When we're all looking for a good book to read, we usually look to our favourite authors and our best friends and trust their recommnendations as to what we should try next. Such as it was for me.The Belgariad was suggested to me by just about everyone I knew who enjoyed fantasy, and a number of my favourite authors. Imagine my surprise when I start reading and keep waiting for the story's plot to begin, and it begins to dawn on me that no such relief will be arriving.The problems I have with the Belgariad are simple: The 'story' is so cliche (An orphen boy who finds himself the subject of a prophecy to save the world, say it isn't so!), The characters are bland and the world seems impervious to logic.Garion, the protagonist of the story, grows up an orphaned child with only his annoyingly mysterious Aunt Pol to take care of him. Despite the fact that he is at an age where he is approaching maturity, Garion demonstrates momentous stupidity several times throughout the series, and particularly in the first book. His entire childhood has been haunted by the prescence of a 'ringwraith' archetype character, a mysterious shrouded black horseman who stalks him, yet he has never once mentioned the terrifying figure to his Aunt Pol, and nor has she, who it becomes known is a powerful sorceress bordering on godly power, ever detected this figure despite being Garion's caretaker and vigilant protector.Over the course of the story, Garion travels alongside a group of companions, every single one of whom is either Royalty, powerful Nobility or an individual regarded as an equal among Kings and Emperors. Bit odd of an adventuring party eh?On top of all of this, the action is horribly bland and Garion's growth into the prophetic saviour is infuriatingly poor, one minute he's a lackwit child and the next he's striding along blasting enemies with torrents of magic without training and out-witting his counselors and advisors despite the fact he's never really had a proper education in statecraft.The dialogue is similarly poor, and often cliche.The romance between Garion and the princess of a neighboring Empire was just plain embarrassing.In summary, I was regretful I had ever picked up the series, and was and still am confused as to how the series ever gathered the acclaim it has.
Eddings has really created a beloved series of books that can be recommended to young and old alike. It is not deep or etremely thought provoking, it's just an enjoyable combination of adventure, humor, and fun. Garion, a naive farm boy, finds out that he is not ordinary at all. As he discovers his powers, he grows to adulthood through the ten books that comprise the Belgariad and the Mallorean. Critics might find some elements a bit formulaic, but few can deny that it is a fun series to read. For me, it was my first introduction to fantasy after Tolkien, and it was very refreshing. It was written in the 1980's when there wasn't much new stuff around. We had Anne McCaffrey and her dragons, and Terry Brooks came along. I guess there was Ursula LeGuin and CS Lewis as well to fall back on, but Eddings really put together a compelling story with memorable dialogue that my wife and I frequently quote from.I think many of the reviews of the Belgariad are too harsh. This is a book that you can hand to your kids without worrying what strange ideas they might pick up. Somebody reviewed the books as xenophobic. What rubbish! If you create a country like Cthol Murgos where the people have an evil ruler who promotes cruelty, or a country like Nyissa who are constantly in fear of being poisoned and have strange mannerisms that imitate their snake god is that xenophobic? No, it's doing what every author needs to do. They create a world that we can escape into and people that we can relate to. If you have to superimpose our world onto the canvas of the Belgariad you're looking too deeply. Eddings writings are not social commentary or overly symbolic. It's not CS Lewis or George Orwell. It's about having fun! Sorry for the tirade, but I get bugged by reviewers who are so full of themselves that they can't admit a book is a good read because someone might think of them as juvenile or unsophisticated!
What do You think about Pawn Of Prophecy (2004)?
The first volume in the five book Belgariad series, which I'll lhappily admit to reading and then rereading throughout my mid-teens. Farm boy Garion enjoys a peaceful childhood in the care of his loving and occasionally stern Aunt Pol until the arrival of assassins sees them both on the run and Garion increasingly aware that he's much more important than he could have imagined. This is where the classic 'chosen one' fantasy template gets going in earnest and it's rarely been done better. The scale and detail of Eddings' world is often staggering and the interplay between the characters a frequent delight. Some elements will seems overly familiar to modern fantasy readers, from the prolonged info-dump in the prologue to the 'boy with a great destiny' central protagonist. It should be remembered, however, that many of these elements became tropes because of Eddings' success. Genre history lessons aside, this series remains a hugely engaging read and the first volume is no exception.
—Anthony Ryan
I love a good fantasy romp. My brother-in-law has been after me to experience David Eddings' works and presented me with the first three books in The Belgariad series for Christmas last year. I was thrilled and apprehensive because, you see, I have this problem when it comes to fantasy - I get completely and totally sucked in.That's not a bad thing, it's just fantasy has this ability to make me forget to eat, sleep, drink ... basically forget everything but reading. I walk around the house with my nose in the book, I fall asleep from utter exhaustion and wake up with the book on top of my face, begging to be read - forget the shower and coffee!So I have to confess, there are times when I pick up a fantasy series and I hope that it will be gentle with me and provide me with opportunities to just put it down. In that regard, Pawn of Prophecy let me down.This book had everything I loved. The legends of old gods, the young boy, the sorceress, the ancient prophet, the giants, the imps, the ordinary folk and the spies. It combined light, quick wit and humor with an enormous quest and kept me completely hooked every step of the way. Now I understand why my brother-in-law pressed these books on me - and now that I've finished with the review of the first, I'm headed back to dive into the second.
—Lydia Presley
My 11 year old is a avid reader and rates books by David Eddings as his favorite. I wanted to see what he was reading. I thought one novel would do the trick. But I ended up reading the full 5 (the five are really one book). Fantastic stuff. Different and similar to Pullman's Dark Matter series, Tolkien, and the Harry Potter stuff. Like Pullman, you get the sense that the author is working out something important. Like the Tolkien you are transported into a different world. Maps are important. I am always amazed at by an author's ability to create whole and complete worlds. I am now starting the next five in the series.
—Naeem
