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)

Surprise book

The first part was slow and I thought for sure this book was a dud, but when Sparhawk's friends enter the story they liven it up. I am very picky about my fantasy stories and this is one that has made my list. I would recommend it to anyone looking for a good book.

Great read

What did you love best about The Diamond Throne?

I read this book series in paperback several times over the year and it is a firm favourite of mine. I was delighted to find it in audible format. I am not as fond of the later Eddings books but is one has characters I like and I like the interaction between the characters.

Who was your favorite character and why?

I don't think I have one. It's the cast of strong characters and their interaction that keeps drawing me back to this book series.

Would you listen to another book narrated by Greg Abby?

Only if I had to because he was the only option and I wanted to hear the story. I found his accent off putting and some of his pronouncations weird.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

It's an old friend I just love immersing myself in this world.

Any additional comments?

There was some low background conversation at times that I found very distracting. Not loud enough to ignore, but certainly very distracting.

Revisiting old friends

I've read this book series a few times and found the audio versions recently. I also have the Belgariad series on audio book (read by Cameron Byerly). It took some getting used to having another person read David Eddings stories. Greg Abby has a different reading style than what I got used to with the Belgariad series. However, once he got into the different characters it got much better. During The Diamond Throne, Mr. Abby was getting to know the characters and it took a while for the flow to happen where the characters didn't all sound the same. All in all a good narrator once he got comfortable.

Solid read

Would you try another book from David Eddings and/or Greg Abby?

This series not quite as good as the Belgariad and The Mallorean but still a good read.

What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?

Main problem with the story is that not a lot happens even though the book is quite large.

Did the narration match the pace of the story?

Narration was fairly good, just some strange choices of pausing sometimes.

Was The Diamond Throne worth the listening time?

It is worth the listening time.

Any additional comments?

More padding and less character development than Eddings' earlier books.

Flat story, worse reading-from a huge Eddings fan

Is there anything you would change about this book?

The reading / voice "acting" for this story is awful - rendering it unfinishable for me. Being a huge David Eddings fan, I cut my teeth on Belgariad & Mallorean (having read the entire 10+ series at least 4 times over) - and in this current climate of harder-edged books and movie, this series just seems a little tame and predictable.

Better voice acting would help this along quite a bit - having not reached the end it's hard to say though if it would have been a good read overall.

Excelent read for fantasy fans

Good read if you liike fantasy books an van get around the readers mildly dull tone

A storyteller by a fireplace

Would you consider the audio edition of The Diamond Throne to be better than the print version?

David and Leigh Eddings create loveable characters and wonderful worlds in their books. The audio captures it, but to really savor it requires a book.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Diamond Throne?

Too many really. Sparhawk returning home in the rain in chapter one stays with the reader.

What does Greg Abby bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

He is alright. The voices of the character differ from those I created as I read, but it is enjoyable.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No. I love to savor it. Like a feast. not devour it like a goat eating grain.

Any additional comments?

I love the Eddings. I miss them and wish them well in their afterlife.

Ok story with, not my first choice, narrator

This was my first Eddings experience. I'd heard of course of the Belgariad etc but never read any before.

The story is pretty straightforward. Clear goodies and baddies with reasonable world building in terms of places, people and "fantasy constraints". Only problem with the story is that the good guys didn't really find many obstacles - yes they didn't finish what they wanted to do (very clear desire to make a series, never even a thought of resolution at any point during the book) but they kept moving forwards without any trouble.

I'll probably read the second book but not audio book... The narrator does voices decent enough and, apart from some awkward places here or there, was fine. But for me, and this is very much just me, medieval type fantasy needs an accent other than very strongly American. Like I say, it's just a preference I have and listening to this just didn't work for me.

the queens champion has a mission

on his return from exile, Sparhawk a Pandion Knight finds the newly appointed queen is deathly sick, the Preceptor of the order and his tutor of magic has joined with eleven others to entomb her in a case of magical diamond to preserve her life. the Primate Annias churchman of the city in blocking there every move to become the head of the whole church.

David Eddings strikes out with a new adventure, where magic can be learned by anyone but the race of Elene people so anti magic they get vicious, even its church does not believe in magic. but the four orders of the Knights of the Church has special permission to learn the magic of the Styrics.

to be able to change his magic to fit into this new world is amazing. it is so different from what he had before. I absolutely love the way he makes the quest important and with a set timeline.

feel free to start with this book the personalities are great and the Eddings do a great job of creating so many different cultures in a novel with each race having its quirks.

Great Book...Bad Reader

David Eddings is one of my favorite authors and I was excited to finally get to sit back and listen to story be read to me...and then I heard the narrator. Even though it has been many years since I read the series the story easily comes back to me but unfortunately it is at the cost of having to wade through one of the worst readers to which I have listened. Mr. Abby comes off as over acting in almost all situations in a melodramatic way that makes me cringe repeatedly. Unfortunately my love for the story will force me to buy the rest of the series and I can only hope that Mr. Abby has picked up some drama classes in between recordings.