Ah-ha! The story that everyone really wants to hear. Pol is the ultimate fantasy female and the hints dropped in the Belgariad and Malloreon about her past leave the reader itching to know the whole story.

Eddings could be almost terse in his storytelling with Garion's two sagas, but Pol's book is where he allows for the lavish detail of the world and the rich character of the great lady herself to shine. All the stops are pulled and we are gifted with an even fuller account of 'what really happened' than Belgarath offered in his chronicle.

Pol's relationship with her father is a key element of the Belgariad and Malloreon, and it is founded on their love of Beldaran. The telling of that unique relationship leads to the revelation of Pol's character because she builds it entirely on the affection and grief that embodies her feelings for her twin sister. Beldaran's loss spurs the story on to round out Pol's personality so that she will be ready when the time comes for her to take up her role as Guardian of the line of Riva, and what a journey it is! From the Vale to Vo Wacune and Vo Mimbre, and finally to Faldor's Farm, Polgara blossoms into the powerful, charismatic and arresting sorceress who commands the worship of all Eddings' readers.

Had Eddings and his wife never composed this singularly sumptuous account of Polgara, the entire collection of the Belgarion novels would be less for it. This is a true achievement. ( )

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. ( )

This is the final continuation of the Belgariad and the Malloreon series, following on from the Belgarath the Sorcerer continuation. The two continuation books are really just the same stories told from other perspectives, yet Belgarath the Sorcerer managed to be a really interesting read. It probably helped that Belgarath's story predates the Belgariad by thousands of years. On the other hand, most of the territory covered in this book is not new.

This book started well, but the tone quickly became annoying for me. I think it was the several hundred pages of Arendish history that ruined it for me -- its just not that interesting where Polgara's bathroom is located, and who won a particular jousting match. There are also these really annoy asides littered throughout the text. The same element appeared in Belgarath, but seemed less annoying there for some reason. It annoyed me that there would be a passage of prose, broken in the middle with supposedly witty comment, which invariably fell flat.

The other problem with this book is that Polgara herself comes across as a bit of a sociopath. She's always sure of herself, and lacks depth as a character because of it. I've got kids, and I find a character who is dumped into raising an orphan at zero notice being so self assured all the time. Surely she made mistakes and learnt something along the way? You wouldn't know it from the book though -- all of that is glossed over.

On the other hand, the book is ok apart from the long middle bit in Arendia. This would have been a better book if that had been omitted.

http://www.stillhq.com/book/David_Edd... ( )

Backstory the younger.

Set before the time of the Belgariad, the conceit here is that the princess asks said titular character to write her autobiography.

In so doing, we get to investigate her birth, twin, gaining of powers, her father, and how she comes to learn of the not very nice prophecy concerning who she is to marry, etc.

Actually better than some of the Belgariad books.

http://notfreesf.blogspot.com/2008/04... ( )

A very well written book, but suffers from the same problem that all the female leads in eddings' novels share; they are over idealized fantasy views of women rather than truly realistic creations.

Polgara is always in control, never at a loss; she befuddles the men around her with the depth of her intelligence and power of her personality. Many, if not most, wish they could marry her. Her overwhelming beauty is apparent to all, and her girlish petulance and bossiness are always charming and winning, never annoying or considered well over the top. Her characterization reads very much like a female pipe dream rather than a fully realised character, and it grows tiring.

The book is a good read, and a good companion piece to Belgarath the Sorcerer. It is inferior to that work, however, and to the two multi-volume series from which they are drawn. ( )