The Sapphire Rose

The Elenium, Book 3

By: David Eddings

Narrated by: Greg Abby

Length: 21 hrs and 20 mins

Publisher's summary

Finally, the knight Sparhawk had come to possess Bhelliom, legendary jewel of magic that alone could save Queen Ehlana from the deadly poison that had felled her father. Sparhawk and Sephrenia, ageless instructor in Styric magics, made haste to free Ehlana from the crystalline cocoon that had preserved her life while they desperately sought a cure.

But Bhellion carried dangers of its own. Once the stone came into his hands, Sparhawk found himself stalked by a dark, lurking menace. Whether the foul Zemoch god Azash was behind this threat, or some other enemy, even Sephrenia could not say - only that the sapphire rose held powers too dangerous for any mortal to bear.

Restoring Queen Ehlana would only be the beginning of Sparhawk's mission. With the aid of four stalwart knights, one from each Militant Order, he must thwart Ehlana's poisoner, the Primate Annias, in his plot to assume the throne of the Church. For, as Archprelate, Annias would serve his secret master, Azash, and deliver up to the dread god the one thing Azash thirsted for - Bhelliom itself!

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

©1991 David Eddings (P)2008 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Eddings should satisfy his many fans with the final volume of his Elenium fantasy trilogy, an adroit mixture of the exalted and the mundane." ( Publishers Weekly)

the power of a gem

The Goddess Aphrael has revealed herself and Sparhawk has the Bhelliom. with the quest almost over and the tool needed to restore his queen to health you might think that the story is almost done.

But the restoration of Queen Ehlana to full health is just the start. with Martel and Annias working together to put Annias on the throne of the church Sparhawk has a few loose ends to tie up.

what Sparhawk does not know is that the loose ends will end with one of his most dangerous and deadly quests.

hopeless sieges, love, political battles, and death of a beloved character will conclude this trilogy with a great adventure and a super surprising ending. a must listen and a instant love

Fairly good

Eddings fantasies are very good and well told. He relies too much on the deus ex machina for a final resolution. My real problem is the presentation. The reader, director and editor of these stories need to spend more time with a dictionary studying the pronunciation of a good many words. It grates on my ears when so many words are mispronounced.

A great end to this trilogy

The writing is good. if you enjoyed the first two novels you will like this one as well. All the lose ends from the story are tied up nicely while still leaving room for the next series. I guess I am in the majority as I actually liked the narrarator and thought he did a good job, especially as all of Eddings books have a ton of characters to voice.

Great story, narration got in the way.

I've been a fan of these books for years, they've become old friends.

When listening to familiar titles, you expect your take on the story and the narration not to match perfectly. In this case, the narration was so far off it got in the way of the story.

It's far enough off to me that I know I'll never listen to them again. I'd much rather sit down a read the stories myself.

A thrilling conclusion

Sparhawk has finally gained possession of Bhelliom, the one object in all the world that has the power to cure Queen Ehlana's illness and push back the tide of darkness that threatens the world. But in order to cure her he still has to return to Elenia alive, pursued always by the minions of the corrupt Primate Annias, who poisoned Ehlana and her father in his quest for dominion over the church and has allied himself with Azash, dark god of Zemoch, to that end. To add to that Bhelliom carries dangers of its own. From the moment he laid hands on it, Sparhawk found himself stalked by a black shadow that appeared the moment he removed te jewel from concealment. Whether this shadow is Azash or some other enemy or Bhelliom itself, even the sorceress Sephrenia does not know. One thing is clear however. Restoring Queen Ehlana is only the beginning of something much larger.
All in all I find Greg Abby's narration to be excellent, though as with the other two books he has a tendency to mispronounce some common words. But I like the personality he gives to the characters. Overall an excellent job.

Great book-terrible reading

David Eddings writes the word “peculiarly” a lot. You know how I know? The voice actor hasn’t been able to pronounce it correctly for any of the 3 books in the Elenium.

Good Story bad narration

Reader has good voice and intonation, clear defined and brings our the story. Trouble is he mispronounces so many words it destroys the overall story. I have the original audible on tape the narrator was not as good a story teller but he pronounced the words and names correctly. This guy should listen to those find out how to say the names then try again. If you had not heard the original audible story you may have thought this one was ok. If you had then you would be debating getting your money back

Very enjoyable!

An outstanding narrator! He changed his tone for each character's voice and it really helped in distinguishing each character. l don't know why there are bad reviews. I was a great story & well preformed!

I used to love this

I remember the first time I read this series I was in my early teens and I loved it. I have been listening to it now more than 20 years later. I'm not sure if it is the narrator (who is distressingly annoying) or the content which sounds like it was written for thirteen year old boys. Completely patronizing towards women and an interesting commentary on the "other" round it out. I guess I can ditch the actual hard bound copies I've been lugging around since I'm pretty sure I won't be reading them again.

great book. poor performance

I read this book as a teenager and enjoyed it greatly. The story is awesome! The reader of this audio books performance emphasizes incorrect words and syllables and even mispronounced some words entirely. I highly recommend the printed book, but not the audio version

Greg; punctuation!

Mr Abby, the purpose of punctuation in a story, is to pace the narrative to the scene the author is creating. Your ignoring of punctuation makes the story jarring and uncomfortable. Also, expressing appropriate emotion might be worth considering. Just a thought.

great story shame about the narrator

I have always liked this series and the story lines, but for the love of God can you at least get a narrator with a grasp of the English language.

Disappointed

I love this series of stories and think David Eddings a master storyteller. The disappointment is in the reading. Unfortunately, Mr Abby is not a master of story reading, with peculiar emphases and pronunciations. Poor choice by the producers of this audible title.

didnt get pasted chapter 1...

i have read the series and they are food books but the voice over is just so off putting.

This guy should never narrate anything again

Good story, although not as good as I remember as a kid. Nostalgic from my childhood. the narrator butchered all three books and should never be hired to narrate any sort of sci-finor fantasy again.

the sapphire rose

love the story but the narrator is terrible the badly read and often mistimed narration ruines some of the most poignant moments please tell me he is not reading the belgariad!

Has not dated well.

I read these books as a young teen, and at the time they really had a profound effect on me. To Eddings' credit, he clearly had a certain ability to craft easy to grasp stories and worlds. However, that's about where it ends. Listening back to these over 30 years later has proved to be a profound disappointment.

The writing is weak and the characters are shockingly thin. Each has one note and it's played ad nauseam. Practically every exchange reads the same as smug character after smug character constantly seek to get one up on each other. In fact, the whole thing reeks of smugness. Maybe a certain amount of this is down to the narration (but it should be noted that there is a different narrator for the second Sparhawk trilogy and, if anything, that is worse).

There are fundamental flaws throughout the story which compound over the duration of the trilogy. Every problem is solved with violence or the threat of violence. Sparhawk is a great hero who gets his way every time he puts his hand on the hilt of his sword. The racial politics is very dodgy, with every nations having an inescapable national character. Then there is the highly questionable relationship with Ehlana. When your novel contains a throwaway quip about how lucky Sparhawk is that he was able to raise his own wife, there is a serious problem.

However, the most frustrating and disturbing thing of all is perhaps Aphrael. She is intensely annoying, but we're told that she's cute and that everyone loves her so we're supposed to love her too. ***SPOILER*** Then, at the end of the novel, she turns into a changeling and takes the place of Sparhawk and Ehlana's daughter, something Sparhawk finds utterly charming instead of being horrified that his daughter of several years has been taken away from him. This is all dismissed with a wink and and a sardonic 'don't tell your mother,' yet another ill-judged quip in an ill-judged story. If that seems to be utterly lacking in empathy towards a parent, it makes a lot more sense if you read up about Edding's history of child abuse.

I hate to beat up on a story that was so formative for me, but while it may once have had its place, there are much better novels out there to inspire young minds. Avoid.

Worth staying with, if only just.

Ok there is mention in the other reviews of Clint Eastwood and they are unfortunately spot on.
Everything that could be wrong with the narrator is. From poor reading, mispronouncing (although consistent), missed inflection, humourless but the Clint Eastwood act is very good.
Could be an English/American thing but... is probably poor narration
The story, apart from being regular knights questing stuff, rattles along quite well. The usual heroes and villains, battles and gore, good God, bad God, pass the time well. Better written in some places than in others (something I didn't notice when I read the books) the story pace is we'll set if not just a bit DnD here and there.
A story worth staying with, but it does try to talk you out of it

Loved the story

Loved the story but would prefer to hear it read by an english accent

The Elenium Triology

Just finished the whole triology, enjoyed listening to this as much as I did reading it so many years ago. Sometimes the main characters are a little too invincible but it is still highly enjoyable all the same. Very well narrated too.