tOkay, I have probably got to the point now where I really do not know what to write about a book. It is strange because I managed to get through all of Piers Anthony's books without coming to a stumbling block, but these series I have finally run out of steam. People seem to like this book, and well if they do then more power to them. I must admit that when I read this book I did enjoy it but when I look back on it now I sort of wonder how it was that I even bothered with it. I guess it is because I never really understood the nature of literature and did not read to learn but simply read for the sake of reading, and in many cases, simply read because I liked reading fantasy.tFantasy is a very popular genre, but in many cases it is much more escapist than science-fiction. At least in a lot of the earlier science-fiction books, and in saying that I am looking back to the 50s and 60s and earlier, there was a lot of speculation, and science-fiction is also a vehicle to explore some strange concepts. Hey, even Star Trek would use science-fiction to explore some very complex ideas, such as whether the host of a symbiot is guilty of a crime committed by an earlier host (not that the answer would really have any effect in our world considering that symbiots don't exist), however I sometimes question whether fantasy can be used as a similar vehicle.tIt can, in a sense, and C.S. Lewis demonstrated that in Narnia. Terry Pratchett, also, to some extent, demonstrates that in his Discworld novels, though we need to remember that people like Pratchett, and Moorcock, seem to take fantasy in a slighty different direction. Moorcock was a relatively early fantasy writer, considering that fantasy had not been around all that long, but even then it is still considered to be an appendage of science-fiction. However, many seem to prefer the moniker of science-fantasy to differentiate it from the more harder, speculative science-fiction that authors like Asimov would write.tAs for Eddings, well he has not necessarily done anything new, as have other authors such as Robert Jordan, and here I am steering away from some of the what I called canned fiction, stories that are simply written to cash in on a popular product such as Dungeons and Dragons. These stories all seem to try to mimic, and in a way, exceed, Tolkien. Remember, Tolkien literally set the stage for the fantasy novel and the modern quest narrative, however he did it it a way that made it clear that there was no prophecy and that the weakness of the main characters meant that there was always a chance that they could fail. However, they didn't fail, and in the modern story, they cannot fail. However, neither are the character studies (considering that Odysseus didn't fail either in that he actually managed to get home).tFailure, however, is not a no-no in literature, and in many earlier books we see the main character fail. Consider Macbeth, despite being what I call a Hollywood movie told from the viewpoint of the bad guy, the main character fails. The same happens in Othello, in King Lear, and in Troilus and Cressida. In these stories there is no happy ending, for hero and heroin falling in love and living happily ever after. This is the modern story, the modern quest, where failure simply do not come into the picture.
As the bestselling THE Mallorean series contnues, Garion is pursuing Zandramas, in the form of a great dragon flying over them, across the known world. With the forces of evil threatening on both sides, Garion still had to get to the Place Which Is No More, as the Seeress of Kell had warned, but they had no idea where that might be.... ### From Publishers Weekly The wizard and shape-changer Belgarion continues his quest against evil in the land of Mallorea. "Eddings depicts a complex, believable and colorful society filled with nobles, rogues and common people, the latter characters ringing particularly true," PW commended . Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc. ### From the Inside Flap As the bestselling THE Mallorean series contnues, Garion is pursuing Zandramas, in the form of a great dragon flying over them, across the known world. With the forces of evil threatening on both sides, Garion still had to get to the Place Which Is No More, as the Seeress of Kell had warned, but they had no idea where that might be....
What do You think about Sorceress Of Darshiva (1990)?
I was glad to get all of the books in this series as a Christmas present, because I at the moment I finished one book I had to start the next one. And I recommend to all of you who still haven´t read these: buy them all before starting to read, or you will regret it the moment you finish one book and realize you don´t have the next one yet.These books can make anyone fall in love with fantasy.
—Mirta Martin
2/10[Recensione dell'intera serie]Non è attivamente demente come tanti altri suoi colleghi, e questa è la fine dei suoi pregi. Solito polpettone rimasticato fino alla nausea, straripante di dei e mostri puzzoni e palle di fuoco ed eroi maschi bianchi etero cis come neanche una partita di D&D, tenuto insieme da una prosa goffa e inforigurgitosa (pur se non mancano momenti ironici), zeppa di virgole tra soggetto e verbo. Garion è il classico Gary Stue che insegna a tutti a fare tutto, Ce'Nedra la classica mogliettina mordace e il resto del cast neanche me lo ricordo più - ma mi ricordo perfettamente l'atmosfera sciovinista che trasudava da ogni pagina, la fiera dell'ottusità e dello stereotipo confezionata in pratiche lezioncine morali da prendere e portare a casa. In più, l'intera trama procede grazie a una serie di coincidenze opportune e di parallelismi con la serie che la precede, una fiera del culo pesante che i personaggi stessi fanno notare ad alta voce (!), per la serie: volevo pagarmi il mutuo sulla quinta casa con il minimo sforzo possibile perciò ho copiato tutto ciò che potevo e, quando non avevo di meglio, mi sono addirittura copiato da solo.
—Werehare
EDITORIAL REVIEW:Troubles and delays continued to mount as Garion, Belgarath, Polgara, and the company pursued Zandramas across the known world. Possessed by the Dark Destiny, she had stolen Garion's infant son to use in a ritual that would destroy all that was fair and good.Always the quest led onward, across and beyond the continent of Mallorea, where the Evil God Torak had once been supreme until Garion slew him. And always Zandramas was one step ahead of them. The armies she had raised, led by a Demon Lord, threatened to cut them off on one side: on the other, the forces of the Emperor Zakath were seeking to capture them.Zandramas was taunting them and spying on them, flying over in the form of the great dragon, while the Dark Destiny changed her and etched away the last of her touches of humanity.Somehow, as the Seeress of Kell had warned them, they had to be at the Place Which Is No More for the ritual at the same time as Zandramas, if they were to have a chance to defeat her evil schemes.But where that might be they still had no clue.
—Ward Bond
