The Tamuli

The Tamuli Omnibus David Eddings Date: 30 June, 1999   —   Book product page Rating:

Fiction, Fantasy

Somehow or another, this series falls a bit flat. Maybe it's the fact that this is a second trilogy where he had seemed to put it to rest at the end of the first. Maybe it's the fact that this is a travelogue of sorts without going into great depth. Maybe it's the fact that in the third book, the protagonists get split and endlessly pursue their goal— a tactic that rarely works, as even the vaunted Lord of the Rings dragged a bit when they split the action.

Or maybe it's the fact that after so much buildup, there's very little aftermath— everything gets wrapped up in a quick fashion, and even after slogging through what seems to be too much detail of various and sundry things, you're screaming, "Wait! I wasn't finished yet!" Too many characters, not enough detail on some of them.

And Ehlana. She was presented to us as a strong female character, something Eddings has a lot of familiarity with, but she ends up coming across as a wilting flower. You can't tell her this; it will disturb her mind. You can't do that, she might go crazy. And, oh, she's more freaked out about her hair than by the fact that she hasn't seen her husband since getting abducted— give me a BREAK!

On the whole, however, it's not too bad... it's simply that Eddings has done better, and sometimes it shows.