I read Althalus years ago (it was bought for me as a present) as I was 'falling out' with Eddings. It is, like much of his other work, full of similar characters and themes doing the same stuff that they did in the other books (but hey, this worked for Micheal Moorcock right?).
Perhaps one of the other problems in althalus is that the title character doesn't really need that much redeeming, making the title a little redundant. Yeah he is a thief, but hes a not a psychotic murderer or anything like that.
Eddings better works are probably (through the hazy, rose-tinted glasses of memory) the Belgariad (but don't bother with the photocopy posinbg as a sequal) and the first of the Sparhawk books (but again don't bother with the sequal).
It has been a long time since I read Eddings and I will go out and read the older stuff again soon (looking for Sparhawk), but only throught he local Library. Can't be bothered wasteing my money on him/them again.