This is epic fantasy at its finest, and exactly why Eddings is a household name (too bad his recent work sucks). All the characters are well developed, the mythology is rich, and the quest a time-tested story arc. If you are a fantasy fan, you have to read this series! ( )

I never knew, that when I started reading The Belgariad, that David Eddings would die. But, ten days after I started reading this volume, covering the first three books of his Belgariad series, Eddings passed away.

It's always weird to start reading a book by a living author, but finish reading a book by a death author. It changes your impression of it. It makes that old reader's interpretation adage even more true: "The Author is Dead."

Before I read this book, my only experience reading Eddings had been reading Belgarath the Sorcerer. This book is best reserved to read after you're read (and enjoyed) the other books in this uber-series. Belgarath is sort of a "behind-the-scenes" book, like if Tolkien would have published "Memoirs of a Grey Istari."

The Belgariad is your typical high fantasy novel, even to the point of having tolkienoid analogs (such as an absent-minded professor of a wizard, a boy on a quest, an object of great power, and an incapacitated ancient evil trying to regain enough strength to terrorize the world). It's not as blatant as The Sword of Shannara, but it's still there.

The first three volumes cover Garion, who's a scullion, which isn't a type of onion, and his Aunt Pol. Every once in a while, they're visited by Old Wolf, who is a tale spinner. Pol, as it turns out, is actually Polgara the Sorceress. Old Wolf is Belgarath. Garion is actually the heir to the high throne of Rivan, but he's apparently too dense to realize this, though everyone around him seems to know.

Turns out the Orb of Aldur, a rock with a little soul, was stolen from the unguarded Rivan palace, and it's up to Belgarath and his rag-tag team of Prophecy-fulfilling archetypes (A towering, axe-wielding giant of a man; a small, weasely thief; a chivalrous knight who'd make Don Quixote look like an exceptionally rude gentleman; a conservative blacksmith; a religious zealot who can walk through stone; the imperial princess, who's also half Dryad; a violent horse whisperer; and a woman who's one of the last surviving members of her race. Did I miss any?)

These people journey through a Middle-earth-like setting that's a bit sparse on non-human creatures (but does have some!), but has plenty of warring humans.

One thing that struck me was the apparent and rampant racism of the book. Now, I'm not saying Eddings himself was a racist, nor is his writing demeaning towards non-white people. But rather, it seems that he took a page from Tolkien, who made it clear that if a person was from a particular country, and that country was bad, then that person was bad. Our heroes tromped around, indiscriminately killing all people (humans) described as "Murgos," whenever they had a chance. And one character in particular took special joy in killing them (though, in his defense, Murgos killed his parents, so that makes everything all right, right?).

It was at times unsettling. I kept wondering "Aren't there any good Murgos? Like, one who recycles, or helps old lady Murgos across the street?" Turns out, every single Murgo is a sword-wielding bad guy with poor hygienic qualities. That's not a stereotype at ALL!

Other than the fact that it was tolkienoid and that it was needlessly racists (in my opinion), the story itself was interesting, though frustrating at how dense the protagonist was. The plot, though heavily prophecy-driven (which should be apparent by the first book's title: "Pawn of Prophecy") lacks any sort of character drive, other than to fulfill a prophecy, and in their spare time, discuss it obliquely so Garion doesn't realize he's really the Rivan King. Though, when they did get to their various stops along the way, the plot carried along, and didn't make me wish that the next page would be the last.

It'll definitely stay on my shelf until I need more room for other books.

Recommended for fans of Eddings' other work, or for indiscriminate fans of High Fantasy. ( )

David Eddings can certainly write a series that will keep the reader turning the page. I love the way he lets the characters have a keen sense of humor while allowing them to have intelligent conversations. ( )

This entire series is wonderful. One of the earlier "young boy discovers that he's more than he was led to believe" stories. A classic in the fantasy genre that pulls you into a great read. ( )

superb ( )