I technically finished David Eddings's The Tamuli (an omnibus edition of Domes of Fire, The Shining Ones, and The Hidden City), on Friday, but with everything going on, I'm a bit behind on playing catch up.
Anyway, we're back to following around Sparhawk and his wife Elhana as they get sucked into the other continent, Tamuli. Essentially, the Elene Church has a separate branch on the Western end of Tamuli, which almost seems to be a cypher for the Byzantine nations. Which is part of the Tamuli Empire, which hosts nine nations states ruled by an Emperor who has a wife from each of the nine states.
We're also joined by the Church Knights who figured so big into the Elenium, as well as Sepherina and Araphal, the priestess and her goddess, although this time we see how the Eastern Styrics live.
And again, we have some of the same villains running around, a universal force directing the action, and its opposite number doing the same.
And we also have several strongish female characters, who despite their strengths, can't have a conversation that doesn't revolve around men. I mean seriously, while I appreciate them not being vapid placeholders, they still spend their page time talking about men and how to advance their men politically.
I mean, it's a good read with plenty of twists as each side tries to manipulate the other, but there really is no doubt as to how everything will work out in the end.
As fantasy novels go, it's well written, but given how much that genre has changed over time, I can't help but feel this has been a relic of an earlier time.
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