Castle of Wizardry by David Eddings

The fourth book of the Belgariad was a big disappointment for me. In contrast to the fine crafting of the first few books, Eddings seems to be just going through the motions to meet his quota for the publisher. As a result, he has produced something that is mundane and formulaic. He relies heavily on devices created in previous books, such as "the prophecy", and the predictability of the plot is not balanced by particularly captivating writing. All the characters have gone "out of character", sometimes seeming to have exactly the same personality, motivation, and behaviours as the other characters in the book. Instead of evolving naturally, they are forced to fit a preconceived plotline. The author seems to be simply filling in the details for the completed outline presented at the beginning of the series. I found it hard to finish this book because I got tired of it's repetitive and unimaginative nature. The uncertainty of the first few books is replaced here with conceit; the author won his readership and stopped trying.

This is easily my least favorite book in the Belgariad or the Malloreon.  There's not a lot of action in this book, and not a lot of really great stuff happens that's very memorable.  True, Eddings' wit and good storytelling are there, so it's a good read if you're not really into action.  This isn't really a series where you can just skip around, so you should read it if you intend to read the series, but if you are looking for the one David Eddings book that you will read to determine whether or not you really like what he writes, do not choose the Castle of Wizardry.

As classic as a fantasy series is able to be. The fight between good and evil, a young hero that doesn't actually want to be the hero but no matter what is going to be one and of course a little princess just to add a touch of romance. In "Castle of Wizardry" we follow Garion and his followers after they have regained the Orb from Ctuchik, and their return to Riva where Garion is in for a surprise and it's finally revealed who he really is. You might think that would be the end of the story, but that is really just the beginning, Torak is rising and something has to be done...