The David Eddings Home Page

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The Redemption of Althalus

New - 26 June 2000 Out Now: The Redemption of Althalus

I have recently received a message from HarperCollins (Eddings' UK publisher) that the latest book has been released on 3rd July, 2000. There is a website which is nicely done and a competition to own a very nice limited-edition deluxe version of the book: leather bound, gilt edges, signed, the works (and an asking price of £100 which will definitely increase over time for such a rarity as this. A print run of 350 is not a lot!)

Now me, I'm far more interested in the content which sounds very interesting indeed (taking from the nice message sent by Leeza Morley, one of the good folks at HarperCollins UK):


Althalus - burglar, armed robber and occasional murderer - is commissioned to steal a book by a mysterious cloak stranger named Ghend. Althalus sets off to the House at the End of the World where the book is set - after stealing Ghend's cloak; after all, winter is coming on.

At the House at the End of the World, in the same room as the book Ghend described, he finds a talking cat. What he can't find once he's in the house is the door by which he entered.

By the time he manages to escape - with the cat, Emerald, in the hood of his (Ghend's) cloak - Althalus can read. He's read the Book of Deiwos, and discovered a tool mightier than the blunt instrument he once used to disable his victims. But there is another Book, written by the god Daeva who is the evil brother of Deiwos, and who is trying to unmake the world.

Emerald is in fact the sister of the two conflicting gods, and her intention is to use Althalus to stop Daeva returning all of them to primordial chaos. Althalus will teach her what she needs to know, which is how to lie, cheat and steal - 'Whatever works,' Emerald reflects - and in return she, more amazingly, will teach Althalus truth, justice and mortality.

The existence of the world hangs in the balance in this fabulous and extraordinary story of The Redemption of Althalus… the rogue destined to steal the hearts and minds of readers.

ISBN:0-00-224754-2
Pub. Date:3rd July, 2000 (UK)
Imprint:(V) Voyager
Format:Royal 234x153 HB F
Price:£17.99
Purchase:Amazon.co.uk

As you can tell, this is a wholly new work (and apparently a self-contained one) so this will make a nice departure from the mega-series which have dominated the Eddings' work up to now.

In fact, the only reason I've not bought it yet is because (as I write this on the 4th of July) I've been too busy with meetings and work to go to a bookshop. Sometimes life is like that... sigh


Here are provided several Eddings-related services for your perusal and enjoyment.

* Del Rey's Polgara Page.

You want to know the latest official info on what is going on with the publication of the new book? This is the place to go and find out.

Unfortunately (from some people's point of view at least :^)) I've already read it as it was out in hardcover in the UK in early July (and it has been topping the bestseller lists in the weeks subsequent to that). Either this is because Del Rey are talking about the release of the paperback (which I suppose is possible on that timescale) or it is because they have great trouble getting their backsides in gear. I hope it is the former and not the latter (for the sake of all those Yanquis if nothing else...)

Note that I've not yet updated these pages to take account of what has happened in Polgara, as I've just been on vacation (Norwegian fjords, midnight sun and all that) and I'm also a little snowed under with work. Sorry.

* The Eddings Votes.

Go and say what you think on assorted topics related to the Great Man.

* The Alternative Authors List.

What should I read while waiting for David and Leigh's next book to come out? There are lots of good Fantasy books out there, and this list will help you expand your reading. It has certainly helped me find new reading material.

* A F.A.Q.

What subects have been discussed so often that you should think before starting yet another discussion on them?

* The Inconsistency List.

Where has DE slipped up? Check here first!

Note that there is never going to be a film of any of DE's books, as he believes that you should learn to read instead. Hopefully, I'll find time soon to put up the reason why I know this on this site as well...


Thanks to Simon II (also known as Simon Challands - sgc102@unix.york.ac.uk) for the nice picture and the excellent letter W. IMHO, this beats my efforts without even breathing hard :^)


This page has quite a lot of Netscape enhancements in it, but it should degrade nicely with less capable browsers. However, you will need either full table support or none at all. Doing tables wrongly makes the page illegible...

Tests reveal that Lynx gets it almost right (there is one extra space where I didn't want it to put one) so that is a reasonable browser to use if you can't get Netscape working for some reason. It even seems to do a better job of rendering than saving as text from Netscape...

Yes, I know this site is slow. It is, however, more convenient and reliable (for my purposes anyway) than the department web-server...


Donal K. Fellows, Statistical Theology, T. U. Cimmura, Elenia
On a long term sabbatical at:
Department of Computer Science, University of Manchester, UK.