I thought it was odd too, that his wife co-authored it and yet the female characters are still so one-dimensional. He was born in the 1930s, which means he grew up during a very traditional male/female era, so perhaps that shaped his thinking.

Wikipedia says this: "Upon seeing a copy of Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, in a bookshop, he allegedly muttered, "Is this old turkey still floating around?" and was shocked to learn that it was in its seventy-eighth printing. Eddings realized that the world of fantasy might hold some promise for his talents..."

This does not improve my opinion of him lol