The Elder Gods

August 4, 2003
Only die-hard fans of the bestselling Eddings duo (The Belgariad series) will enjoy this slow-moving, low-tension epic fantasy, the first in a projected four-book series. The Land of Dhrall dwells under the stewardship of four gods, each oriented with one of the four compass directions. Dahlaine and his brother, Veltan, rule the North and South, while their sisters, Zelana and Aracia, rule the West and the East, respectively. Dhrall's center is a wasteland under the control of That-Called-the-Vlagh, a dark, inhuman thing of vast patience, power and ambition. Prophesy speaks of the Dreamers, children whose dreams will defeat the Vlagh by controlling the natural forces of Mother Sea and Father Earth. Dahlaine and his siblings each raise a baby Dreamer; only after the precocious children start to dream does he reveal that they are actually fellow gods in the world's life cycle, reborn with no memory of their previous lives. Dahlaine and his siblings hire human mercenaries, who eventually meet the Vlagh's forces in battle, but the dark armies prove unexpectedly resourceful. Despite a variety of characters (pirates, gods, aboriginals, soldiers, etc.), all speak in the same unlikely, bland manner, and dialogue generally replaces action. The authors will have to pick up the pace in the next volume to keep readers interested. (One-day laydown Oct. 14)Forecast:The inaugural volume of the authors' first new series in a decade, the book will hit bestseller lists initially but may have little staying power.

June 15, 2003
The launch of another series.

Copyright 2003 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 1, 2003
The land of Dhrall faces menace in the figure of a dreadful hive-queen creature, the Vlagh, poised in the Wasteland in the middle of Dhrall's four domains with her armies of reptilian and insectoid creatures. The Elder Gods cannot kill to defend the domains, so they strive to enlist human allies among the seafaring, even piratical Maags and their longstanding enemies in the Trogite empire. That effort means work for the Elders most on view: Narasan, who talks to dolphins, and Veltan, who rides a pet thunderbolt. Each god has a dreamer, who, though apparently a child, is an incarnation of one of the next generation of gods and has no scruples about killing with floods or volcanoes. The tale's merely human cast is full of interesting members, such as Rabbit, the undersized Maag blacksmith, and Narasan, the Trogite general brought back from beggary to a command in the war against the Vlagh. Rather a departure for Team Eddings, this light but not lightweight, understated, and sardonic series-opener bodes well for its successors. (Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2003, American Library Association.)