Pawn of Prophecy

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Summary: George's Fantasy Corner
Review: Pawn of Prophecy, is the opening work of Edding's 5 book Belgariad Series. Since this book simply sets the stage for the series, an isolated review is impossible. The Belgariad is, hands down, Edding's best work, and the man is a fixture on the NY times Best sellers list. Unlike Tolkien, and other fantasy writers, Edding's characters don't sound like a medieval peom. The bickering, humor, and dry wit which lace the dialogue allow the characters to flow through the plot line, which while highly engaging and well thought out, is much simpler than most fantasy. Indeed that lies at the heart of Edding's appeal. These character's talk and bicker with each other like they are in a modern sitcom, not a dry midieval court.
The plotline of Pawn of Prophecy is fairly simple. The book sets the stage for the series, introducing the first 6 or so main characters. The protagonist, Garion, finds himself dragged along on a strange quest with his Aunt Pol, and a small crew of character's whose identities begin to be revealed as the plot progresses. Like many works of fiction, the reader will be many leaps ahead of the book's main character when it comes to guessing what's really going on. However, because the books flows on the strength of its dialogue, not its plot, this poses little problem.
Reviewer's Note: Pawn of Prophecy also allows serious Edding's fans to get the opportunity to find the discrepancies between this book and the rest of the series. Either certain elements of the plotline, and background were still in flux, or Edding's didn't yet have the clout to overrule editorial changes. Whatever the reason, "hunting for mistakes" can be fun.

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Summary: Lifelong Friend
Review: The Belgariad and The Malloreon have been my lifelong friends. Since reading them for the first time over a decade ago to reading them for the 10th time this summer, I find that the wit and the wonderful realtionships between the characters are still as strong. Not to mention the strong, female characters which are lacking in many other fantasy series. Anyone who enjoyed the recent Harry Potter series would do well do read these. As in introduction into fantasy, they are tops. Several laughs out loud are guaranteed. I suggest reading them aloud with someone you love since the dialogue flows better if spoken.

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Summary: ...
Review: this book was AMAZING! David Eddings is a GENIUS! I have never read a better book... well except for David Eddings- The redemption of althalus

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Summary: It makes my heart ache how flippin good this book is
Review: Well...I just finished reading this series for the second time. There are still tears running down my face.. honestly. These books are so good.. No words to describe it. Eddings is a genius author. His writing invokes so much of the human soul and so much out of the reader... I hate ending such an incredible journey. Please everyone.. if you like fantasy... the type with thievery.. prophecy.. socery.. go get your hands on these books and savour every moment. Then go spread them.

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Summary: A good introduction to the series
Review: Unlike some series, which have about 120 pages of NOTHING happening before the plot begins...,this more or less starts quickly and moves underway. Garion, a plain scullery boy, and his aunt, the regal-but-oddly-domestic Pol, join an oddly assorted group of characters to chase after something they won't tell Garion about.

I like the sense of mystery in the book. Garion really has no idea who he is or what his group is after. I also like the relationships between Garion, his aunt, and his grandfather. All three are drawn richly and realistically, and are well worth the reading. On the bad side, Eddings has a fascination with re-using characters and plotlines (there's a lot here fans will recognize from the "Elenium" series), and with using the same sorts of jokes (such as the phrase "an indifference to the finer points of property ownership"). Most of the cast have overly clever mouths and a penchant for irreverence and flip comments at the strangest moments, something you'll notice out of his other series as well. The supporting cast also tends to be almost interchangable, though not as badly as Sparhawk's traveling companions -- at least THESE characters have different accents. The series itself sounds about like a D&D outing (it's mentioned a few times in the series that the group is TOO assorted to avoid suspicion, something I wish D&D players realized themselves), with national Gods and strong nationalistic tendencies that reduce most characters to stereotypes.

That said, it's a fun read. Eddings moves his cast adeptly through a plot it's obvious he's spent a little time on, and the main characters are fun to watch. Those who get frustrated with overly clever characters and derivative plots may not like this, but I enjoy the series. This beginning book is just the first of many fun outings with Garion and the gang.

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Summary: This one got me started on fantasy and I still LOVE IT
Review: When I was in fifth grade, I reluctantly picked up this book at a friend's insistence. When I began,I was almost immediatly [drawn] into Eddings' magnificent world. This series really got me interested in Fantasy books, and I'm eternally gratefull to this author for showing me all the genre has to offer.
Today, I still pick up Pawn of Prophecy and vist Garion's world once again.
I'D SAVE THIS BOOK AND THE REST OF THIS SERIES FROM A BURNING BUILDING!
I recomend this book to anybody who wants to see Fantasy writting at it's best.

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Summary: Tolkien has nothing to worry about
Review: Let's see; once upon a time, an itinerant wizard, mysteriously ageless, traveled the world stirring up trouble and preparing for the next confrontation with the Enemy. You see, there was a mighty talisman involved, and the long-empty throne of the King of the West ' kept warm by centuries of faithful stewards ' would be surprisingly filled by an heir emerging from obscurity' oops, it's not Tolkien, but Eddings' Belgariad, one of the more significant pretenders to the throne. Many will object to such a comparison, but the LOTR hangs so heavily over the Belgariad it's not even funny. The author(s) carry away one of the most essential lessons of the LOTR, namely that good backstory makes for a believable fantasy world. Regrettably, it takes believable characters and decent writing as well. The Belgariad has some of these, but not a heck of a lot.

...It is ...stunningly uneven, and one wonders whether this is the result of the collaboration of the author and his wife, who apparently contributed to all his books but was not openly credited until Belgarath the Sorcerer. The protagonist Garion is a plausible and likeable enough fellow, and his sorcerous mentors Belgarath and Polgara are also interesting creations (though much more so in their own respective memoirs). But the companions which gather around Garion are another story. Destiny has chosen representatives from each of the western kingdoms to aid in Garion's quest, in a sort of cosmic affirmative action. However few manage to become more than caricatures (with the notable exception of the rapscallion Silk) and one has the distinct sense that they are chosen more for their contrasting accents and hairstyles than for any specific assistance which they provide to the hero. There is also a character whose 'dialect' consists of the most convoluted Ivanhoesque medieval formality you are likely to see this side of a Renaissance faire, and the art of its execution makes one suspect that the author is rather fond of such language. Thankfully, its use is sparse.

To judge from the other reviews on this site, the Belgariad is wildly popular. If this is your sort of book, then by all means proceed. But be warned: this is the sort of fantasy in which the heroine's auburn tresses tumble, cascade, stream, and otherwise descend poetically over her face in endless variations. Please don't confuse this with actual literature. The best of the books, actually, are the memoirs Belgarath the Sorcerer and Polgara the Sorceress. The fact that many fans of the series were disappointed in these volumes should be a hint right away that there might be something to them.

In this first installment, Garion learns that ' holy smoke ' he's not the scullery boy he thought he was, and he takes off, assembling his retinue with an astonishing lack of curiosity while dodging the forces of evil.

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Summary: Top class fantasy
Review: The book follows Garion as he grows up on a farm in the kingdom of Sendaria, where his Aunt Pol manages the kitchen. The first few chapters cover his life up to the age of around 14, which is when the main story begins. At that time he is just a normal farmboy, and knows little of the world. Even a trip to the closest village is an adventure. But suddenly he has to follow his Aunt as she and Wolf, the storyteller, leave on a quest to find something which has been stolen. As the story progresses, he begins to suspect that his Aunt and Wolf may be different from what he has known them to be his whole life.

This is just the start of a great series of five books known as 'the Belgariad', later followed by another five in 'the Malloreon'. The story is the classic fight between the Evil which seeks to rule the world, and the Good which wants to save it, but what really makes the book so great is the characters. They are all very distinct from each other, with their own personality and desires. Eddings manages to keep them all separate, so that they are not mixed together in a faceless group. Instead they each have their part to play in the quest to save the world.

I have read the entire series at least 20 times by now, and it remains my favorite fantasy. It is lighter than 'The Wheel of Time' series by Robert Jordan, which makes it suitable for younger readers as well, but it is great for anyone from around 12 to 112. I think many, like me, read this series as their first fantasy, and it is a great start to get interested in the world of magic and swordfights. By now Harry Potter is probably a more common start, but this series is still required reading for fantasy lovers.

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Summary: Fun with formula
Review: This is the first book in a series of five that have been my favorite books for more than ten years. I suggest having all five books of the Belgariad on hand, because once you start...well, you know....

You've got everything you'd want in a good adventure story, pagentry and pathos, glory and defeat, lonliness, grief, guilt, love, warmth and joy. We rejoice and agonize with our young, ignorant hero as he grows into the role the universe has prepared for him whether he likes it or not. We admire, pity, laugh at, despise and fall in love with the characters standing at his side and in his way. The "good" guys are fallible, argumentative and generally a lot of fun. And the "bad" guys...ooh they're so bad. And unlike the boy-heavy Lord of the Rings, there's some nifty female characters to round out the cast.

Without ever sinking into parody, Eddings pokes gentle fun at some of fantasy fiction's conventions, the all-wise, all-powerful wizard, (who really likes to eat, drink beer and sleep), the knight in shining armor (so noble he's practically brain damaged), the green-clad archer in the woods (see "knight") while respecting the tradition started by Tolkien. It's a well thought-out, complex world with likeable, interesting people in it.

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Summary: An EXCELLENT fantasy!
Review: David Eddings will capture your mind as you read his epic 5 novel series.
Garion starts off as a farm hand without a heritage, and throughout this series he transforms to a not only to a king; but also a powerful sorcerer.
With the help of his 7,000 year old granfather, Belgarath, and his slightly younger Aunt Pol, Garion must travel across his world in a war fortold by a prophecy that was split into good and evil.
Garion is the Child of light, and to over come the evil, he must defeat the Child of dark, a wild God, Torak.
Join Garion in his epic adventure!