The Diamond Throne: The Elenium, Book 1

The first part was slow and I thought for sure this book was a dud, but when Sparhawk's friends enter the story they liven it up. I am very picky about my fantasy stories and this is one that has made my list. I would recommend it to anyone looking for a good book.

enjoyable, fun, memorable

sparhawk ... i've always felt an affinity for him growing up as a kid ... i wanted to be a hero just like sparhawk and i think some of that fascination with him has held up over the years ...

the narrator made the main character, sparhawk--whom i've always assumed was gruff and swarthy--sound like a bad impression of keanu reeves from "point break" ... i kept waiting for sparhawk to whip out a surfboard halfway through the story ...

sometimes i groaned loudly in dismay when the narrator made one of my favorite characters growing up sound like a braindead & weak surfer dude ...

perhaps the narrators should read the book first themselves to get an idea of what type of person certain characters are (at the VERY least the main character) ... the narrator made sparhawk sound weak and unintelligent ... *gameshow buzzer*

I read the Elenium and Tamuli serieses back in 1996 when I was sixteen. I'd just finished reading the Belgariad and Malloreon novels earlier that spring, so I was slightly disappointed that the Elenium and its sequel series took a different turn. But the humor found in what has become one of if not my absolute favorite fantasy serieses continues in the Elenium universe. The Elenium tells the story of Sir Sparhawk, a member of an order of knights known as the Pandions, soldiers of the church of the Elene God, a deity similar in many ways to the Christian god. His worshippers often behave in similar ways as well, right down to the inflexibility and intolerance of other religions that some Christian fundamentalists display. The Pandion Knights, however, as well as the three other Militant Orders of the Church, are exempt from certain restrictions of Church law, such as the prohibition against the practice of magic.
Sparhawk, having just returned from a ten-year exile from Elenia, comes home to a much-changed kingdom. King Aldreas is dead, seemingly killed by the Falling Sickness, and his daughter, the strong-willed Queen Ehlana, is suffering from a fatal disease and being sustained by powerful Styric magic while the search for a cure is undertaken. But now the kingdom is being run by the corrupt Primate Annias, who seeks dominion of the Elene church. It soon becomes apparent, however, that something far more sinister than ordinary politics is at work.
Greg Abby's narration is very well-done, although I did notice that he tended to mispronounce some fairly common words such as Impudent or Hexagonal. His voice, however, reminds me of a combination of those of actors Neil Dickson and Lex Lang. In short, very well-done aside from the quirky pronunciations. He does manage to give life to the many characters in the story. When humor is called for he manages to pull it off quite nicely. In short I'm glad I bought the series.

I've lost coun't how many time I've read this book. Now the pleasure of listening. David Eddings brings his stories to life, with love. Sit back & enjoy this rolcking tale... but beware this is only book one!!! David does love his cliff hangers!!!

This book was one that I couldn't be distracted with. You will miss key points if you are not paying attention. The book is very good, the characters are almost real. Can't wait to finish the next book. Will the princess be ok?

I love these books. They are great, classic fantasy. I red them years ago and was thrilled to see the audio release. But the narrator leaves a lot to be desired. He mispronounces many words, like impudent and hexagonal, and unfortunately those words and others he butchers, are in the story a lot. He seems only to have a few voices, and his street slang american accent just did not work for me. The stories are worth it, but I hope the next series has a different narrator.

I've enjoyed Eddings' Belgariad and Malorean, so I thought I'd like this trilogy. So far, it's typical Eddings, with a bit more convoluted politics, and a fairly slow leadup to the main quest part of the story. The narrator, however, ruins whatever enjoyment I'd have, however. He's limited, and recognizes his limitations, doesn't try to voices, for example. But his mispronunciations are making the book unlistenable. One word, in particular, is "hierarchy" - it's used a lot in the book, and the narrator consistently massacres it, which jerks me out of the story every time he hits the word. I'm not sure I'm going to continue on with the trilogy because of this.

All in all, i enjoyed this book. the narrator wasn't the best, but not bad either. i purchased the second book and i'm about half way through, so far so good.I am looking forward to listening to the 3rd book.

I read this book series in paperback several times over the year and it is a firm favourite of mine. I was delighted to find it in audible format. I am not as fond of the later Eddings books but is one has characters I like and I like the interaction between the characters.

I don't think I have one. It's the cast of strong characters and their interaction that keeps drawing me back to this book series.

Only if I had to because he was the only option and I wanted to hear the story. I found his accent off putting and some of his pronouncations weird.

It's an old friend I just love immersing myself in this world.

There was some low background conversation at times that I found very distracting. Not loud enough to ignore, but certainly very distracting.

Yes, I like the story and the characters.

mispronounces many words

Yes.

Mr. Abby's voices for the characters are good, but he has a faulty grasp of the pronunciation of a number of words over two syllables. One is "impudent," of which he accents the "pu", and another is "ramshorn," which should be pronounced "rams-horn" and not "ram-shorn." This word occurs in the 2nd and 3rd books of the series, repeatedly.