"Castle of Wizardry", the penultimate book in Eddings’ Belgariad series, is another bridge novel in the manner of "Queen of Sorcery". While the second novel in the series was really just a sequence of connected vignettes, Wizardry benefits from more developed relationship complications and some internal struggle. However, the narrative weakness of the overarching prophecy storyline (and a general lack of real momentum) hamper the book. After retrieving the stolen Orb from the minions aligned with the dark god, Torak, Garion's heritage and his importance to the kingdoms of the west is revealed. Now, laden with new responsibilities, faced with changing relationships with those around him, and burdened with the true meaning of the prophecies that have determined his entire life, Garion must accept his destiny and make an important choice that will shape the direction of the entire world.Garion takes on his role as the young Arthur, finding himself King quite against his intention and longs to be the boy he once was. In addition, as telegraphed in previous books (foreshadowing implies far too much subtlety), Garion must contend with his sudden betrothel to the bratty Princess Ce'Nedra. Unfortunately neither Edding's stand-ins for Arthur or Guinevere ever seem to change much when faced with the personality traits they admit to be less than appealing. How often must we endure Ce'Nedra guiltily realizing she has been awful to Garion before she actually stops being awful Garion? (This is not a unique challenge to this book, of course, but maintaining the audience’s sympathy and support often requires a balancing act that is not always convincingly pulled off by the author.)The conflict with the dark god gets pushed to the side more than one would expect, making much of the book feel like an extended prologue. Red herrings are tossed out to give the sense of an ongoing conflict, but they are always too readily solved and dismissed from the plot, such that there is no time for tension to build and then be relieved. Even though the group gets a hold of the mcguffin orb (not its real name) at the start of the novel, there was no sense of success or triumph. In fact getting the mcguffin was too easy by half, as the focus of three novels suddenly became almost unimportant, without offering much in the way of warning to the reader. After the majority of the book is spent in the court (which I enjoyed but many will find tedious) the final third of the novel is dedicated to the threat of war between the forces of good and evil. Garion, the thief, and the wizard sneak off to face the dark god on their own (while the rest of the Fellowship... oh, wait..) and the kingdoms of the west prepare for war.The writing is, again, serviceable and does what it needs to do. As more and more happens, the moments where Eddings seem to display the promise of delving a little deeper into the characters become less frequent. The cast is too large and he has too many things he wants to happen in too short a span of time. To his credit, things do seem to be moving forward and Eddings is able to keep up a good pace with his very easy-to-read style.I liked this better than Queen of Sorcery, but less than Magician's Gambit. Perhaps I am just a sucker for the classic wish fulfilment aspect of a peasant boy discovering his true heritage and becoming king, much to his own chagrin. The story seems to be building towards something and when I review the final book I’ll also examine the series as a whole.
Castle of Wizardry left me a little short on all the information I would love to have at the moment, but I guess that's just because I'm a bit greedy here.The big culmination point that I was waiting for from the beginning of book one, Pawn of Prophecy, is here - Garion finally knows who he is, what he must do and he's got to get used to that idea really, really fast. I liked that part of the book a lot, but after that I got a little bit confused. The prophecy tells us that the Child of Light and the Child of Dark must meet, but the fact that the companions are mentioned (you'll figure that one out when you come to it) and that their role was pretty much over with the whole "returning the thing back to where it belongs ceremony" was a bit disappointing. It also reminds me a lot of the ending of The Fellowship of the Ring, the last scene where the fellowship breaks apart and every character has it's own way to cross. It surprised me most, I believe, was because I wasn't expecting it at all and because it happened very quickly. What I do like in this book is the way Ce'Nedra got into her role. She still has one tantrum or another, but she really grows up. What surprised me about it was how awesome a character she is now - I really didn't like her as a spoiled little girl.It was also about time for her and Garion. They haven't resolved much, but the way they acted around each other really put a smile on my face.It wasn't really all that hard to figure what's happening between them, but it's refreshing that at least they got somthing out there in the open.Now the great finale begins, and if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna go and read some more.
What do You think about Castle Of Wizardry (1984)?
I didn't know if I'd ever finish this series off due to a lack of interest, but I found an audio book of it, and despite the somewhat boring reading of the book (and ridiculous pronunciations of things), it flows pretty quickly. This one is pretty rough. Garion becomes king and it's handled as if he found something he'd lost a few weeks back in the pantry. It felt as if Eddings was just like, 'Everyone got that this was the prophecy, right? OK, good, let's skip this.' Ce'Nedra gets a complete rewrite, and everyone kind of chuckles at how she used to be a worthless bitch. The best moment is when she talks to some serfs who are like, 'What do I care about war? I'll die hungry either way,' and she's like, OH HOLY SHIT AM I IN A FANTASY WORLD? It doesn't really go anywhere, but it's nice that Eddings does try to sneak in the little topsy-turvy fantasy moments. I mean, sure, Pratchett & Monty Python had been doing this sort of thing for years now, but still, the thought is nice.I've got book five on order on audiobook at the library. It'll be nice to call it a day with this series finally.
—Michael T Bradley
Since I departed on this journey I noticed that The Belgariad series subtly lends itself to Chess. This is evident in the titles, 'Pawn of Prophecy', 'Queen of Sorcery' and so on. However David Eddings never openly acknowledged the series' overarching theme regarding the centuries old game. He weaves a love for the game within this beautiful series in more ways than the titles. The movement of the whole series begins to unfold just like a game of chess. The first book was the game's opening, establishing Garion as a simple pawn moving inexorably towards the far side of the board. The second book explained the importance of Mandorallen and Hettar, the Knights. And further comparisons can be made at the reader's discretion towards other characters, and even who can be considered as players. The third book establishes the centre of the battle, the pivotal moment in a chess game where both sides have an equal chance of winning and losing. And now, the fourth book, 'Castle of Wizardry' shows Garion's promotion from pawn to... not a pawn. Castle of Wizardry was too beautiful and complex for a small review to do it justice. The pieces on the board are rallying towards the conclusion of the game, and the White Queen (Ce'Nedra) begins her final attack against the forces of darkness. The endgame is in sight. Oh, and look at the title of the last book...
—Jack Iles
Dopo la morte di Ctuchik in La valle di Aldur, Garion e compagnia riprendono il viaggio per dirigersi verso Riva, dove l'Occhio deve essere riportato.Durante il viaggio, a Garion viene imposto un corso accelerato di “tenere il comando” (condito con pungenti suggerimenti da parte di Silk): nessun lettore ne sarà stupito, visto che tutti immaginiamo da molte pagine quale sarà il suo ruolo all'interno della Profezia, ma forse è un tantino brusco. Tanto che Garion non fa che ricordare i bei tempi felici in cui zia Pol lo coccolava e si prendeva cura di lui.Dall'altro lato della medaglia c'è Ce'Nedra, adorabile (caricate l'aggettivo di tutto il sarcasmo che riuscite a racimolare) principessa e futura sposa del Re Rivano. Per gran parte del romanzo si comporta come ha sempre fatto: capricci, sclerate egocentriche e bronci infiniti. È una pacchia leggere il suo punto di vista. A un certo punto, però, viene folgorata dalla Responsabilità e forse c'è qualche speranza che l'irritazione che suscita diminuisca a poco a poco.Polgara e Belgarath continuano a bisticciare come sempre (per fortuna). Anzi, questa volta, Belgarath la farà incazzare così tanto che vedremo letteralmente volare le suppellettili. Durnik, Barak, Mandorallen e Hettar si sono un po' persi di vista rispetto ai primi volumi, data la crescente importanza di Garion e (purtroppo) Ce'Nedra. In compenso, veniamo a sapere qualcosina in più su Silk... il piccolo farabutto nasconde molto bene le sue rogne, ma forse avrei preferito vedere meno melodramma intorno a lui. I suoi sentimenti per Porenn mi sembravano già sufficienti...
—Baylee
