[Marvin]

Are they any good?

[Vladimir]

not compared to the rest of the books you could/should be reading...

[Richardb]

I'm going to say yes! They are great. I really enjoyed both these series, and find Sparhawk (main character) to be one of the most interesting I have read. Spend one hour reading the first book and if you don't like it, not much is going to change. Eddings get's into the story and introduces characters quickly, so no long waits to see if the thing works for you or not. Far superior to Belgariad, or Eddings other works.

[Iskaral Pust]

Think they're pretty rubbish, it's as Ricardb says, read a bit of the first one, if you that, you'll like it all, if not, join the club.

[Quagmire]

It's good for light reading. Only problem I have with it is that every character there is a wisecrack like Silk was. I guess Eddings knew who everyone's fave character was in Belgariad and cloned him 10 times.

[ChrisW]

I've only read the Tamuli series. I enjoyed it. If you like Eddings other work then you should enjoy them.

[Khallandra]

They are my fav Eddings series and the first ones I read. I have a soft spot for Khalad (Kurik's son) and half my user name comes from him :)

[Evil Agent]

I agree that they're not amazing compared to stuff like Martin, Hobb, even Jordan. But they WERE my first fantasy series' after LOTR, and they hold a special spot in my heart too. I also liked them just a BIT more than the Belgariad or the Mallorean also by Eddings.

The Elenium is the best one, the Tamuli is a bit of an unecessary sequel, but still has some good moments.

[Beetle]

Originally posted by Quagmire
It's good for light reading. Only problem I have with it is that every character there is a wisecrack like Silk was. I guess Eddings knew who everyone's fave character was in Belgariad and cloned him 10 times.

I agree completely. I thought the Belgariad and Mallorean had a much better group of diverse characters. Of course...after LoTR...the Belgariad was my first series...so I may be bias!

[Richardb]

I did not actually find any of the characters from the Elenium to be really that similar to prior characters from the Belgariad. Kurik, Sparhawk, Syphrenia (sp?), Kalton. I found them each very unique, and they had some great specific qualities. I did not find a single 'Silk like' character in the bunch? Who were you refering to Quagmire? Kalten (who was lighthearted and humorous, but was a very, very different character type than Silk).