Rating:  -
Picked this up based on Amazon.com reviews, thinking that he was a proficient writer of high fantasy. By page 25 I realized that the writer is unable to realistically portray any type of interpersonal relationship or engaging character. I only made it through the first third of the book - it was all I could force myself to get though. I ended up getting so frustrated with the book that I left it on the Subway hoping a bum could put it to better use by using it to fuel a fire. What I was able to make it through was scattered and lacked direction. The characters are cliche and lack any emotional depth. Worst of all the book reads on what must be a 7th grade level - which is great if you are in 7th grade - but last I checked this wasn't a Young Readers book.
If you are looking for high quality epic fantasy, look elsewhere and save your cash.
Rating: -
Like the five-volume Belgariad, the Malloreon is one continuous narrative split into five books divided at meaningful plot points. So "Guardians of the West" isn't really supposed to be a stand-alone novel, and I really don't think it can be evaluated outside the context of the series it begins, so I'm going to talk about the series as a whole here.
This is a quest story told in a fantasy setting, and like any story written in this genre it owes much to Tolkien. It also owes much to Eddings' earlier work. The reader is more or less told straight out that the basic outline of this story will be identical to that of the Belgariad. This turns out to be true. The result is that The Malloreon is utterly predictable. I had figured out what would happen at the end of the series by the middle of the second book. I kept reading hoping I was wrong, and that there was some surprise awaiting me at the end. There wasn't.
Some of the characters here turn out to be very badly handled. A couple examples spring to mind: Belgarath and Polgara see a number of odd happenings associated with one of the people in their care, remark on it, *say* they need to think about what they saw, and then do nothing about it for the next 5 or so years of story time. In one episode early in the series (I think it's the second book) Durnik accomplishes by sorcery a commonplace, if laborious, task for a blacksmith which causes absolute astonishment in Belgarath and Polgara who, in their millenial lifetimes, apparently never learned how steel was made. Ce'Nedra is merely shunted aside for pretty much the entire series in a depressive funk, as if Eddings simply didn't want to deal with her this time around.
Eddings continues to display stylistic ineptness. He has only one narrative voice for all occasions. No matter how earth-shattering an event is being portrayed, he describes it in the same tone he'd use to describe doing the dishes. (The same problem was evident in The Belgariad, especially at the climax. There's no improvement here; if anything, it's worse.) He attempted a high style in the quotes from fictional histories that begin each volume, but they don't really come off; it's obviously a foreign dialect for him. When he does use a word or two not in everyday speech, he doesn't always appear to understand what it means. For example, in the first volume here Belgarion has occasion to seek out the original manuscript of an ancient prophecy called the "Mrin Codex." Eddings must have used "codex" just because it sounded mysterious, because the manuscript turns out to be a scroll.
To sum up, if you've read The Belgariad, you'll get essentially the same story here, differing only in the details. Go for it if you can find it cheap enough -- it's a quick enough read, so it won't take up too much of your time -- but don't waste a lot of money or effort on it.
Rating:  -
PLEASE don't waste your money on this book. It is SO boring that I put it down halfway through. Unless you like a book that puts you to sleep in the middle of day. So, please, turn off your computer and go outside and play. NEVER TOUCH THIS BOOK! By the way, is it possible to give it zero stars? Now, go read a Tolkein book because they are really good.
Rating:  -
This book matches the Belgariad in everyway. It's a great connector between the two series!
Rating: -
I have read both Tolkien's magnificent The Lord of the Rings and the Eddings' The Belgariad, The Mallorean, The Elenium and The Tamuli and the "autobiographies" Belgerath the Sorceror and Polgara the Sorceress, each several times. By the way, the Swedish translation by ?ke Ohlmarks of The lord of the Rings is rather better than the original.
My problem with Tolkien is that his world, altho awe-inspiring, is essentially grey of various shades and tints and that his characters are essentially bloodless. Only the hobbits are marginally real.
The Eddings write about real people, albeit some are very remarkable, with their quirks and defects and good points and all in natural colors. I include in this
characterization the gods and even the trolls and monsters. They are all real.
For example, Belgerath the Sorcerer, aka The Eternal Man is, when he is not saving the world or doing research into related problems, a thief, a womaniser, a drunk, an itinerant story-teller and a vagabond. He is also alergic to soap-and-water and any kind of honest work. His daughter, Polgara the Sorceress, aka The Queen of the World, has for eons been trying to reform him without success. But when his wife comes back ...!!
His part-time associate, Prince Kheldar of Drasnia, is a spy (Drasnia's national industry), an occaisonal assassin, a merchant-extraordinary and a swindler. His ambition it is to be the richest man in the world, just for the fun of it.
Also there is the Atana Mirtai, a shy and sunny girl, golden-skinned, breathtakingly beautiful, six foot six inches in her heelless sandals, mistress of martial arts, proud of her 34+ kills and her suitor Kring, bandylegged and a head shorter than his beloved, Domi (ruler) of the nomadic Pelloi, a nation of herders, rustlers and warriors. The position of Domi is not hereditary! and Kring, a seasoned politician, has more than 200 kills to his credit.
There is also a host of lords and ladies, men and women of major, middling and minor importance each potrayed deftly and with appropriate detail.
In addition, the Eddings' treatment of the various religions encountered in the course of the narratives is intelligent and entertaining.
This is why I consider the Eddings' tales to be far superior to Tolkien's.
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