Far too many times you will want the author to get on with the story, but there is no story--everything in the end turns out to be totally meaningless. One example is the antagonist--the Vlagh and her servants are totally useless and rarely mentioned until the end of the book where we discover that the strongest and most violent creatures are just sitting in a cave doing nothing.

The ending is really disappointing--just like the entire series. Thankfully, it's over. I hope this is the last book from David and Leigh Eddings, but not the last book from David Eddings. This series is summed up with these overly used three words from all four books:

"What a shame".

I have been a HUGE Eddings fan since the very first series. While the overall quality of the various series have varied, for the most part I felt I got my money's worth. Having said that, I have NEVER felt so cheated by a series ending book in my life. The book sections were repetitive empty retellings of the same scenes from different viewpoints with almost nothing in the way of new insights, followed by a conclusion that just invalidated the entire series of books and left me feeling like I was watching a Dallas rerun (That's a HINT).

The dreamers is a rip-off

The Dreamers series has been disapointing as a whole and the final book is certainly no better. Its just plain poorly written and repetetive. I've been a fan of all of Eddings' previous work with the exceptions of High Hunt and Regina's Song, and The Dreamers may have been worse than them both; the characters lack much individuality and are hardly original (is anyone else tired of the girl who "kisses everyone into submission?" It was done with Sparhawk and Althalus, its getting more than a little stale)

The pointless repetetions from the viewpoints of different characters continues in The Younger Gods and many of the section breaks still take up three pages, effectively reducing the page count to around 365. The ending is as lackluster as the rest of the plot. Stay away from this whole series if posible; re-read one of your George R. R. Martin books instead.

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