JoeGKushner
Adventurer
First time I read them I enjoyed them but either they have not aged well or I've changed greatly as I now find them... substandard.
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The Eddings
- Thread starter LordVyreth
- Start date
They were some of the best books a twelve-year-old could hope to find when I first found 'em. Now that I'm in my late twenties, they still feel like some of the best books a twelve-year-old could hope to find. I enjoyed them immensely, and the few times I've gone back to reread them, I've had an immediate "Oh, I'm going to ruin these if I do" reaction. And I like 'em, so I'm leaving them on the shelf, safe from my old and jaded eyes.
Orius
Unrepentant DM Supremacist
Eddings is a fair writer, but he tends to pad the books with a lot of junk especially in the later books of the various series. The Belgariad probably didn't need to be 5 books long, and the Elenium probably would have worked in 2. Another of Edding's problems is that his political predjudices seem to show up in some of the books, which is something I dislike.
I thought the Belgariad started out well as a coming of age story about Garion, even if the plot was fairly predictable. I think Eddings goofed up however by
Another problem with the Belgariad is that Eddings introduces too many characters. The first book works fine with the 6 characters in that book. The later characters mostly seem extraneous. Finally books 4 and 5 are pretty heavily padded, and drag the story out to a soemwhat boring extent.
The Mallorean could have been good, and it does have some good moments, but it suffers from too much repetition from the Belgariad.
The Elenium was a pretty good read as well. The characters have more development to them than their counterparts in the Belgariad, and the political aspects of the story make it a little easier to believe than the Belgariad. However, the second book is fairly heavily padded, and the story itself probably could have worked in 2 books like I said above.
The Tamuli isn't too bad, even if it's padded as well. It seems like less of a repetion than the Malloreon was, which is a good thing. One of the weakest aspects of the book was
. The things about the Tamuli I liked was a somewhat gloabl scale to it that worked better than the Mallorean, and his development of the growing friendship between Khalad and Berit. I'm surprised he didn't use that to crank out a sequel about the younger knights or something. I also liked his development of what it meant for Sparhawk to be Anakha; while it felt tacked on in the Elenium, it works much better in the Tamuli.
The one shot books about Belgarath and Polgara were fairly good, at least in the parts were he develops bits of history that haven't been touched on before and where he develops the characters themselves. His shift to first person storytelling with both of them is interesting, as is (particularly in Belagarth) his telling of what really happened that the mythmakers and storytellers sort of gloss over. But the stuff rehashed from the earlier books tends to slow things down a bit.
I thought the Belgariad started out well as a coming of age story about Garion, even if the plot was fairly predictable. I think Eddings goofed up however by
killing off Asharak in the second book. He spent most of the first two books building this guy up into a serious villain, and after he kills him off, a good deal of the tension is lost. OTOH, there is the character development with Garion in realizing how his growing sorcerous powers can be dangerous, but I still think killing him off tends to make the next 3 books drag a bit.
The Mallorean could have been good, and it does have some good moments, but it suffers from too much repetition from the Belgariad.
The Elenium was a pretty good read as well. The characters have more development to them than their counterparts in the Belgariad, and the political aspects of the story make it a little easier to believe than the Belgariad. However, the second book is fairly heavily padded, and the story itself probably could have worked in 2 books like I said above.
The Tamuli isn't too bad, even if it's padded as well. It seems like less of a repetion than the Malloreon was, which is a good thing. One of the weakest aspects of the book was
Edding retconning and making Zalasta the main villain ultimately responsible for many of the evens in the Elenium. His ultimate fate however, makes up for it a little bit
The one shot books about Belgarath and Polgara were fairly good, at least in the parts were he develops bits of history that haven't been touched on before and where he develops the characters themselves. His shift to first person storytelling with both of them is interesting, as is (particularly in Belagarth) his telling of what really happened that the mythmakers and storytellers sort of gloss over. But the stuff rehashed from the earlier books tends to slow things down a bit.
Edding's early work is great. As many here, I still reread the Belgariad and the ellenium occasionally, just because they are such a fun read. Yes the characters are stereotypes but Eddings makes that part of the fun.
His newest works have been getting steadily worse.
Eddings new series, the Dreamers, is bad, really, really bad. It's undeniably Eddings, but it's as if someone took out all the fun of his first works and just left the grating, annoying parts. I'm a completist and hate not finishing a series but it was all I could do to even skim his latest book.
His newest works have been getting steadily worse.
Eddings new series, the Dreamers, is bad, really, really bad. It's undeniably Eddings, but it's as if someone took out all the fun of his first works and just left the grating, annoying parts. I'm a completist and hate not finishing a series but it was all I could do to even skim his latest book.
arnon
Explorer
The second book of the Elenium was the first fantasy book I read.
not being familiar with fantasy books at that time i didn't really care it was number two... that is untill i started reading number three and found out that it starts where the las tone left off.... that got me thinking...hmmm. So i stoped in the middle and went to read the first Elenium and then finished the series.
Then I went ahead and read all his books. I really do like his books very much. Its fun to read (especially as most people said here, the conversations), and i enjoyed re-reading them (just opening one of the books and reading something i remembered i liked.
Althalus i didn;t like much. the Codex is great...
and what did you asy... his writing a new series???
not being familiar with fantasy books at that time i didn't really care it was number two... that is untill i started reading number three and found out that it starts where the las tone left off.... that got me thinking...hmmm. So i stoped in the middle and went to read the first Elenium and then finished the series.
Then I went ahead and read all his books. I really do like his books very much. Its fun to read (especially as most people said here, the conversations), and i enjoyed re-reading them (just opening one of the books and reading something i remembered i liked.
Althalus i didn;t like much. the Codex is great...
and what did you asy... his writing a new series???
Yes he's writing a new series ("the Dreamers") but I wouldn't pick it up if I were you. Heck, I wouldn't have read the two books in it if I knew what I know now.
Check the reviews on Amazon, the average is 2 stars (and it would be lower if there weren't some obviously fawning reviews).
Check the reviews on Amazon, the average is 2 stars (and it would be lower if there weren't some obviously fawning reviews).
arnon said:
Hypersmurf
Moderatarrrrh...
Orius said:
One of my favourite lines from the universe of the Belgariad comes from Belgarath the Sorcerer, just after Salmissra has the Rivan King assassinated...
(Paraphrasing from memory)
"I thought I might take a few Alorns and pay a visit to Salmissra."
"A few?"
"Yes... the Chereks, the Rivans, the Drasnians, and the Algars..."
-Hyp.
Aris Dragonborn
First Post
" 'Grat is not nice."
I loved the Belgeriad and the Mallorean. I actually read the latter first, discovered that there was a previous series, and managed to pick it up. I like the Belgeriad a little more though, as it seems that the characters change somewhat in the Mallorean. Not grow, just....change. Belgarath the Sorcerer and Polgara the Sorceress are the best of the lot, IMHO.
Enjoyed the Elenium and the Tamuli.
Redemption of Athalus is one that I actually enjoyed, though not as much as the Belgarion or Sparhawk books.
Couldn't get into the new stuff; it just didn't hold my attention.
I loved the Belgeriad and the Mallorean. I actually read the latter first, discovered that there was a previous series, and managed to pick it up. I like the Belgeriad a little more though, as it seems that the characters change somewhat in the Mallorean. Not grow, just....change. Belgarath the Sorcerer and Polgara the Sorceress are the best of the lot, IMHO.
Enjoyed the Elenium and the Tamuli.
Redemption of Athalus is one that I actually enjoyed, though not as much as the Belgarion or Sparhawk books.
Couldn't get into the new stuff; it just didn't hold my attention.
Orius
Unrepentant DM Supremacist
Hypersmurf said:
Yes, Belgarath has quite few fun exanges like that with Belgarath, Beldin, and earlier on in the book, Belmakor. And there's quite a few places where Belgarath gets pretty cocky and does whatever he damn well pleases simply because he can. One of my favorite scenes is where he confronts all the Morind magicians on his what to Cthol Mishrak.
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