This is a really good book. It was a delight to find something so good that it kept me up well past my bed time several nights running. I really enjoyed this one -- its set on Kelwan, the planet that invades Midkemia in the Riftwar series, and is written from the perspective of the invaders. [isbn: 055327211x]
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…
This is the second book in the Deverry series, and I liked it. Its a direct continuation of Daggerspell, and deals with Rodrhys and Jill's life on the road. [isbn: 0553568884;0586200797]
This is yet another book I read as a kid and liked. I must admit that I find the Celtic names used through out the book to be quite confusing, especially when there are multiple similar names in use at the same time. Despite that, I really enjoyed this book -- even though its a pretty classic formula story. [isbn: 0553565214;0586073159]
This series follows to young kids who grow up in a rural castle on the edge of an empire. Pug ends up being the greatest Magician to ever live, and Thomas ends up being merged with an ancient being of massive power. Its a good series, even if people accuse it of being steeped in cliche. 1982: Magician (later sold as Magician: Apprentice and Magician: Master) 1985: Silverthorn 1986: A Darkness at Sethanon
This book is a follow on from The Belgariad and The Malloreon written from the perspective of one of the protagonists in those two series -- Belgarath the Sorcerer. This book has quite a different style from the others. It is written in the first person as Belgarath's personal memoir. The book is really long at over 700 pages, and covers a 6,000 year (ish) period. That means that the book tends to skip around and over some things at a very high level. That's probably a good thing, as it stops you from getting bogged down in boring detail you don't care about. One problem with this book is that to people who have read the previous series, this is all old territory. You totally know what is about to happen, and that makes it a lot less fun to read. I'm also not sure I'm a big fan of the first person style either. However, I did enjoy this book more than some of the others I have read recently, despite it not being Eddings' best work. [isbn: 0345403959]
This is the followup series to the Belgariad. Its mostly a sequel series, but is quite readable and worth the effort. 1988: Guardians of the West 1989: King of the Murgos 1989: Demon Lord of Karanda 1990: Sorceress of Darshiva 1992: Seeress of Kell
The conclusion to the Malloreon. Quite a good read, although the plot twists are predictable. [isbn: 0345377591]
This is book four of the Malloreon. It feels like not much happens in this book, although there is plot development happening. I guess it more feels like this book is a connector between the book before and the book after, and not much more. On the other hand, it was an engaging read. [isbn: 0345369351]
I needed something to cheer me up after the previous sucky book. This one did the trick. Again its pretty standard Fantasy stuff, and there were no surprises, but its fun to read. [isbn: 0345363310]