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A review by stacey42
Hidden City by David Eddings
4.0
A great many things happen in this book as Sparhawk & friends, as well as the Atans, Trolls & the Church Knights, begin their assault on Cyrgon & his allies. There is a lot of jumping around as a result. One chapter we are with Sparhawk looking for the Well of Vigay, the next we are with Bergsten planning to surround Cynestra, then with Ulath & the Trolls attacking Zhubay, back to Sparhawk, the over to Sarabian, then to Vanion, and on and on.
This is one of my favorite of Eddings' works because I love the setting, the plots & all the action. Watching Ulath try to apologize to the troll Blokhw, when there is no word for 'sorry' in Trollish, was entertaining.
The side plot with the Empresses was good as well even though I sort of wonder what the rest of them are doing. 2 are plotting against him, while claiming to be against his first wife. 3 are on his side. So what are the other 3 wives (the Elenic ones) doing? We never see them or hear about them, which is sort of a big hole in the narrative.
I first read this 25 years ago and then read it multiple times over 15 years and it's been abut a decade since I last read it. I am now bothered by things that never bothered me before. This time it isn't the casual sexism but consent does matter. Talen's consent & Khalad's. Sparhawk, who is otherwise a decent human being, decided the best way to honor his fallen squire & long time friend, Kurik, was to make his sons knights. The sons don't want this. Kurik wouldn't have wanted it for them. Everyone knows and acknowledges this, but too freakin' bad. The Church Knights have decided that Kurik's sons will become armored killing machines and that is that. Khalad has reluctantly gone along with it, putting his fellow novices to shame with his skills & Vanion thinks he might make a good Preceptor one day. Talen is still fighting it and since this book is the last I like to imagine that in the end Talen got his way & didn't become a Knight. He's the sort that would manage to pull that off I think.
Lots of humor. I really like this one.
This is one of my favorite of Eddings' works because I love the setting, the plots & all the action. Watching Ulath try to apologize to the troll Blokhw, when there is no word for 'sorry' in Trollish, was entertaining.
The side plot with the Empresses was good as well even though I sort of wonder what the rest of them are doing. 2 are plotting against him, while claiming to be against his first wife. 3 are on his side. So what are the other 3 wives (the Elenic ones) doing? We never see them or hear about them, which is sort of a big hole in the narrative.
I first read this 25 years ago and then read it multiple times over 15 years and it's been abut a decade since I last read it. I am now bothered by things that never bothered me before. This time it isn't the casual sexism but consent does matter. Talen's consent & Khalad's. Sparhawk, who is otherwise a decent human being, decided the best way to honor his fallen squire & long time friend, Kurik, was to make his sons knights. The sons don't want this. Kurik wouldn't have wanted it for them. Everyone knows and acknowledges this, but too freakin' bad. The Church Knights have decided that Kurik's sons will become armored killing machines and that is that. Khalad has reluctantly gone along with it, putting his fellow novices to shame with his skills & Vanion thinks he might make a good Preceptor one day. Talen is still fighting it and since this book is the last I like to imagine that in the end Talen got his way & didn't become a Knight. He's the sort that would manage to pull that off I think.
Lots of humor. I really like this one.