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Eddings in the Malloreon shows again that he is one of fantasies greats!. The story is a ton of fun and I honestly cant think of anything wrong...well, I could have handled a tad more magic, but that's all.
The Malloreon isnt as good as the Belgareon, but it sure is worth it!
The Malloreon rates in my top 10 all time reads/series with the likes of Martin, Erikson and Tolkien.. Of course Eddings is much more fantasy "lite" than those guys, but he is a extremely fun author.
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I liked this book. Despite the predictability of the story, the characters are fun and you just want to go along for the ride.
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This is the first of five books in a follow up to the Belgariad series. It picks up with all of the characters from that previous Series and continues forward with their stories. I found this book a bit slow in the beginning, but it especially gets better once the narrative switches back to the main character from the previous series. Basically if you have not read the Belgariad, start there first. These books are fairly easy reads, and not too hard to figure out (due to the relentess foreshadowing of the authors). Yet I find myself attracted to hear how the many travel stories come out, and I love the character interactions and dialogue. There is a lot of humor here, sometimes I have to stop to allow my laughter to die down. The remaining books in this series get 5 stars from me, I just found this a slowish beginning. I had a wonderful time returning to this world and these characters. Some of the characters from the previous series make only small appearances in these books, but several new characters are added instead. This is not an intense fantasy or Sci-Fi read, but in that way I think it makes the book more accessible. I have reccomended these books to many hard core fans of fantasy and Sci-fi and to people who weren't really fans, and they all enjoyed these books.
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Here begins the second of David Eddings fantasy series' - Guardians of the West. It is the follow up on his first series - The Belgariad - and uses the same characters in much the same settings (more of this series takes place in the Angarak kingdoms). Depending on your viewpoint you will find this series inventive or repetition, funny or silly, slow paced or marvelously detailed. I find it impossible to predict who will or will not like it. For the record, I feel that, while the writing has improved considerably from the first set, characterization is fairly static, and, of course, much of the plot is borrowed from the Belgariad.
It's about fourteen years after the fall of Torak, and Polgara, Durnik, Errand and the irascible Belgarath have set up housekeeping in the Vale of Aldur and are well on their way to becoming a typical family of sorcerers. All of this is interrupted when word comes that the relationship between Belgarion and C'Nedra is on the rocks AND there is no heir to the throne of Riva. Polgara comes to the rescue (or interferes mercilessly, depending on how you feel about 3000 year old aunts butting in). But repairing the damage and getting an heir on the way creates even more problems than it solves. Once again, conflicting prophecies awaken, this time with the birth of Geran, the heir to Riva, and the world teeters on the edge of disaster.
The Bear Cult goes into high gear, the Orb warns of coming evil, and Geran is kidnapped. Once again Belgarion and C'Nedra go on a quest, this time to save there child from being sacrificed to initiate the new reign of a Child of Darkness. A race is on between two opposing forces. Whoever fails to reach 'the place that is no more' on time will lose. The instructions are hidden in countless books of prophecy which Belgarath must interpret and the party is subject to manipulation from both the Seers of Kell, and Zandramas, Geran's kidnapper.
The writing is decidedly tighter in the Malloreon than it is in the Belgariad. The early tendency to intersperse little dabs of action with endless discussion and peripheral side stories is gone. However, so are some of the human touches. Guardians of the West marches forward, telling what is a very complex set of events, but for all the time that is spent on C'Nedra's pain at the theft of her child, she never gets the respectful treatment that you would thing she merits. And with so many characters crossing over to the new series, one would expect more development. Other than some growth for Belgarion and Errand and the insertion of some new characters, the personality side of these books is very static.
Even so, this series is still better than a great deal of the fantasy fiction that competes with it that it is easy to forgive it's faults. It remains a comfortable sort of good vs. evil tale, told with a great deal of gentle (and not so gentle) sarcasm. I would recommend it over many other efforts.
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The guardians of the west is a good book but i wouldn't compare it to the books in the Belgariad. It is more or less a repeat of the Belgariad with differant bells and whistles. I would recomend reading this book, but read the Belgarid series first.
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