The Ruby Knight
(Elenium 2 of 3)
by David Eddings
fantasy
copyright 1990
read in June 2018
rated 7/10: well worth reading
More rollicking adventures across a complex fantasy world ! More swords & sorcery, more "clever" tricks, more unlikely coincidences.
The coincidences, though, do get an explanation. Doesn't matter... even if it were pure deus ex machina, the story would be just as much fun :-) The plot is reasonably well constructed but it's the action that's enjoyable. The action and the likable characters.
The action is, admittedly, surrounded by a lot of words. A lot of description of doings which are not at all essential to the plot. I'm hungry, you're always hungry, yes, and I'm hungry now, we will have supper soon, I'll wait for supper... and so on. Till they eat supper. With comments on what is for supper and whose turn it is to cook it.
Not that it's tedious... just there. Lots of extra words that add little to the plot but, sometimes, add to our understanding of the characters. I read more quickly -- absorbing less -- in some of these non-essential passages. They did not stop me from enjoying the book.
This book is number two of a trilogy. Full marks to the publisher for making this clear, right on the cover. Can this book be read alone? I think so. Something... but not much... would be lost. The overall quest motive is restated but really, the interest is more from the adventures along the way. Identifying the established characters may be confusing but many are replaced by new characters.
Yes, I think that this book could be read alone. Though I am glad to be reading the complete trilogy, one, two, three.
If you had not read one, you would think that the end of two was sufficiently satisfying. I'm looking forward to reading three -- because I enjoy the style of the books rather than due to a desperate urge to know how it will finish.
Lots of fun, lots of action. Classic fantasy though not a classic novel -- just well worth reading. Pure enjoyment and great escapist fantasy.
Dr Nick Lethbridge / Consulting Dexitroboper
... Agamedes Consulting / Problems ? Solved
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"What a trial it is to submit to the whim of fools." … Captain Trumane, The Waking Fire
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