I love David Eddings

Jacquin

Jacquin

Shovelly Joe
Joined
Jun 14, 2002
Messages
1,925
No this isn't in the wrong forum.

I've just re-read High Hunt for the umpteenth time and I love that book. It is rough, it is dated, the characters are sexist, beer-swilling stereotypes, but it has a feel that none of his other books do. Maybe it is because it is his first book. Maybe it is just the subject matter. Maybe it is because it is as old as me. I don't know, in fact I don't care.

If you haven't read it then I'd seriously recommend it, if you have then what do you think?
 
ha! i love your comment. yes it was a very good book. i'm not as old as it. but still. i love all david eddings and this one (as well as the losers) was just different becuase it wasn't fantasy. I also enjoyed regina's song. what do you think of his new series?
 
The fire was a tragedy alright - also didn't realise his wife was so ill. Thankfully the original manuscripts of the Belgariad weren't damaged.




Edited to erase snark ;)
 
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fire?

wait fire?? what?? And I heard that he is really sick too...does anyone know if its serious? And as for whoever said they weren't old enough or too old I don't think age is a factor...some people appreciate his writing some don't..simple as that.
 
Holy Sh*t! I just found out..(though a little late) that Leigh Eddings died of a series of strokes! I'm sure this will be apparent enough in his next set of novels when the names start sucking. :( What a great way to start my day. Just out of curiosity, does anyone know any more details about this or David's apparent illness?
 
It's quite sad to hear about Leigh Eddings' death. Even though I am not a fan anymore still the Belgariad and the two prequels still have a special place in my heart and she was an important part of the writing process as far as I know.

Now about High Hunt: When I was a teen and just had read all Eddings books available (which means that where translated to German since at that was the time before I started to read excessivly in English) I naturally also bought High Hunt. And devoured it. I still remember parts of it. I did not love it but impressed me somehow. Granted, I was quite impressable back than. But than again, other books did not have the same effect. Maybe one day I will get back to it and find out if it still can have an effect on me?
Because when I tried Eddings horror novel Regina's Song I thought, hey, that's not a general fiction novel but it's a stand alone and he did well with High Hunt - but I was utterly disappointed and turned my back to Eddings for good.

Strange. Maybe it is because with High Hunt - at least as far as I remember - he did not try to replicate his 10 rules for an epic fantasy story. Or at least did not try to replicate the same character prototypes as he did in Regina's Song? I don't know but maybe more people should heed Jacquin's recommendation and try that book. ;)
 
Nimea said:
It's quite sad to hear about Leigh Eddings' death. Even though I am not a fan anymore still the Belgariad and the two prequels still have a special place in my heart and she was an important part of the writing process as far as I know.
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I agree with you about the Belgariad and the Mallorean and the prequels. They were my frist favorite fantasy books back in 6th grade and will always have a place in my heart. I read High Hunt, and enjoyed it a lot, although not as much as I enjoyed The Losers, which is one of Eddings' good stand alones. Regina's song dissapointed me immensely, and I put off starting his new fantasy series' for some time. I just started the Elder Gods up again, and find that I still don't like it at all. Eddings' just got repetitive after the Sparhawk series. He had potential in my opinion, but he just never used his creativity to its fullest.
 
David & Leigh's later works were terrible IMO

Like many of us I read the Belgariad years ago as a teenager and LOVED it. When the Mallorean was published I was thrilled. I felt the sequel however had a subtle change in writing style - presumably with the input of Leigh Eddings (I say this only because the subtle change became very apparent in books later co-authored by Leigh & David). From that point on the writing style progressively got worse and worse. I recently read "The Redemption of Athalus" - and wished I hadn't. The only good thing I can say about it is that it made me appreciate the great work of other authors. In plain English it was crap. The characters were inconsistent and seemed to fluxuate into sharing the same characteristics rather then holding their own individuality, the relationships did not evolve in a believable manner, the responses of each character jumped from "this is so new and weird" to "I'm an expert on this topic" when speaking to new charaters introduced mere pages later. Finally each character repeats themselves unnecessarily throughout the book.

Am I alone in thinking this?
 
Dark Uncle said:
Am I alone in thinking this?
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Not at all my dear friend, not at all. I kept telling myself that Eddings' would get better and that the Sparhawk series was just an experiment. So I dutifully read the Elder God series and the Redemption of Althulus, as well as Regina's song and all of his non fantasy books. I've come to find that they all sucked. Everything you said about Redemption was right, and I'm sure I'm not alone when I say that certain series' (Especially Sparhawk) seem to have the same characters from the Belgariad, only with different names. Sephrinia (sp?) is in some ways like Polgara, and in others like Poledra and that little goddess whose name I can't remember was very like Eriond. The quest was the same...go find some jewel and fullfil a prophecy. I enjoyed that so much in the Belgariad and Mallorean and even the Belgarth and Polgara stories, but when I found that that was the only idea Eddings' could come up with, I lost my respect for him. :(
 
Ive read the Belgariad and liked it, ,I started the Mallorean first book and , it didn't grab but, I'm willing to give it ante chance . . As for the Sparhawk novel I did read Ellenium and yes , repetitive and derivative but I still liked it . The story was entertaining enough. If you read this author expecting great Tolkien like fantasy greatness , you're going to be disappointed . If you want a fun relatively quick and entertaining read , then he's worth reading.
 
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