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  • The Diamond Throne

  • The Elenium, Book 1
  • By: David Eddings
  • Narrated by: Greg Abby
  • Length: 15 hrs and 8 mins
  • 4.3 out of 5 stars (515 ratings)
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The Diamond Throne cover art

The Diamond Throne

By: David Eddings
Narrated by: Greg Abby
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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)

What listeners say about The Diamond Throne

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
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  • 4 Stars
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  • 3 Stars
    51
  • 2 Stars
    23
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Performance
  • 4 out of 5 stars
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  • 4 Stars
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Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
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  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars

Just say no !

David Eddings books are really little more than generic fantasy, however this series is probably his best and I was hoping for some light bedtime listening.

However this reading is awful - not just delivered in a monotone with minimal character variation but a monopace whatever the situation - I gave up after the first hour. Basically it is the most unlistenable title I have ever downloaded in three years of Audible membership.

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54 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars

Awful narration

I don't usually write reviews but if I can prevent somebody making the mistake I did it would be worth it.



From the reviews I've read of the book I'm sure I'd enjoy the story, sadly the narration is so awful and monotonous that I just can't bring myself to listen to it.

I've now started listening for the 3rd time and think it's probably time I gave up on it altogether.



There are plenty of books on audible narrated really well, get them instead, or buy the book.



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51 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Cowboy Knights

What didn’t you like about Greg Abby’s performance?

Greg Abby has the ability to impersonate all the voices of Clint Eastwood, Clint Eastwood and Clint Eastwood in bringing alive the characters. Brings the excitement of a movie trailer voice-over to the rich world of the Elenium.

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45 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
  • MR
  • 14-11-16

Read it yourself instead

Just awful. I know this book inside out and still I couldn't listen to it being read by Greg Abby; I gave up after two chapters. His tone is completely monotonous without any inflection at all, and he uses ridiculous pronunciation. He seems not to have any grasp of punctuation or cadence, often stressing entirely the wrong words and thereby changing the meaning. Worst of all, his reading is entirely without humour, as though he has missed the tone and style of the book. Just awful. I will be getting a refund.

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41 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

One of the Worst Audio Books I've Ever listened to

What would have made The Diamond Throne better?

Another Narrator. If I could give the Performance negative stars, I would have.

Who was your favorite character and why?

When I read the books, ( in printed form) many years ago, I liked most of the main characters, and all for different reasons. It would simply take too long to describe all the myriad qualities that made them so enjoyable. Unfortunately Mr Abby's performance rendered all the characters as flat and uninspired nonentities.

Would you be willing to try another one of Greg Abby’s performances?

NEVER! NEVER! NEVER! I didn't believed that anyone could be worse than Cameron Beierle and Maggie Mash, I was wrong. Mr Abby should be banned from coming near any book, lest he destroy another well loved tale.

You didn’t love this book--but did it have any redeeming qualities?

Not in the Audio version. I absolutely loved the printed version, and read the whole series many times, until I had to replace my copies, since they started to fall apart from frequent use.

Any additional comments?

Keep Greg Abby away from books, any books. I think a cordon of about twenty miles should work to keep him from ruining any others. I was appalled by his total lack of skill. His mispronunciations were bad enough but when he seemed to have trouble reading ordinary words, I just couldn't stand any more. I am absolutely devastated that The Belgariad, The Mallorean, and now The Elenium, have been so totally destroyed by dreadful narrators. These were among my favorite books and they have been utterly ruined. As an act of kindness to other listeners, I suggest that the books mentioned here be removed from circulation, and that they be reworked by other more skillful narrators. Might I suggest either Derek Perkins, Andrew Wincott or Kevin Stillwell.

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25 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars

Deserved Better

As soon as i found that Audible had more David Eddings books they were on my wish list and I downloaded the first two parts. This is typical Eddings and deserves the criticism of being formula fantasy but it is enjoyable nontheless.
My dissapointment came when I heard the narrator Greg Abby. He keeps the pace going but that is obviously the extent of his tallents as a narrator. He has a similar voice to Frank Muller without the range. He makes no attempt to individualise each or indeed any of the characters. I am only grateful that he at least makes the women and children's voices a little higher even if they do sound like they have a bad cold. If you can live with all the characters sounding the same then this could be the one for you. I found it very irritating and wonder, if they auditioned for a narrator who they didn't pick.

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24 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars

Good story, shame about the reading

Basic skills for a reader should include the ability to follow punctuation rather than insert random pauses and a basic grasp of english pronunciation; unfortunately this reader fails to meet these minimum requirements.

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22 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars
  • DT
  • 17-02-19

Great story, awful narration

Great book. Read several times over the years. Thought I'd try the audio version. Gave up after a few chapters due to the godawful narration. So bad

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18 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Exceptional fantasy, abominably narrated

Wonderful, wonderful story. Horrible, horrible narration.

Voices don't suit characters and often swap around. Names are pronounced ridiculously incorrectly, since when is Chyrellos pronounced Krelos?

If you can stick the narration then the story will entertain with adventure, mystery, magic, mirth and love. The Eddings were truly talented.

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11 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

An old favourite ruined

Trying to distinguush between any of the characters is nigh on impossible; when Sephrenia and Sparhawk sound broadly the same or when there is no distinguishable difference in accent between different nations one can't help but think that the narrator needs to have a good long chat with himself.

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10 people found this helpful