InsaneJournal

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Eeeeeddings!
My post.



I think you have the Ce'Nedra-Adara chronology right - I'm far too lazy to go check, even though the book is seven feet away. You know, it would make sense for Ce'Nedra to be subconsciously jealous - she has that supremely selfish streak, and little to no empathy for other people; at least up until that point. Of course, judging from the rest of Eddings' work, such complications are probably beyond him, and it's all down to shoddy writing - but that doesn't mean the rest of us can't fill in the blanks he left behind. That's what fanfiction is about, after all.*

(*I know you don't write fanfiction, and I've mostly stopped, but this is what it's about for me; my work tends to fill in the blanks, show scenes we didn't see but I think we ought to, and expanding on existing situations - it's a fun exercise. Also, minor characters are fun to work with.)


Ah, yes - Elenes from the eastern continent. In Tamuli, the westernmost kingdoms on the Daresian continent are populated by Elenes (whose church is not the "Hi, we're Catholic!" Eosian church, but rather a more "Hi, we're faintly Greek-Ortodox, but this is never explored properly!"). Still, like you said, if they came from the eastern continent, it makes no sense that the original settlement would be western Eosia. It also makes no sense that Zemoch would be populated by a people who look mainly Styric (even if they're, er, crossbreeds - is that the right word?), because logic states that the Elenes would simply move west one settlement at the time, and therefore the western part of Eosia should be the domain of Styrics, or possibly Peloi. But of course, such pesky things as logic and common sense rarely bother Eddings while he's worldbuilding. Guess he skipped reading that part of his history books while doing "research".

I also find it interesting that the Styric civilisation is mentioned to be forty thousand years old, whereas the Elene civilisation is a couple of thousands, if that - you'd think that a civilisation that has had forty thousand years to evolve, and has magic to boot, would have moved beyond the apparent limits of technology existing in E/T. You'd think they would have at least discovered steam power by now. In fact, comparing it with our real world history, even the Elenes should have invented steampower by now. Eddings casually throws around words like "millenia" and "ancient" and has civilisations that have existed for eons, yet the technology of his worlds seem to freeze once everyone's discovered steel and the means of forging swords.

And the Church Knights - oh lordy lou, the church knights. *rolls eyes* They make even less sense. Chyrellos lies in neutral territory between Arcium, Elenia, Lamorkand and Cammoria, yet only Arcium and Elenia have Church Knights. Deira makes sort of sense - it's still on the main continent, after all, and sort of connected with the rest of it; one can imagine that once upon a time, the kingdoms might have looked a little different, and the church had a more direct influence over Deira. But Thalesia? It's across the sea! It's almost off the map! It's troll country! It's easy to understand why Rendor doesn't have Church Knights - they're Eddings!Muslims after all - and I can sort of understand Pelosia, which was named after the Peloi, who don't really care all that much about religion (which also begs the question why King Soros of Pelosia is a religious fanatic to the point where he almost wears out his kneecaps praying at every shrine and chapel he comes across), but why not Cammoria?

Mind you, the Genidian Knights (that's the Thalesians, Ulath's buddies) don't seem to care very much about the church. Every single one we come across - except Patriach Bergsten (who is named Bergnes in the Swedish version, for some reason) - seems very irreverent; up to and including their Preceptor, Komier. They wear orge horns on their helmets, for crying out loud! They're slightly more civilised Vikings.

Hmph. The limited number of Church Knight Orders is probably in place because Eddings wanted a limited number of characters - again with the aversion to complications. If he had invented more orders, we would probably have had to suffer through the introduction of even more characters, because we all know he can't resist giving us a tour of the world.


Meh. Dull villains are dull. The only thing that creeped me out about Bellina was the cannibalising people while they were still alive - something about the way Occuda told it to Sparhawk just made my stomach turn. The rest of it, though? Same old, same old. Martel was good, though - power hungry, clothes kept on, no obvious perversion; he was like Zakath, only Zakath redeemed himself while Martel didn't. (I got something in my eye when Martel asked Sephrenia to bless him as he lay dying, though I didn't actually cry - I could empathise with him, somehow.)


Yes, Revived!Ehlana is a pain and a half. It's repeatedly mentioned what an impressive queen she is, and how formidable a political opponent blah blah blah - but Eddings keeps having her act like a silly little girl. She repeatedly compromises both herself and Sparhawk, and her decision to go on an expedition to Chyrellos in the beginning of Tamuli is downright childish ("Oh noes, Dolmant ordered the Preceptor of one of the four orders to do his job! How dare he!" ), but is hailed as politically astute once they actually get there. Why is Count Lenda the only one who calls her own her childishness? And yes, the way she traps Sparhawk in the relationship - despite his splashing in the creepy pool (you're welcome to use it over and over until you grow tired of it. Just glad I could be of some phrasing-help) - is not only childish, but also somewhat cruel. Sparhawk is given no fair chance to consider the situation he's in before she springs the proposal on him (because she's the one who turns it into a proposal), and that's an issue of consent that doesn't sit well with me.



And oh yes - the inappropriate material she quotes! Y helo thar, missed opportunity for worldbuilding! Eddings' worldbuilding is always so shallow. He only ever does the minimum required to make the world work (as long as you don't look too hard at it, because otherwise it falls apart - the Angarak kingdoms in B/M, anyone? Gar og Nadrak might work, since it's build on a middle class-y sort of people - seeings as the Nadraks are all merchants of some sort, and are therefore spread out on several rungs of the societal ladder - but Cthol Murgos is made entirely of religious fanatics (the grolims) and warriors (the Murgos themselves) and Mishrak ac Thull is a society of slaves. Slaves. Who still consider themselves slaves because it's somehow bred into their bones, or something), and then he never bothers to give us that additional twist that might make the world come to life. There's brief mentions of it in Tamuli - apparently, cheap penny-dreadfuls are popular in Thalesia, and little things like that - but he misses most chances.

Yeah, Beril's (I'll go with Beril, I think - I can't write "Berit" without sniggering) sudden infatuation seems strangely consequence-less. He glares a bit at Sparhawk, and Sparhawk goes "Oh, this might be troublesome" but then it never is and then they talk about it and Sparhawk goes "Oh well, you're both the same age - it's natural and I don't mind!" and nothing ever comes of it and argh! Eddings, stop wasting pages on stuff that doesn't matter!


Ooooh, the church elections. That is totally the best part of The Elenium. For serious. It's over-simplified, and he could have deepened it and made it so much more important, but it's wonderful to just sit there and watch as politics unfold. Having Ehlana hold her speech and decide that Dolmant should be Archprelate was a cheap trick - it would have worked better if Dolmant had been introduced as a possible choice earlier, and the Hierocracy made the choice on their own, after a more subtle nudging - but the counting of votes and the complete demolishing of both Annias and Makova are just golden. I love that part, because it's so much more relevant and interesting and new than Generic, Nondescript Eosian Town #560578, With Accompanying Greasy Tavern.

More of this, thank you!