David Eddings is one of the more important figures in Fantasy. I started the series 12 days ago, and got done yesterday. That was a lot faster than I anticipated. I believe that fact shows both the strengths and the weakness of this series. I enjoyed reading it, but it was fundamentally unsatisfactory. It was a straight forward read, and given my immersion in the genre for the last couple of years, there was nothing here that really took me by surprise or really moved me.

There are 5 books in the series:

Pawn of Prophecy (Belgariad)

Queen of Sorcery (The Belgariad, Book 2)

Magician’s Gambit (The Belgariad, Book 3)

Castle of Wizardry (The Belgariad, Book 4)

Enchanters’ End Game (The Belgariad, Book 5)

The basic premise of the books is a quest in which Garion, Mister Wolf, Aunt Pol, and Burnik leave Faldors farm to find the Orb of Aldur which has been stolen. The Orb is what protects the West from being overrun by the Angaraks of the East. They are joined by Barak and Silk, who are companions of Mr. Wolf. As they set out on the journey, Garion realises that Mister Wolf is Belgarath, an ancient sorceror, and his Aunt Pol is his daughter, who is thousands of years old. They are joined by other characters, some annoying, some interesting and fun. Mandorallen, was initially irritating, but he grew on me, similar to how he grew on his companions. Relg, I never liked at all. Garions love interest Ce’Nedra’s a brat, very much in the same vein as Robert Jordan’s Elayne character, or George Lucas’ Princess Leia for that matter.

I think my nephew who is just now starting to read the genre(loves Harry Potter, Eragon, and the first young adult version of Robert Jordan’s From The Two Rivers will really enjoy this. For a older audience, its lightweight fun. Ive got to say I was never bored, but I was also never really immersed in the book the way I was when reading George RR Martin or Robin Hobb or Robert Jordan

.