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Summary: Fourth in one of the greatest fantasy series ever
Review: 'Castle of Wizardry' picks up the story at the same point as the previous book ended. Garion and his friends flee Cthol Murgos, where they killed the magician Ctuchik and recovered the stone of Aldur. The first half of the book tells the story of how they travel back to the western kingdoms, where Garion finally learns of the obligations his heritage brings. He has to make a very difficult decision regarding how to continue the fight against their enemy, the Angarak god Torak. He finnaly embarks on a journey to fight Torak, together with Belgarath and Silk. He leaves Ce'Nedra, Polgara and the rest of their friends behind to raise an army from all the western kingdoms to stop the invasion of the Murgo and Malloreon forces.This is the sequel to 'Magician's Gambit', and fourth in the amazing series of five books known as 'the Belgariad'. The series is 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. There are other great fantasy series, but this series is still required reading for fantasy lovers.
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Summary: Mum, I finally got around to it!
Review: After many years of nagging from my mother to read Eddings, I finally got around to it. And do I regret not reading him earlier, YOU BET!!! I picked up the first one, and three months later, I'd finished the whole lot. Including "Belgarath" and "Polgara". Now they take pride of place, and nobody borrows them, for fear of never getting them back! If I was stranded on a desert island and could take only ten books with me, it would be a closed contest, pack your bags "old wolf".
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Summary: Surprise! You're the Savior of the World!
Review: Against all odds, Garion manages to be surprised at the fact that he is the heir to the long-vacant Rivan throne, and hence the one destined to duel the evil god Torak. He deals with this with reasonable equanimity, all things considered. Then he takes the two most interesting characters he can find (Belgarath and Silk) and heads off to get the duel over with. The womenfolk are left behind to rally the armies of the western kingdoms, which thankfully all have different colored uniforms and completely different, though complementary, military strengths. But the whole campaign is really a diversion, you know... the armies of the West marching against hopeless odds to divert attention from the one bearing the dangerous artifact to the heart of the land of darkness... say, haven't I read this story before?
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Summary: Incredibly Entertaining
Review: Although I like fantasy a lot, I don't have enough free time to read much of it. But I've read this series twice, and it remains one of my favorite works of fiction. I agree with other reviews that cite its awesome character development and witty dialogue as its strong points. The one detraction is the intra-cultural homogeneity. Such cultural stereotyping is not in vogue in the PC era, but in truth most societies do stress certain values. Eddings takes this perspective farther than I would prefer, but I think that the book is so entertaining that this weakness does not affect its overall credibility and readability. (Heck, the world has sorcery -- a little suspension of disbelief is in order!!!) Definitely read this book if you want to escape into a world of adventure, or if you merely want a good laugh. You can easily relate to the characters despite their larger-than-life abilities, which grants this series a personal touch that other fantasy novels lack. By the way, if I were a 7,000 year-old sorceror I would probably take to the bottle too, thank you very much. Magician's Gambit got me hooked, but Castle of Wizardry is probably the high point of Eddings's masterpiece.
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Summary: The Best Book I Ever Read!
Review: As I said in my title "The Castle of Wizzardry" is the best book I have ever read (and that is saying something). It immediately starts off with the characters running for there lives, and continues to be so till about the middle. Then we come to the romantic part of the book which is just absolutely hillarious. Then my favorite part is the end, which is (with out a doubt) thrilling. I highly recommed this book, it is just so good. I have read at least a thousand books in my lifetime and I have never read a book this good. READ IT!
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Summary: The Best Book I Ever Read!
Review: As I said in my title "The Castle of Wizzardry" is the best book I have ever read (and that is saying something). It immediately starts off with the characters running for there lives, and continues to be so till about the middle. Then we come to the romantic part of the book which is just absolutely hillarious. Then my favorite part is the end, which is (with out a doubt) thrilling. I highly recommed this book, it is just so good. I have read at least a thousand books in my lifetime and I have never read a book this good. READ IT!
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Summary: Becoming skeptical.
Review: At the beginning of time, something went wrong. It caused a splitting in fate-everybody and everything had two completely opposite destinies which could be fulfilled. Over millions of years, two opposite prophecies were formed, each predicting a certain fate for the world. Through the years they moved closer and closer together. Finally, the Child of Light and the Child of Dark, the instruments of the prophecies, were almost ready to face each other in a battle to the death. The winner would determine the fate of the world. Castle of Wizardry follows the story of a boy called Garion, the Child of Light. It starts as he runs from the city of Rak Cthol where he and his companions reclaimed the Orb of Aldur, an ancient magical stone. The Orb had been stolen by a thief so that he could use it to awaken his evil god Torak from his sleep. After recovering the Orb, Garion and his companions traveled to Riva where shocking events occurred. Nothing could have possibly prepared him for the revelations which explain his past and reveal his future. This wasn't really a bad book. I've written reviews for the first three, and I said pretty much the same things in each of them: the plot's amazing, as are the characters, but the quality of writing isn't anything special. I really won't change any of what I said for this one. Really, the quality of the writing is the only problem. I think that there are a few parts which could have been worked on and would have made the book a whole lot better. It's sort of like a first draft. You get the idea put down, have some detail, all of that, but you still have to go over it, make it sound better, make more sense, add some detail, add some parts, take some out. I think that Eddings really didn't put as much effort into the final copy as he really could. As a result, you end up reading something which has some really good ideas, a really good plot, but you're occasionally skeptical of the writing quality. That's the only problem I can see in the book. Other than that, I would say that this is very exciting, and very good. Even though the writing isn't all that great, I'd still recommend it. The plot and characters just about make up for the writing, so overall this is a pretty good book...
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Summary: THE TRAVELS AND QUEST CONTINUES
Review: Belgarath has destroyed his rival Ctuchik and now the company of companions have the Orb of Aldur. The company will travel to the Isle of the Winds where the orb will eventualy be fitted into a sword. Garion now becomes horrificly aware that he will have to face the mad god Torak in a one on one battle even though he is largely unsure of how to use his sorcerous powers.
The Group is also joined by a former Murgo slave named Ariana, a temptress who delights in teasing the fanatically religous Relg.
Over the four books Eddings has slowly and deftly built up the tension to the final book and the ultimate showdown between Garion and Torak. Eddings brilliance in character development shines again with the introduction of the Ariana character and her contatant tormenting of Relg. Eddings also builds the stress on Garion especially as he leads into the climax.
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Summary: great book
Review: castle of wisardry is the forth book in the belgariad watch fallows garions jorney to face off agenst the great and evil torak one eye i loved this book. if you sart to read the belgariad you will fall in love with all the caractors i would recomend that every one read this book
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Summary: Castle of Wizardry - The Wizardry of Eddings
Review: David Eddings hit the Jackpot with his 5 book fantasy series "The Belgariad" and Book Four "Castle of Wizardry" continues, in great style this easy-to-read fantastic romp through the Kingdoms of the West. "Castle" is the next installment in the story of Garion, a simple farmboy, thrust into the adventure of a lifetime, in search of a magical Orb. "Castle" begins just after the recovery of the Orb and the death of Ctuchik, follower of the Evil God Torak, but if you think the quest ends here, don't despair, there is still plenty of dark magic, corrupt priests and one very irate evil God to provide plenty of entertainment and excitement for Garion and his companions. And for those softer at heart, there's just a little bit of romance thrown in as well. So don't be shy, join Garion, Belgarath, Polgara, Ce'Nedra and all their friends on an epic adventure. But don't take too long, they can't wait much longer. After all, they still have to fight their way through Book 5 before they can start on their journey through the Mallorean...but then, that's a whole separate story!
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