Belgarath the Sorcerer, By David Eddings

This is an odd sort of book, in that you could read it before or after the other books in the Belgariad universe. I mean, technically it comes after the Mallorean, but most of the book is concerned with being a prequel. It’s Belgarath’s life (in short: we don’t have all the time in the world) and mission to make sure the prophecies would meet, and that his would win. Doing so meant many many long years just making sure people married and had babies. And then making sure those people didn’t kill each other. We finally see the entire story of Poledra and the roots of Belgarath’s and Polgara’s enmity and love. We meet a lot of sorcerers that aren’t around anymore, and see more about those we know and love already. Beldin as always is priceless.

It’s written in a sort of semi-narrative style (it’s supposed to be Belgarath writing/dictating) full of Eddings-isms and bits of humor. Once in a while Belgarath stops his narration to ‘go off’ and search around his home for something that he remembered, or just to do something else for a while. I personally loved his short statements about what he studied in the years when nothing happened. He discovered the meaning of mountains, why stars fall, and studied grass for forty years or something like that. But he declines to give explanations for all of this, saying correctly that this would make the book much longer than it already is.

Although I enjoy it immensely, sometimes I think I see inconsistencies with the rest of the series. I can’t quite name them, but while I was reading I could swear that someone else did that, or weren’t they there when that happened, etc. I blame it on Eddings deciding on revisionist history: he wanted to change it to make this a cooler book. I can understand, but little things like that make my teeth itch. I hate inconsistencies. I hate them.

But all in all it was quite entertaining and enlightening. We get to see Belgarath’s checkered past, the start of it all, and the long years spent desperately trying to figure everything out. It reminds me just a tiny bit of the War of the Rings in the Silmarillion. Not in any way shape or form as detailed or well written, but in the sense of revealing previously unknown chunks of history that we haven’t heard about much before. So please don’t scream and shout that I think Eddings is on par with Tolkien. I like both, but please don’t put words in my mouth. Tolkien is just better (sorry Eddings). But for what I need right now, Eddings certainly does the trick. It’s an easy read, entertaining, witty, and nicely written enough. I seem to say that a lot, but it doesn’t stop being true just because I’m repetitive.

The Seeress of Kell, By David Eddings

Drumroll please…the final book of the Mallorean! The conclusion! The answer to most if not all of your questions! The company travels to Kell for the final revelation of the prophecy: the discovery of the location of the Place Which is No More. It happens to be the mountains of Korim that sank into the ocean when Torak cracked the earth, but a final journey to Perivor will reveal to them the exact location. And as an added surprise, the Seer Cyradis will be traveling with them. And at this ultimate location an ultimate decision will be made: the Seers of Kell are going to pick the new God of Angarak. If Cyradis chooses wrong…no one wants to live in such a world. Not even Torak himself wanted that.

Is it safe to say that most of you will be able to figure out the end of this book without reading it? Most likely. But if you skip this book, you will miss untold fun. Perivor, for instance. A long lost ship of Mimbrate Arends shipwrecked there once, married the local populace, and continued in their long traditions of hitting each other with big sticks and using flowery language. Seriously, you don’t want to miss this part. Zakath has turned into a tolerably nice person, leading to a wonderful discussion between him and Garion about the war that might have happened between them. It might have actually been in the last book, but it was still great. ‘You know that war we were going to fight? Do you mind if I just don’t show up?’ ‘I can always start without you. You can stop by once in a while to see how it’s going.’ Priceless. And Cyradis herself is quite pleasant.

My biggest complaint about this series is that one, it repeats itself after a while. I swear we repeated even all the jokes twice. Two, that so many characters start to pile up that we lose track of some of them, even if they’re in the same group. They just drop out of the picture for chapters and chapters. If you’ve got that many characters, it’s usually a sign that you need less.

But as a final conclusion of the Mallorean I will urge all of you to try to pick it up. It’s fun, it’s decent writing, good characters, many laughs, and easily appreciable by many people. If you don’t like it, then I apologize but thank you for trying.

Sorceress of Darshiva, By David Eddings

After a somewhat fruitless trip to Ashaba, the ancient house of Torak, the company is again hard on the heels of Zandramas. But on top of trying to rescue Garion’s son, Belgarath must get his hands on a copy of the Ashabine oracles: even the one at Ashaba was corrupted and piecemeal. Both of these needs lead them to the Melcene islands, and seat of the ancient Melcene empire. (coincidentally which is very much like the British empire, only without their mistakes.) But even this trail will lead them to another trail, and Garion is getting very tired of chasing and being chased all over Mallorea. There is nothing else to do, however. Cyradis will not let either the child of the Dark, or the child of the Light arrive too soon at the Place Which is no More. And there is the small matter of Zakath to resolve…

Okay, at this point I’m getting just a little annoyed at Eddings for all this runaround. Not so much as it not being fun to read about, but trying to summarize and remember all the places they’ve been and are going to is really hard. It’s like he said, ‘I need another book. What new place can I send them to with some new task that they have to solve? And what new person will they meet there?’ Most of it really is quite pointless. Running here and there—gah! But strangely enough Eddings tries to provide his own answer to this question within the books themselves. If the prophecies they are following would state exactly where they needed to go and at what time, there would be such a crowd of people there that what needed to take place could never happen. Now, that’s a bit pat and convenient for Eddings. It gives him too much play room with his books, and let him add at least one or two that could have been shortened.

Can we say yay for Zakath, though? He’s really fun, even if he’s the second king that Garion’s given advice to, and brought out of his ‘life is terrible when you’re a king’ doldrums. (Eddings also pulled this in the Tamuli, but we won’t mention that because that’s another series). Even the witty repartee starts to pall after a while, because sometimes it seems like it repeats itself. And that is never good for witty repartee.

It’s not like this book isn’t any worse than the rest of the Mallorean, it’s just that it’s no better. And all the tricks that Eddings pulls is starting to get a bit old by this point. But the ending, oh, it is a wonderful ending. Quite a good ending. You should read it to get to the ending, because it is such fun. And for those of you who have read it, I hope you remember what I’m talking about. (small hint, it involves Durnik being special) That really won’t give anything away, but I hope it makes you want to read it. Evil me.

Demon Lord of Karanda, By David Eddings

The company has been captured by Mallorean soldiers, apparently betrayed by Toth and his mistress Cyradis. They are being taken to ‘Zakath, Emperor of boundless Mallorea. There they must try to convince him that he cannot keep them forever and go against the work of the prophecy. For even Zakath has some part to play, struggle as he will to deny it. But there is an even larger problem abroad in Mallorea than just Zandramas: someone is calling up demons, and perhaps even a Demon Lord. If Zakath does not give up his fruitless war with the Murgos, he will lose Mallorea. For demons may be called upon occasionally without major harm, but they always break loose in time. And that is one thing there is not much of.

It gets harder and harder to summarize the plots, because they get so complicated and scattered. There are so many pieces that are so interesting, but I can’t tell you all of them. It really isn’t possible. But since I’m hoping now that you who are reading this review might have read the Mallorean before, I’m going to risk a plot spoiler. Because I really want to talk about this. I do think Eddings was terribly clever to make Urgit Silk’s brother. I mean, the laugh is definitely worth it, and what it does to the plot. Now Zakath has no real reason to attack the Murgos, and this forces him to reevaluate his life. Not always an easy task, especially for an emperor. But he’s helped along by Garion and company, most notably when Garion blows a hole in the wall. A very big hole. Hah.

But Feldegast! Now there’s a character. The accent is quite lovely, especially as it annoys Belgarath so much. We keep running into Vella and Yarblek, it must be for important reasons, or for something later on. They’re a funny bunch anyway. The hilarity that ensues, and yet the seriousness of these books are quite the mix. I enjoy it greatly. Someday I wish I could write with even half the wit of Eddings. I’m quite envious.

King of the Murgos, By David Eddings

After destroying the Bear cult at Rheon, Garion was visited by the seer Cyradis. She gave him certain instructions about where he should go, and who he should take with him. This means that Garion must again travel through the swamps of Nyissa, where the politics of the lands have again mixed with Angarak politics. But they seem to be gaining on the trail of his son, which is the only thing keeping both Garion and Ce’Nedra sane. But mishaps and complications are ever occurring, for when they impersonate Nyissan slave traders, they get taken to Kahsha, the headquarters of the Dagashi where they are instructed to take a message to King Urgit of the Murgos. This leads them down a surprising path, and reveals more of Silk’s past dealings with the royal family of Murgos. But Belgarath’s understanding of the Dark Prophecy is mounting, and it does not look good. For if Zandramas reaches the Sardion first, Garion will have to kill his own son.

And Lo! The plot thickens! That is basically the point of this book: in book one we had exposition, and now, the climax is rising. Does it sound like I’ve been doing too much English homework? Well you’re right. But the comparison applies. We meet new characters…some of them are new anyway. I mean, we’ve met Sadi before in the Belgariad, but he only had a minor role to play then. He soon becomes very fun to read in the Eddings tradition of writing serious/witty characters. And Urgit, oh, there is fun untapped before. But I can’t tell you anything, except to say…well, nothing. I can’t say anything. And that is frustrating, but I really don’t want to spoil anything. And even saying that is spoiling it, but moving on.

King of the Murgos is a much more exciting book than Guardians of the West. We’ve got plot movement, new characters, interesting happenings, etc. It moves along a lot more, without the tediousness of ‘explaining.’ I think Eddings often has a slow start to a series, because he has the need to explain everything about characters and how they think about things. I don’t mind it too much as it only takes up about half of the first book, but it can drag for some people. But we are past that, and getting into the thick of things. Sadly we’ve seen it all before, but it’s still interesting if you keep an open mind. And it gets kind of fun to try to match the plot twists with the Belgariad. Because you can do that, and Eddings actually admits that you can in a very clever speech Belgarath gives. But that’s all I’ll say for now, except that I hope you’re still with me and intend to read this series.

Guardians of the West, By David Eddings

Thus proceeds book one of the Mallorean, companion series to the Belgariad. Many years pass after Garion defeats Torak. The boy Errand goes to live with Polgara and Durnik in the Vale. Garion and Ce’Nedra have various marital problems but eventually work them out and they have a son, Geran. But life is not all easy, for there are hints that the prophecy might not be over and done with, and an attempt was made on Ce’Nedra’s life when she was pregnant with Geran. The Bear cult is again becoming a nuisance to the Alorn kingdoms, and will eventually perpetrate a horrendous kidnapping. Garion now finds himself on another quest: but this time he does not quest for the Orb, but for his own son.

Okay, we now get to the parts where a lot of people stop liking Eddings. It’s understandable, really it is. Most people stop liking him when they see that all he does is recycle plotlines. And sadly that is mostly what the Mallorean is: recycled plotline. But since it wasn’t that original a plotline to begin with, I think it should disappoint less people than it does. I do confess, though, that even I have stopped liking his books after the fifth reuse of the same plotline. It does wear on one, after a while. And I have been saying the same plotline, I mean specifically the plotline of brave man on a quest for an object/person on orders from a prophecy in order to save the world. And he’s got lots of friends with him. But really, do we read these books for the overall plot?

Not much seems to happen in Guardians of the West. It’s mostly plot exposition and character development, which is pretty fun. We see what people do with their free time; mostly having children. But Silk is on his way to becoming the richest man in the world (not surprising to many) and is as delightful a character as ever. I am still somewhat indifferent to the character of Ce’Nedra since if I met her in real life I don’t think I’d like her that much. Doesn’t really endear me to characters if I don’t like them. Errand seems to be playing a larger role than might have been expected. Now that he’s grown up and actually can say more words that ‘errand,’ he’s quite likable. Still the oddest little boy I’ve ever seen, but he’s quite cute. And the way he has with Horse…you’ll just have to read it. Seeing Hettar that discomforted is quite amusing. But I won’t spoil it for you. I’ll just wrap up the review saying that I expect to be entertained by the Mallorean, and enjoy every minute of it.

Enchanter’s End Game, By David Eddings

It’s the end! It’s the last book of the Belgariad! Are you sad that the story will be over? Are you sad that the characters are going away now? Those last two questions actually answer the reason I keep reading these books. After a while I do start to miss them. But onto the plot summary:

Garion and Belgarath and Silk snuck out of Riva in an attempt to avert war and confront Torak on their own terms. Garion realized that he would have to fight Torak no matter what, so involving armies would be a terrible waste. But Ce’Nedra discovered that unless armies are formed, gathering up all the loose Angaraks, Garion might not make it to Cthol Mishrak. So all events have been set in motion that have been predetermined almost since the beginning of time. The two prophecies will soon collide and Garion and Torak must fight to decide the victor. But there are other parts of the prophecy that no one understands, and no one will understand until after they happened. And that is the most unsettling part of all, for if the prophecy on the side of good is to win, Polgara must resist the tremendous will of a god: if she fails she will become his bride.

The Belgariad is over. I am guessing that it won’t take much for some of you to guess how the story ends. But even though you probably were able to predict most of the major and minor plot threads of this story, I hope I’ve been able to convince you that these books are still worth reading. Yes, the ideas are cliché and predictable, yes you’ve read them before, but it is how Eddings writes that makes it worth it. The characters are absolutely lovable. The words themselves are quite fun. I’ve mentioned before that Eddings has such a delightful dry wit: this alone makes the books worth reading. He has so many wonderfully funny lines said by many wonderfully funny characters. It makes you wish that all people could be this witty and clever: life would be so much better.

By this point you’ve hopefully decided whether or not you’ll read these books: I hope you decide yes. Not just for the boost it’ll give my ego if you read them ‘cause I said to, but for the hopefully good experience you’ll have reading them. I can’t promise you you’ll like them. That would be very silly of me. But you could at least try?

Castle of Wizardry, By David Eddings

Rak Cthol is falling to pieces as a result of the tumultuous battle of Belgarath and Ctuchik. The Orb has been recovered along with it’s curious thief: a very small innocent boy. The company barely manages to escape being caught by Murgos and killed in cave-ins, but they make it to the bottom of the city and rescue the Marag woman who was trapped there. They now have to travel very quickly to make it to Riva by Erastide: unbeknownst to Garion he has an important appearance to make. For his part in this story is not yet finished, as much as he might want it to be. And Ce’Nedra also has a role to play, much to the dismay of her and Garion both.

The chase has ended, and more storyplots reign! New things are happening that have been built up to for the past three books that we finally get to see. I will now descend into specifics, because they are too much fun to skip over. You may scroll down to the next paragraph if you don’t want to find out. Most of us should have probably figured out that Garion was the last descendant of Riva a long time ago. Book one should have given it away pretty well, but finally Garion realizes it. I mean, even though he might have heard at one point that the line of Riva was marked with a silver circle on one palm he still hadn’t figured it out. Maybe Polgara kept close watch on him to make sure he never learned that. Maybe. But Garion is King of Riva and totally clueless about what to do. No wonder he runs away with Belgarath and Silk, even if it’s to eventually confront Torak in single combat. Choose the lesser of two evils, Garion. Ruling a kingdom, or fighting single handedly with a god. Smart boy. But Ce’Nedra! She finally stops being quite as annoying as she was, and starts to realize that she is not the center of the world. Maturity is good for her, and makes me dislike her less.

Now that I have spent most of my review in spoilerific descriptions, I will attempt to close up with something generic and yet profound. Eddings has truly crafted a very good series. It is well written, interesting, funny, clever, and just a bit cliché. But if we look around that last point it’s really not all bad. Beside the fact that a somewhat normal person could see the plot coming from miles away, it’s often the exact journey the story takes that makes it a worthwhile book to read. I mean, hey, we can’t always have everything. An unforeseeable good plot combined with superb writing and good characters is very hard to find. Not many books fit that description. So I am perfectly content with a book that might be slightly predictable yet a true joy to read. So that is why I am still reading the Belgariad. Hint hint: you should start.

Magician’s Gambit, By David Eddings

Having left treacherous Nyissa a little the worse for wear, the company must now leave the trail of the Orb and make all speed to the Vale. The god Aldur has called them so they must obey, but the Orb has also switched hands and will be staying in one place until they can come to claim it. Belgarion continues discovering the extent of his newfound powers, making both great advances and great mistakes. After receiving instructions in the Vale, the company must travel to Rak Cthol to regain the Orb once and for all in a tumultuous battle between Ctuchik and Belgarath.

Finally we stop this running here and there to regain the Orb from the evil men. I am so glad that Eddings stopped the chase before it could further pall on the readers. As it is, it stopped in the nick of time. Two to three books I can take. After three it gets ridiculous.

Ce’Nedra really isn’t my favorite character. I’ve never liked spoiled self-centered people in real life: there is no reason why I should start to like them in books. I just have never found those character traits very endearing, and I don’t know why others would. She’s improved a bit since the last book, but arrogance is a thing I cannot stand for prolonged time. I just get the overwhelming urge to smack her.

Now Relg is quite a character. What an odd person! I just keep trying to envision him with his almost deformedly bulky shoulders, short stature, pale face, and scarves around his head. And his insane need to pray every hour with much beating of the ground and his body. It reminds me of the Old Testament, where there are lists and lists of sins, but no mercy offered except in strict terms. Relg needs to get to the New Testament where he would discover that gods forgive and not everything need be punished with death. But that’s just how I see it.

I feel bad just repeating everything I’ve said before about plot, characters, humor, and good writing, but really—it stays mostly the same. The quality doesn’t dip or fall, the first book is just as entertaining as the third, and I find myself laughing just as much as I did before, even though this is not my first read through. I grow to love the characters and their disparate personalities and that is what makes the books truly enjoyable to read.

The big 50! Queen of Sorcery, By David Eddings

After the council in Cherek, Belgarath and company travel to pick up the trail of the Orb again. Their path leads them through warring Arendia where they pick up two other companions: Lelldorin, a fiery Asturian patriot, and Mandorallen, a Mimbrate knight who truly knows no fear. After sorting out a few potential wars, the company travels through Tolnedra to inform the Emperor of what is going on. Around this time Garion discovers an interesting fact about himself which plunges him into despair, worry, and anger. But try as he might it will not go away, and soon he realizes that he needs it. For Belgarath has told him who killed his parents, and Garion wants revenge. For who else could it be but his old friend Asharak the Murgo. And he knows their paths will cross again someday. But for now they must travel through Nyissa in search of the Orb, and the Queen of that land is as dangerous and sneaky as the snakes that they honor.

Important information is learned, important people are met, and some important events happen. But on the whole not too much seems to happen in Queen of Sorcery. We have a few more adventures, and a few more laughs, but the plot does not advance very far. I’m not saying that this book is complete filler, but in a larger sense not too much goes on. They are no closer to finding the Orb than ever, and the lead of Zedar even seems to have grown. Long drawn out chases can do that to a series, because even though for plot’s sake they can’t catch the bad guys yet it seems to take forever and nothing seems to happen for books and books. This can be a problem if it goes on too long, but Eddings has only had us chasing the bad guys for two books yet, so we’ll give him the benefit of the doubt.

But really spiffy things do happen in Queen of Sorcery. Garion starts to do cool things, and grow up a bit. He still has the strange occasional childish sulk not quite fitting his age, but he no longer seems to be 12. Mandorallen is quite the piece of work and he fits in very well with Silk and Barak. The humor continues unabated with much mirth and laughing from me while I read: I can’t pass up good dry wit and sarcasm. I can’t. I do look forward to more happening in the next few books, because endless chases never really do well in a series.

Pawn of Prophecy, by David Eddings

Garion is a simple farmboy living on a simple farm in simplistic Sendaria. The only remarkable thing about this farm is that Garion’s Aunt Pol is the best cook for miles in any direction. So you can expect that his life was never very complicated. Until one day when the old storyteller (who had been in and out of Faldor’s farm ever since Garion could remember) showed up and took Garion on a trip that would forever change his life. Somehow Mister Wolf (the storyteller) and his Aunt Pol knew each other in a way that didn’t relate to Faldor’s farm. And they seemed to know everyone and everyone seemed to know them. Only no one appeared to know them like Garion did. Slowly Garion begins to realize that Mister Wolf and his Aunt Pol are much more than they seem, and more than he wants to realize. For if his ‘Aunt Pol’ really isn’t his aunt, then who is she? And who is he? And who is this man they are chasing, and what has he stolen that could put the entire world on the brink of war?

The plot that I just related to you will seem very familiar. In fact, it will seem cliché. So cliché in fact that you will not want to read this book because you already know what is going to happen. I am here to tell you that that would be a great mistake. Yes, the plot is slightly predictable, but only because every single author in the world has capitalized upon it. David Eddings was one of the first authors to write about the Quest, and inevitably many authors after him used many of his ideas. He was really the forerunner of all these knockoffs, but to those that have read the knockoffs he seems to be stealing their ideas. I won’t mention names or books (because that wouldn’t be quite fair) but I will tell you that Eddings wrote the Belgariad beginning sometime before 1982. That will give you a date to check who’s copying whom. But aside from that, there are many good reasons to read Pawn of Prophecy.

One good reason is the characters. Eddings has a light dry wit that works its way through the book and makes it delightful to read. The interactions between characters consists of funny remarks, repartees, and truly odd and wonderful scenes. I will quote one line for you now that you will not understand the context of (and I won’t explain) but it will give you a good feel for the writing. ‘One could, however, spend only so much time in the company of a dead pig without becoming depressed’ (208). I know that this will mean nothing to most of you, but to me this is worth a very long laugh. I just like his writing style and what he does with his characters.

Another reason is the world itself and the history behind it. I know that everyone has different standards for worldbuilding, but I am always happy when I see a world that breathes history. It gives a continuity to the world that you would expect if it’s been around for thousands and thousands of years. The believability goes up.

But for all of this Eddings is not perfect. He has a bit of a hard time writing believable younger characters. Garion himself is full of contradictions. He sometimes shows maturity for a man much older than 14, but he often behaves like a 10 or 12 year old. I know that most authors find it difficult to portray young kids, but Edding really didn’t grasp the knack of it. It gets a bit better as we go, but only mostly because Garion gets older and Eddings starts to write him more sensibly.

Pawn of Prophecy is entirely worth reading, as is the rest of the Belgariad. I recommend it for highschoolers, (and possibly younger if they feel up to reading it, the language isn’t too difficult) and certainly older. Don’t pass it up because of the clichés. You’ll miss an entertaining book.

First Rider’s Call, by Kristen Britain

At the end of the first book, Karigan G’ladheon believed that she was done with being a green rider. She went home with her father to Corsa to continue on her path to becoming a merchant. Yet she cannot seem to settle back in. Hoof beats are always sounding in her dreams, she can’t seem to like wearing anything other than green, and she keeps feeling a pull to be riding away from everything. But somehow she resists the call, until one night when it becomes too strong to resist. For Sacordia needs her, and even the spirit of the first rider, Lil Ambriodhe, won’t rest quietly until Karigan takes her necessary place. For the cracks in the wall surrounding Kammorhane Vale have spread, splitting a section of the wall. Ancient evil is stirring there, and it remembers a past so long ago that it is relegated to myths and legends. But this past will overtake the present, unless Karigan discovers and uses all the powers she possesses. For although she is a reluctant hero, she loves Sacordia and all its people and will do anything to keep them safe.

Kristen Britain keeps introducing new and wonderful ideas to her Green Rider books. In the first, we see some of the spirits of the dead, notably F’ryan Cobblebay. In First Rider’s Call, the spirits of the dead no longer rest as quietly as they once did, and they still long to protect Sacordia. Lil realizes that she might be breaking some rules in doing what she is, but she cannot help it any more than Karigan. For they share the same brooch, and the same spirit is in each of them. Karigan is more connected to the First Rider than she knows, but she discovers how much very quickly.

I love the surges of magic and what it does to the kingdom, I love Lil and her sense of humor, and I love the time sequences. I dare not say more than that, but I can’t bear not to mention them. First Rider’s Call lives up to Green Rider and more. It is more polished, tighter writing, and the plot is just as thrilling. I love adventure. Get ready to ride!