An ending.I wrote a brief review for book one. Now the series is finished I'll add some more words about the series.Brief review: The final books wraps up the main quest/story line, bring the characters to a final dramatic meeting. Eddings continues his characteristic prose and storytelling, drawing the reader along for a journey across ??? (I just realized the world has no name) the western kingdoms. The book gives us glimpses into events transpiring in the various western kingdoms while the main actions takes the reader to a satisfactory ending with only a few slight twists and a few real surprises. This should be a MUST read for every fan of fantasy. Eddings does in 1700 pages what other authors would take twice along to accomplish.A longer review:I doubt that a modern sci-fi/ fantasy writer active today (who has read his works) is not more than a little influenced by his writings. He came forth in the genre in an understated way at the, if not infancy of fantasy, then at the time it was still a child just reaching puberty. When reading his work again, it is possible to see thoughts and ideas of his echoed within later works but other authors.One of the things Eddings does well is to break from the main action to give the reader a view of what is occurring in the rest of the world. Eddings, does not dwell overly long on scenes happening in other parts of the world, while the main actions take place far away. Yet he is able to succinctly convey the pertinent information in a couple paragraphs or a page, whereas another writer might be compelled to over explain or inject unnecessary detail.The series suffers from a few shortcomings, mainly in the predictability and slightly heavy handed foreshadowing at times. Also, one of the parts that I found incredibly annoying is certain main character personalities and characteristics and how they were handled.Almost all of Eddings characters are 'characterizations' of their gender and most of the main characters are archetypes. At several times throughout the story Eddings will point out/ address one of the main character’s weakness/ lessons to be learned. We will believe that they have, only to later see them repeat the same mistake. I know people in real life repeat the same mistake and some of us need those lessons, but as a writer if you say your character learns from him then have them learn from it and grow, have them make a different mistake next time.One of the biggest examples of this is (not Pol, that's a whole different issue, and not Garion although he comes in second) Ce'nedra. I will probably be strung up for saying this but, I really wish someone would take her across their knee and give her an old-fashioned spankin'. Eddings managed to make her an unmitigated spoiled brat, selfish, self-centered, and manipulative. She supposedly grew as a person, and learned that actions have consequences, often un-anticipated ones. There are other things that can be said for the story. But in the end, the thing that matters most is that the story is entertaining, enjoyable, and does a couple things that every good story should. It draws the reader in and fires the imagination as well as delves into human nature. Eddings is able to convey the depth and range of human emotions, while teaching that all is not always what it seems and that each of us is more than what we may appear to be. And, most importantly that we can be better than we think we can be.
Turns out ENCHANTERS' END GAME has all kinds of POVs in it, mostly, in fact, of women. Well, no, not mostly: mostly it's Garion. But every other POV is a female, because Eddings dips in around the West and visits the queens who are holding the thrones while their husbands are off fighting the big war. Re-reading as an adult, I found that interesting for two reasons: one, it means every POV in the Belgariad that is not Garion's is female, which--from the adult perspective--is fairly awesome. One wonders if that was his wife Leigh's (whose name went on the much later Eddings books) doing, or if--well, honestly, it does simply make the most sense. Ce'Nedra's a fairly obvious viewpoint character, since she's the most important of them whose storyline doesn't follow the same physical path as Garion's, and the kings' activities can be related through her gaze, since she's with them. The queens, however, are entirely out of either Garion or Ce'Nedra's line of sight, and they're doing important things, so bringing them in as viewpoint characters makes sense.Two, it means that Eddings presented a totally different series of points of view in the final book, which is, like, Not Allowed. Readers have certain expectations, dammit! You can't go around messing with them! ...except apparently you can. So that's kind of cool from a writer's POV, 'cause hey, look, perhaps one can get away with that kind of thing.I also realized on this re-read that although my youthful perception was that this story was done, upon reflection it's clear Eddings never intended The Belgariad to be the whole story. He always intended The Malloreon to follow it. All the threads are in place, and while I, like many others, might object to the fact that he wrote the same story again (and again, and again; Eddings is an excellent demonstration of Robin McKinley's theory that perhaps at the heart of it we all only have one story to tell), there is the fact that he wrote that same story many times to huge success. His books, and that story, with its faintly different trappings, were and are immensely popular. There may be a lesson there, for those of us who do this for a living.Lastly, my reaction to the whole series is: my goodness, those are straight-forward books. I'd forgotten how much of them is about Collecting Each Token (a character from each race), Visiting Each King, etc. There's nothing really devious about any of it, though this is not meant as a slight: I spent a little while imagining these books as written today, GRRM-style, and while you could *do* it......well, you wouldn't have the Belgariad when you were done, and that would be a shame, because despite their flaws, these are still entertaining, delightful reads that I would not hesitate to recommend to any fantasy reader.
What do You think about Enchanters' End Game (1986)?
The series gets more readable as it goes on. I still don't find the humor terribly appealing and the characters are still one-dimensional (though some of them manage to be very likable within their stereotypes.) There is a lot of action in these later novels and it is good mindless entertainment, however a few things about the conclusion bothered me. The choice Polgara, the most powerful woman in the world, is given post-climax is rather insulting. It's a rare novel indeed which offers a man the
—Whitney
Wherein the Belgariad really concludes.And it's a fairly satisfying ending. Both ever-dense Garion and ever-annoying Ce'Nedra get their big moments in the sun, their triumphs and tragedies. We're back to Travelogue Mode, where each section of the book requires a new map because we've stepped into a new land which bears little resemblance to its neighbors (hand-waving-god-stuff). Ce'Nedra is ostensibly leading (or at least inspiring) the massive army of the West against the East (someday, in defi
—***Dave Hill
Huh. You know, as an ending, that kind of fizzled.Tons of time spent lolling around in army logistics, only to culminate in a duel that has me humming "A little less conversation, a little more action..."I mean, Garion did just (view spoiler)[win by assaulting Torak with put-downs (hide spoiler)]
—Grace S.
