The Diamond Throne

The Elenium, Book 1

By: David Eddings

Narrated by: Greg Abby

Length: 15 hrs and 8 mins

Publisher's summary

Sparhawk, the Pandion Knight and Queen's Champion, returns from a long spell of exile to find his native land overrun with evil and intrigue, and his young queen grievously ill. Indeed, Ehlana lies magically entombed within a block of crystal, doomed to die unless a cure can be found within a year.

But as Sparhawk and his allies - who include Sephrenia, the ageless sorceress, and Flute, the strange and powerful girl-child - seek to save Ehlana and the land, they discover that the evil is even greater and more pervasive than they had feared.

Listen to another gem in David Edding's Elenium series.

©1989 David Eddings (P)2008 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

"[A] graceful, fluid style of storytelling." ( Publishers Weekly)
"[Eddings] draws once more on his particular strengths, combining heroic yet humorous characters with exotic settings and tangled politics to create a fast-moving fantasy that will appeal to his large readership." ( Library Journal)

Come on

loved the story. I've read it two times by book. I was less impressed listening, by far. Doesn't do the story justice in my opinion.

Great writing

I’ve read the books numerous times just great stories
Do yourself a favor and pick them up

loved everything about this

My second favorite book and series. Spot on performance. Fourth version of this book I now own.

Great series, bad narration.

I’ve read the series 4 or 5 times and decided to listen to it. Story is great, narrator is bad. He’s not really good, but it was bearable until he does Arasham. He makes him into Bullwinkle. Literally.

it was alright

i first discovered edding when i was in highschool, around 2001, and quickly read all of his books, repeatedly.

while the narrator was not top tier, he did ok.
there were several notable mispronounciations that were a bit jarring, like pronouncing hierarchy as high-rock-racy.

Horrible narration.

I have read these books and David Eddings is a great author!

Unfortunately Greg Abby's voice is better suited to tortures in the pit of despair. His voice is airy, wispy, and very nearly monotone. William Schattner in the original Star Trek, with all his over-acting, provides a better performance.

This narration very nearly ruins the book series. I almost dread going through 6 books with this terrible reading that would be best left in the vaults of the mind, in sheer silence.

Fantastic story. Lousy narration.

An all time favorite story. Hard to listen to since the narrator’s cadence is off.

Quirky pronunciations but overall a worthy job.

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.

My favorite Eddings Series

Opinions varied on David Eddings throughout his life, but I really like this series. Yes, his work is derivative but he is good at following the formula he developed. This serues was more gritty and mature than the Belgariad and Mallorean. I read this series as a young adult and was pleased to find that it holds up just as well in audio format.

Maybe I am in the minority but I had no problems with the narrarator and really liked this novel . Eddings did tend to write more for young adults (basically the J.K. rowling of my childhood) which is good because I was able to listen to a book I loved as a child with my daughter who is about the same age. After listening to the series with me she made me buy them in print and she read them repeatedly until the books fell apart. That is a pretty major endorsement.

This one is definitely worth a credit.

OK Book. Great Listen

I am a big fan of Terry Brooks, so a friend mentioned that I should try David Eddings. I like his books, I would not say that I love them. However, Greg Abby is a GREAT reader. I wish he did more reading.