Polgara the Sorceress by David Eddings

Polgara the Sorceress gives an interesting account of a woman who has to contend with knowing that the fate of the world somehow rests with her , but she cannot prepare for the event until the moment actually arrives.

It is a story of sacrifice , loss, intense love, and a great number of other issues that most people would crimble under.

Polgara is aware of the great power within her, and uses that power when needed, not wastefully, but always with cause and purpose. The ongoing love/hate relationship she has with her father Belgarath is written beautifuly.

Polgara, the most beautiful woman in the world, powerful, passionate and serene, is a character that you will never forget.

Did the author of this book even read the other novels? "Belgarath the Sorceror" was great, and after having read it this one was just one huge disappointment.

There were inconsistencies throughout the entire novel. One of the most telling was the portrayal of Beltira and Belkira. Not once in this book did they talk in the manner they did all through both series. While I have no problem with strong female characters, I do have problems with rewrites such as this one which totally ignores what the other novels presented as the history to make it look as if the women were secretly responsible for everything. If this book were to be believed (in relation to the made up history of the fantasy world involved), Belgarath never did anything but was the roob of his wife and daughter.

As one reads the novels of Eddings you can see the slow change in his male characters where they go from being improved and reinforced by their relationships with the women they love(a good thing), to being totally incapable of the simplest tasks without them. The strangest part is that the female characters themselves never really progress or change. There is not one female character (heroine) in these novels who could not be replaced with any other female character and have the same effect. The only exception would be Cenedra before she grew out of her spoiled Princess childhood to become Polgara with no power.

This becomes more apparent after Liegh's name started appearing on the novels with Davids. One can only assume that it was Liegh who wrote this story from her own personal view of who the true hero should have been. It is sad, this was a great chance to repeat the success of Belgarath the Sorceror, but it was blown. Having strong female characters and heroines is a great thing, but not when the writer has to go out of her way to try and make every male in the story seem incapable of crossing the steet alone.

Polgara the sorceress is the second prelude to the Belgariad/Malorean written by David Eddings. A great book, written as if Polgara had written it herself (or dictated as the case may be (read the book to find out what I mean)). Not quite up to the same calibre as Belgarath the Sorcerer, but still an excellent read, we find out that the all knowing Polgara, ice maiden of ice maidens, really received much of her instructions from her Mother (thought dead by Belgarath) and had lived through more pain than most of us could cope with.

Whilst it does ramble on in places, the discrepencies raised between the two preludes add to the feeling that it is written from the charactors point of view.

A great read, in an unusual style.

5/5