Rating: 
Summary: Insultinglty Simple (I apologize for the length of this!)
Review: I decided to read this book because I wanted to read Polgara the Sorceress, a book that has caught my eye repeatedly for the past year. In a way I resent the numerous recommendations of this series to teens -- I'd much rather pick up a book by Robert Jordan any day.I found the opening amusing and it caught my attention, and I thought it would carry on throughout the whole book... but after they leave Faldor's Farm, forget it. Until they finally end up in Val Alorn, it just seems like a bunch of filler to illustrate a few obscure points. Relationships between certain people, such as Barak and Merel, Silk and Queen Porenn were interesting but didn't seem to have a real purpose when it comes to the book's plot. Queen Islana was an amusing character and it's too bad Eddings didn't go more into depth with her. I intensely disliked the fact that I was kept in the dark about major things going on in the book. That is, unless I missed it in my haste to get to the good parts in what I expected would be a great book. Anyone can figure out that Aunt Pol is Polgara and Mister Wolf is Belgareth and that they are trailing someone who has stolen the orb. After that you may as well be Garion, b/c you'll probably feel his exact frustration of not knowing anything. Is this deliberate on the author's part? I would estimate I had no clue what Murgos and Grolims were for about three quarters of the book -- I was only aware that they were Angaraks. They were mentioned a great deal, but there were only slight distinctions between them (Grolims are worse than Murgos basically) for those first three quarters of the book until finally you got to know more about them. A lot of the time you're reading about the adults' evasive conversations concerning things they believe Garion shouldn't know which helps you in no way. Yet another example of being uninformed is the "impossible task" of King Anheg that Wolf has given him. You don't really find out what it is, you're only given the vague impression that he's studying Pol and Wolf's plight and mission. This leaves you wondering what the point of that small segment of the book was, what Anheg is studying, and once again, what's the point of it's mention? I've never been able to predict a plot so well as this one. I was amazed by the certainty I could predict it with. An easy read doesn't mean there can't be plot twists or surprises. As far as this book goes, there are none whatsoever. I certainly don't mind easy, light reads (say, for instance, Jennifer Roberson's Sword Dancer series -- Definitely doesn't insult your intelligence) but this was way too simplistic and, well, easy. Hehe... Despite what may seem like scathing review on my part, I will continue with the second in hopes that it picks up somewhat... Being it was a fast read, it wasn't as unbearable as some books can get.
Rating: 
Summary: Great book
Review: I picked up The Belgariad because a friend suggested i read it. I looked at it and thought it would be really boring. However i learned the hard way ,it, and it's sequel the Mallorean, are addictive. At least three or four times a year i read this series and i now own every single book in both series. This is the first book in a twelve story series. And i belive it is one of the best of all of them. It starts out introducing the characters slowly, letting them grow on you and letting you seep in the surrounding before uprooting you for inevitable quest. But it is written beautifully and you can see how sensible everything the characters do is. And it never makes you feel as though the characters are fake, they could be your cousin or sister or uncle... they feel real which is very important with such a long story line. What's more then that, you like the good guys and dislike the bad guys but you can understand both side. I hate to say it but if my God came down and told me to do something i would. That is what many of us would do. This book is a great book and that is the bottom line.
Rating:
Summary: The beginning of a wonderful journey.
Review: The first pages of Pawn of Prophecy grabs you and won't let you go. I remember the first time I read Pawn of Prophecy. It's so riveting that you can't put it down. It takes you on a magical journey with many twists and turns. I love this series so much that I have read it at least half a dozen times and I catch myself reading it over and over again. There are times you are so caught up in the excitement that you forget you know how it ends. I love the ways you see Garion grow up and starting to realize that things aren't really as they seem. I also love the characters Aunt Pol, Durnik, the old storyteller, Silk and Barak. You get so involved with the books you want them to continue forever. I will probably read the series so many times that my books will get worn out. I think if you get Pawn of Prophecy you need to get the rest of the series so you can keep reading without having to wait to get the next book.
Rating:
Summary: You won't find a better series!
Review: I read this series for the first time in the 9th grade, 1986. Since then, I have read the covers off of two paperback copies of this book and the other 4 in this series. I have since bought the hardback version of this series and the following series (The Mallorean). Eddings writes with enough detail to bring this world alive around you while the dialogue keeps you glued to the characters. His use of humor with the characters will make you associate with one of them, guaranteed!
Rating:
Summary: Close, but no sigar
Review: The Belgariad is a collection of good ideas piled together under the influence of Lord of the Rings. The story is too obvious and predictable, and here are too many easy ways out and cheap sollutions in the series to make it really entertaining as a whole. The author has some original ideas and descriptions, which make the book fair enough to read, but im sorry to say that this was not a thrilling experience.
Rating:
Summary: Parents will find this a wonderful series for their children
Review: I read this series a few years ago between the ages of ten and fifteen, and have since then described this book to a number of parents (including my own) who are not sure whether or not these are worthwhile books for their children to become addicted to. (Yes, they are highly addictive.) Don't worry, the content and language of these books are far, far more elevated than the R.L. Stein or Babysitter's Club junk. David Eddings and his wife recently wrote, "We're here to teach whole generations how to read." For pre/younger teens, that is exactly what the Belgariad, the Mallorean, the Elenium, and the Tamuli (as well as the individual Eddings books) do. The crisp, witty dialogue uses some fairly sophisticated vocabulary which readers come to understand simply from their context. Moreover, the books become progressively longer and sometimes they lapse into old English. The old English makes reading pre-eighteenth century writing a little less daunting, and the length (usually around 300 and up to 700 pages) acclimates readers to reading longer works. And they WILL read the Eddings books, even the longest ones, because the books have wonderful characters, descriptions, and dialogue and they are extremely fast-paced. Get these books!
Rating:
Summary: One of a kind
Review: I have read all ten book in this series twice through. Nuff said.
Rating:
Summary: The best start into a fantasy series
Review: This book is the beginning of a long line of books by Eddings, and as such will most definately draw you into it. In The Pawn of Prophecy, Garion is a simple boy on a farm until a vagabond storyteller comes alongs and spirits him out of there along with his Aunt Pol and a smith named Durnik. Soon Garion finds out that his friends are no longer what they appear to be and many more join into their strange little band as they go along. As a beginning novel, this book is excellent because it has to introduce all the charecters, places and history of this new world, so most beginners, unlike this one, are a little boring and hard to keep up with because you are in a giant game of memory, however, in this one it's easy to follow and like all the others causes palpable pain when you close its pages. If you have a lot of free time get this book because if you don't have it you will be MAKING free time just to read it and the ones that follow it.
Rating: 
Summary: Great Fantasy!
Review: This is definitely one of the best fantasy books I have ever read. David Eddings does not follow the general laws of fantasy (most fantasy books are quite similiar in plot outline). Readers will have to adapt to his unique writing style, which took me the first two books. Don't be put off by the first prologue, It is an excellent book!
Rating:
Summary: Slow start of an epic
Review: I do not exactly know why I read this whole series. Because I did not fancy this first episode. In my opinion there was no logic as to why the group of people followed the route of travel they followed. Furthermore I like a story with several storylines interwoven. This book lacks that for sure. To go short I was not half as impressed as the majority of reviewers overhere. Nevertheless I read through the next volumes and I must say the series improves towards the end. But on average they don't get above three stars.
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