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Elenium

The Elenium is a series of fantasy novels by David Eddings, husband to Leigh Eddings. The series consists of three volumes: The Diamond Throne The Ruby Knight The Sapphire Rose The books tell of the knight Sparhawk and his quest to save his queen from a life-theatening illness.

Plot
The story takes place in a world similar to Middle Age Europe. Sparhawk, a Pandion Knight(similar to a Templar), has returned to his homeland after ten years of exile in a land(which is similar to the Holy Land of the same time). He finds his Queen trapped, with the evil Primate Annias behind the conspiracy. Sparhawk is charged with stopping Annias from achieving the Archprelacy of the Elenian Church(a post similar to the Papacy). By the second book of the series, this quest leads towards a vow to find the Bhelliom, a magical sapphire in the shape of a rose. He then uses the gem to free his queen, kill Annias, and defeat the evil god Azhash.

Speculation
Some fans speculate that the series was written to correct a number of mistakes that David Eddings made with The Belgariad. Speculation includes that the strong female character of Queen Ehlana was what Eddings had envisioned the Princess Ce'Nedra to be, and that the knight Sparhawk is the man that Garion was suppose to be. To compound this, Eddings has remarked, For a six-month period, I was writing the Belgariad and the Mallorean... Now there's a recipe for schizophrenia.

Some fans consider the series to be superior to the more well known Belgariad due to the depth of the characters and more intricate church conspiracy plotline.

Still others point to a note in the Rivan Codex, in which Eddings lists the elements of an epic fantasy; the list is applicable to either the Belgariad of the Elenium.

The follow-up series to the Elenium is The Tamuli.