Belgariad by David Eddings

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Submitted by Jenna 
(Oct 25, 2001)

I think that the Belgariad series is truly a masterpiece in my eyes! I think that David Eddings is truly talented to make up a whole new world and new people! The twists and turns of the story are rarely amazing, and how all of the characters have their own special job and attitude is remarkable! I personally found Silk to be my favorite! The little mans clever remarks can make me laugh at the worst situation! I have also read Belgarath the Sorcerer and am almost finished with the Malloreon, and I'm on the edge of my seat every minute of the way! I LOVE it! As for David Eddings, I have the up most respect for anyone who has that kind of imagination! I just wish I could personally thank him for putting this kind of book out, he's a genius!

I must admit that David Eddings was my first experience of the fantasy genre over 12 years ago. I found the Belgariad to be highly engrossing. However, I am force to admit that as the Belgariad progressed into the Mallorean I became disillusioned with Mr Eddings. His characters became boring and one dimensional as did his plots. Did anyone notice that every female in his books are either beautiful or "once bore traces of a luminous beauty". His vocabulary in my opinion became highly limited.However, I continued to read his books in the hopes that they would resort to their original standard which first captivated me. The latest spin-off from the Belgariad struck me as nothing more that an attempt to squeeze the last few bucks out of an already exhausted franchise. By this I mean the Rivan Codex. Shame on you David!

Eddings is a truly talented writer. Words cannot and will not express the passion and love for his work. David Eddings takes you on a journey of a lifetime. You can scoff his work, and never realise him for what he is, a fantastic writer who has made me life complete, but just remember, there are alot of us, and you can't make us leave. DAVID EDDINGS RULES!!! Read them. You wont regret it.

The Belgariad is definitely one of my favorite fantasy series. Eddings knows how to involve the reader into his story, and you really come to care for the characters. That's not to say there aren't any flaws, however. The world in the story is very simple, with only a handful of countries for an entire planet. There are only people who follow each god, and "barbarians". One look at Eddings' world compared to ours shows how limited Eddings' is. Some may argue that more detail would only cloud the plot, but I feel a better solution would have been to limit the scope of the story to just part of the "world", instead of making the two series set in theis world span the globe. Another problem with Eddings' work is in his use of the basic story in each one of his series. If you read the Belgariad, you'll definitely enjoy the other works set in this world (the Mallorean and a couple of stand-alone books about Pol and Belgarath), but other series set on other fantasy worlds will seem to be the same story, only the maps and names have been changed to protect the royalties. I read the first book in the Tamuli, Domes of Fire, and never finished it. This is why I haven't read Eddings' latest, the redemption of Athalus. So although I highly recommend Eddings, I have to say only for the first "world" you encounter.

The "Belgariad" series is my world in which I use to escape the real world. That may sound a little obsessive, and probably something for a mental institution to work on, but I'm serious when I say that anytime I yearn to live in a fantasy world, I start over from book 1. of the Belgariad. The amount of times I have read this series is innumerable, and I consider each book to be a brilliant piece of work. Every minor detail, the way the magic works, the remarkable personalities of each characters, the humour and the sadness is such a great mix of emotions, and feelings that I get swept away and live in this world Eddings created, right to the very end. Once I have stared one of the books, I won't stop until the whole series is finished. The sarcasm and dry humour used has you crying with laughter, and the omittance of medieval modesty, strictness and archaic manner makes this fantasy world a place anyone would feel comfortable in. Pack your things and go on a voyage with the Belgariad please, or you can never say you have really lived!!! Layla,17, PERTH/ Australia