The Belgariad, Vol. 1: Pawn of Prophecy, Queen of Sorcery, Magician's Gambit

Rating:
Summary: Marvelous Contribution to Epic Fantasy!
Review: David Eddings is the BEST! the Belgariad shows the true essence of a wonderful epic fantasy series! this saga telling the life of Garion is really fantastic if your into all the magician and sorceror stuff! it's a MUST read!

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Summary: Held my goldfish like attention.
Review: I have a real hard time sitting down to read books as a whole. I usually get part way through them and then give up because I don't have the patience or the plot isn't cruising along like I want it to. This book and volume 2 both held my attention and did it with class. I couldn't put either book down and was very pleased with it overall. It was actually recommended to me on a message board and after having read it and vol2. I am happy it was recommended to me.

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful work of fantasy!
Review: I love this series! My sister first heard about it from one of her friends and I read it and absolutely loved it. Edding's writing is very humorous, sometimes stupid humor but most of the time really great. Whenever I read these humorous parts, I start laughing so hard, my parents some to check and see what I'm laughing at. I'll admit that sometimes the series is very predictable, but hey, it's just great. His characters are really great. I could go on and on about his books, but whoevers reading this would probably get pretty bored.

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Summary: The Dunciad
Review: I'll tell you why David Eddings' Belgariad and Malloreon series are among the best in fantasy. THEY END. Both series are confined to five books: they have distinct beginnings, expansive middles, and satisfying conclusions. This may sound like an odd thing to praise, but anybody who has waded into (and become hopelessly mired in) Robert Jordan's "Wheel of Time" or Terry Goodkind's "Wizards First Rule" series will know exactly what I'm talking about. Tolkien didn't make us slog through - and this is quite literal, in Jordan's case - tens of thousands of pages of pointless verbosity before bringing his opus to a rousing crescendo, and Eddings...though certainly no master like Tolkien...gives us the same courtesy.
Aside from this most appreciated of gifts, Eddings is also an imaginative and engaging author. Terry Brooks' "Shannara" series, for example, was a barely, thinly, poorly veiled ripoff of Tolkien. Jordan's glacial repetitiveness has caused his once-promising series to run completely out of steam. Goodkind has the same problem. But Eddings keeps things fresh. He also writes some of the most engaging and multi-dimensional characters in fantasy. He writes real growth and dotes loving care on his characters: the changes they undergo through the course of the ten novels of the Belgariad and the Malloreon are believable, understandable, acceptable, rather than visceral and awkward (Terry Goodkind, take note).
All too often, fantasy is given short shrift in serious literary circles. It would do well to remember how much utter trash there is across ALL genres of fiction, not just fantasy, and to accept Eddings' for what he is: a talented and engaging writer. Give these a try.

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Summary: To quote from the movie Princess Bride: I'm waiting!
Review: So much good has been said about this series and this author that I made it a point to include it in the long list of books I want to read. Settling down and working my way through it I found myself becoming increasingly vexed - when will the story get going? Chapter after chapter of meandering through the landscape, thousands of words spent descibing the foibles of every race that inhabits this grand world. All right, Eddings get's points for detail, but these characters are cardboard cut outs! Garion - belittled by his ' aunt ' ( who progressively becomes less and less likeable as the story plods along )and kept ignorant of who he is and why he is ( as is the reader )is consumed by an angst that can only rivaled by the reader enduring the conversations he has with the traveling troupe. Honestly - I found myself gritting my teeth with consternation as I tenaciously forced my way to the last page.
Alas, I am tenacious - and if the first book in this series is just aiming to weed out the weak as it winds it way toward an incredible story, rest assured earned praise will be given. Until then - a wary eye greets volume II......

Rating:
Summary: My all time favorite fantasy series!
Review: Sure, he's no Tolkein, but how many people are? It doesn't make Eddings any less great in my eyes. Of all the book in the fantasy genre that I have ever read, Eddings's Belgariad and Mallorean have the best characters. He creates a complex world simply and though the books are predictable, they are nonetheless great. As I read them, I felt myself as part of the characters' group, going on their journey with them. By the end, I felt like they were my friends and I was sad to see it end. He writes about a wide variety of characters who are each unique in their own way. The story itself moves along fast enough and though simplistic, I found myself liking the twists, turns and surprises, even if I did see them coming. The thing that totally makes this story are by far the characters that I totally fell in love with. Silk will go down in my book as one of my all time favorite book characters, up there with Atticus Finch. This is a must read for fantasy readers but not if you're expecting some sort of deep and meaningful story. It is fluff, but it's also the best fluff I have ever read with the greatest characters that have ever existed in fantasy stories.

Rating:
Summary: Right Up Their!
Review: the first time I couldnt put a book down (in English anyway). It is very, very engrossing. The pace is just right in a sense that its got slow sections, and it picks up quickly as well. I dont read too much too critically (afterall im not reading it for Literature 101), for entertainment, this book is top notch. Still the characters get developped quite well, each strikes a unique impression. Anyone who loves the Fantasy genre should get this. (better than LOTR in my opinion)

Rating:
Summary: The very best there is !
Review: These books are the very best there is. There is war, murder, mystery, romance, magic, and humor. It is better than Harry Potter. There are spectacular characters in these books. Belgarath and Polgara are constantly bantering with each other, and it is so funny. There is a whole lot of action in these books that make it an on-the-edge-of-your-seat thriiler. There is some romance that just make your stomach do back-flips. Truly they are the best books I have ever read, and it makes it all the more exciting that there are three books in one! I advise you to read these books, however if I were you I would get the other books when you buy this one, because you are going to want to read them when you finish these. You will not be able to put these books down!

Rating:
Summary: The very best there is !
Review: These books are the very best there is. There is war, murder, mystery, romance, magic, and humor. It is better than Harry Potter. There are spectacular characters in these books. Belgarath and Polgara are constantly bantering with each other, and it is so funny. There is a whole lot of action in these books that make it an on-the-edge-of-your-seat thriiler. There is some romance that just make your stomach do back-flips. Truly they are the best books I have ever read, and it makes it all the more exciting that there are three books in one! I advise you to read these books, however if I were you I would get the other books when you buy this one, because you are going to want to read them when you finish these. You will not be able to put these books down!

Rating:
Summary: Classic Dont pass it up
Review: This book is GREAT if u buy this book u will want to buy all the others. The charictors come to life with Eddings great charictors, you just want to be there with them. You get to love them and hate it when it has to end (the charictors that is). The plot is great and the battle scenes are very realistic. I have grown up with these and have found myself re-reading them over and over (as a matter of fact im reading one from the malloreon right now). The book starts out with a yong boy named Garion who is living on a farm also known as Faldor's Farm. The plot thickens and he finds himself with a sorceress, a old storyteller, a theif, a blacksmith, and a giant well sort of giant. I agree with a lot of the reviewers this book is so great and you get so hooked that u find days have gone by without sleep or food......well hours at any rate...Well this concludes my review read the others to get a better feel for this book! BUY!