Rating: 
Summary: Eddings fans will love it
Review: I am amazed at the criticism this book has received. It appears to me that most readers really have no concept of the effort required to produce the multi-volume epics Eddings has written. The introduction may border on arrogance, but the fact that he's right ought to come into consideration. This type of book is rarely published. Its a compilation of notes and studies that form the underlying structure of The Belgariad -- it is not a story in and of itself. True fans of Eddings will love it. Others will not.
Rating: 
Summary: OH DEAR!
Review: I HAVE BEEN AN AVID FAN OF ALL EDDINGS BOOKS UP UNTIL NOW....IN 1990 I READ MY FIST BOOK AND HAVE READ AND REREAD EVER SINCE. WHEN I FOUND OUT THAT BELGARATH AND POLGARA WERE TO HAVE BOOKES DEDICATED TO THEM I WAS DELIGHTED, THEY BOTH TURNED OUT TO BE A JOLLY GOOD READ. THIS BOOK HOWEVER LEAVES ME WITH THE THOUGHT THAT IT WAS WRITTEN TO FILL A QUOTA RATHER THAN WRITTEN FOR THE READER IT IS TEDIOUS AND VERY HARD TO GET INTO ..NO I DID NOT GET TO THE END! THE BOREDOM GOT TO ME FIRST.
Rating: 
Summary: I loved it!
Review: Hey, if you don't like David Eddings attitude, then you don't have to read the book, and you certainly don't need to trash him like that. I loved this book and all the detailed background information it provides. It all makes Garion's world seem more real, and it's fascinating.
Rating:
Summary: Another vote for tripe!
Review: It would have been more exciting reading my grandmother'sjournal (Today I had soup for lunch!) No new information about theBelgariad and the Mallorean. Just a condescending essay about how hard it is to write fantasy novels. Well, duh! If it were easy there'd be more of us writing them. Overall, stick to the real novels, Mr. and Mrs. Eddings. We don't want to hear how you connected A to B.
Rating:
Summary: Very helpful with insight on the histories of the Kingdoms
Review: David and Leigh did an excellent job in relaying details of the histories of the Kingdoms of the West and the Angaraks. Also present are the Mallorean Gospels, the Holy Books, the Battle of Vo Mimbre, details on each culture of people, and an excerpt from King Anheg's diary.
Rating:
Summary: Fascinating Rivan Codex!
Review: Just wondering if I'm one of those characters that made the story in a lime light of Big revolutionary imagination of David and Leigh Eddings! People who dont have any Idea about the previous books will get interested and hooked to follow the series of Belgariad and Mallorean. Added with the lovable presentation of Polgara the sorcerress and the Magical Dicipleship of Belgarath. Thru this, people of the Philipines who read this great books, wonders to build a National Belgariad Quiz Bee! Uniting the 770 islands in our country to review and share the humor and lessons that can be found in the David Eddings Series!
Rating:
Summary: A "bible" for potential writers: Read this book!
Review: Okay. I have to admit that sure, it wasn't the most exciting of his books, but jeez, what'd you expect? It was the background thought behind the Belgariad and Mallorean. For all you who thought that the Silmarilion was better, I have news for you: The Silmarilion was very very BORING! I could at least read this. I put the Silmarilion down after the first 10 or so pages. But I really shouldn't say that. :-) It's rude. This book was basically everything and anything you wanted (or didn't want) to know about the Belgariad, the Mallorean, and then some. Sure, Eddings had some momentary lapses of "I'm a great writer, yay!", but I think he has a right to that. For crying out loud, he's been a fairly successful author. He's been published! He's been a New York Times Best Seller! He has many many web pages...I mean give the guy a break. All in all, the book wasn't as interesting as I had hoped it would have been, but it certainly wasn't boring. It's more of a leasurely read for a rainy sunday. But that's just my opinion...
Rating:
Summary: Utter tripe: Eddings is too arrogant for words!!
Review: This was such a disappointment. I loved the Belgariad, the Mallorean, their Prequels, the Elenium and the Tamuli, and when I heard there was a new Belgarath book coming out I was delighted, and planned on several comfortable hours curled up in front of the fire, surrounded by Edding's imagination.Unfortunately, he opens the book with an arrogant little assertion that is tantamount to saying that writing is just about impossible and we should all not even bother trying (i.e. I think I am the best thing since sliced bread and you should all know it too). If that wasn't enough, the opening sections are merely extracts from Belgarath the Sorceror (a brilliant read, highly recommended as is the follow up Polgara the Sorceress), while others tingle in your memory and then you realise that they are re-written prologues from book in the original two series. The only original bit is from the Books of the Seers of Kell, but even that does not manage to hold the interest as Edding's simply likes to show off his "oh-so-wonderful" writing skill. Again, his arrogance and near distain for his followers, thinking that he could fob them off with this minimal effort offering is staggering. If I could give this book a minus I would. The only good bit was that Edding's stated that there would be no more Belgarath books ever, and I hate to say it, but after this appalling book I am glad, as this "effort" has only damaged one of the best fantasy sagas of all time.
Rating:
Summary: Lay off him, guys!
Review: This is a guide. It is an "American fantasy fiction manual handbook". The stuff inside is the various background information the author was probably asked by many fans to publish. In that case, it IS for die-hard fans only, so stop bashing Dave Eddings about it! This is the stuff the man spent years working on, honing and refining to create Garion, to write the epic! Don't get me wrong, I'm not putting down your opinions. I just think you're being too hard on the guy. Some of your reviews are pretty harsh. The insight into writing fantasy is great! Dave is really funny and easy about it, I thought he put it frankly, bluntly, and managed to sound laid-back about it. So lay off him, people! Eddings is most likely on your bookshelf and in your heart if you're a fantasy freak; myself, he was my first fantasy writer and the one who got me hooked, so I won't stand for this slander and blasphemy! No hard feelings! :)
Rating: 
Summary: for what it was, it was good
Review: This isn't a novel. If you were expecting that, or if you're disappointed that it didn't have new characters, new worlds, etc., then wait for them to make something new. This is a collection of the background material used to create the 12-book series. And his little introductions, etc. could come across as arrogant; I think he was trying to approach the subject of his own writing with a sense of humor. There's no way not to sound self-centered while doing that, unless you go for the martyr approach, so I'll let him have fun with it. For the type of collection the Rivan Codex was, I think it was well put together and illustrates just what it took for this series to be created. However, I will not deny that even for a big fantasy reader and an occasional David/Leigh Eddings fan, it got pretty damn dull. And I must admit that it doesn't do a whole lot in the way of providing insight for writing novels, which is unfortunately the approach they took. Hence my 3 stars.
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