Books like The Ruby Knight

When provoked, Sparhawk was not the most reasonable of men.The Ruby Knight is a direct continuation of The Elenium, picking up almost exactly where The Diamond Throne let off, so don’t let grass grow beneath your feet between books. That said, this book doesn’t have the same impetus going for it; it takes a while to build up steam, and there is a lot of moving around from point A to B to C. There and back again…“I'm starting to feel a very powerful urge to hurt some people."“The Younger Gods of Styricum like symmetry. We were ten when we began this search, so now we have to be the same ten every step of the way.” Um. Really?As bizarre (and random) as some of the plot parameters appear to be, the big “revelation” at the end of the story actually puts everything nicely in perspective. It wasn’t a real surprise to me, since there are more than enough hints, to be honest. Eddings also seems to be foreshadowing events here that will only take place much later. As late as The Tamuli even."You're a bloodthirsty one, aren't you, Sparhawk?"The action scenes are quite good. Counterpointed with the lighthearted vibe of the dialogue (and the story in general), though, it sometimes comes across as surprisingly dark and violent. Sparhawk is always entertaining though, since his impulses often place him (and his friends) in some rather awkward situations."Are you mad, Kalten?" Ulath exploded. "You want me to draw my axe on my own king?""Of course not," Kalten grinned, "only on his funeral cortege. If he goes up against Sparhawk, he'll be drinking heavenly mead after the first pass."The religious theme can be quite funny, since it touches on a reality that many can likely identify with: even among religious folk, there are different levels of commitment.“You go with him, and if he tries to pray more than once a day, you have my permission to brain him.""That could have some interesting political ramifications, Your Majesty." "Lie about it. Say it was an accident."In conclusion. It’s not as good as The Diamond Throne and it does get a bit repetitive, but it’s still fun, and I still want to finish the trilogy. "That's a very ugly horse you've got there, you know?" "We're a matched set, Your Majesty."Cover art – notesFirstly:Keith Parkinson is responsible for the art, and it’s pretty good, but I’m not entirely sure what it relates to. That saurian fellow on the right confounds me. It isn’t The Seeker since that worthy is clearly depicted as insectile, and it most certainly isn’t Ghwerig the (stunted and hairy) Troll either. This leaves one possibility: namely the vaguely described being that Sir Tynan inadvertently summons by necromancy. Any thoughts?Secondly, and lastly:Whoever designed the cover on the Del Rey mass market paperback should be severely chastened chastised. The cover art is cropped to death, and slotted into a little block at the bottom of the cover. It looks ludicrous, since you can only see the top half of the picture, like a child took a scissors to it. And to think, how marvelous the older editions looked…“If he stops to pray one more time, I'm going to strangle him.”