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The BelgariadFollow

#1 Aug 26 2004 at 4:32 PM Rating: Decent
By David Eddings, anyone read?
#2 Aug 27 2004 at 9:39 AM Rating: Excellent
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Was my favorite series when I was growing up. I've read it like 10 times.
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#3 Aug 28 2004 at 9:22 AM Rating: Default
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/yawn

Stereotypcial fantasy stuff. If you read it before you read the half dozen other series that are just like it you'll love it.
#4 Aug 28 2004 at 6:20 PM Rating: Excellent
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if you read The Riven Codex you'll learn that he was going for stereotypical fantasy stuff, using a certain set of fantasy archetypes on purpose. I think his dialogue is great though.
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#5 Aug 29 2004 at 2:10 PM Rating: Decent
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stereotypical it may be, but it is the best written set of novels i have ever read.

The charicters have depth, the story moves with pace and imagination and it is a gripping and easy read.
#6 Aug 29 2004 at 5:20 PM Rating: Decent
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I've lost count how many times I've read this series. He's right up there with Asimov as one of my favorite authors.
#7 Aug 29 2004 at 7:45 PM Rating: Default
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stereotypical it may be, but it is the best written set of novels i have ever read.


Is it the only set you've ever read? Honestly, that's the only explanation I can come up with for that statement. There's nothing even original about these books.

Oh... except for the protaganist being knocked unconcious in every battle so that the author need not explain how all the good guys miraculously escape certain death yet again.

I say again...

/yawn




#8 Aug 30 2004 at 11:28 AM Rating: Decent
i'm like 100 pages from the end of the 5th bookdon't even think about telling me the end lol, i'm pretty sure torak gets stabbed and theres a perfect happy ending, but it was obvious it was going to be like that from the beginning, its hardly a thriller with a twisting storyline, but i still loved reading them
#9 Aug 31 2004 at 12:00 PM Rating: Good
One of my favorites.

My brother has a FFXI character named Garion.
#10 Sep 02 2004 at 12:51 AM Rating: Decent
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Is it the only set you've ever read? Honestly, that's the only explanation I can come up with for that statement. There's nothing even original about these books.

Oh... except for the protaganist being knocked unconcious in every battle so that the author need not explain how all the good guys miraculously escape certain death yet again.
What does Orginality have to do with how well a book is written?

i am talking about following the basic rules of writting and creating strong charicters and robust storylines.

As for you second comment, my book collection at present encumpases 1000+ novels from various Genres including Sci-fi, Fantasy, Fantasy comedy, satire, African adv, dark age crime, horror, modern military, ancient egyptian fantasy and thats the styles i have more than 10 books of.

I feel i need to revisit the Belgariad because i can't remember an enemy being knocked out at any point.

Incinerated, stabbed, beaten senceless, tricked, turned into a snake, buried in rock, dueled, jousted or mentally crushed maybe but enemies knocked out to avoid story progression i don't recall.

Maybe you where reading Anthony Piers.

Edited, Thu Sep 2 01:55:26 2004 by tarv
#11 Sep 02 2004 at 6:00 PM Rating: Default
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The protagonist is the hero, hon.


#12 Sep 03 2004 at 1:06 AM Rating: Decent
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The protagonist is the hero, hon.
Garion doesn't get knocked out either Hon.

Still think you are reading different books to me.
#13 Sep 03 2004 at 3:16 AM Rating: Decent
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There's nothing even original about these books


tarv started the post with "stereotypical maybe", how can you say they're not original like its a contradiction, you muppet?

I agree though, they are stereotypical, predictable and unoriginal
#14 Sep 03 2004 at 3:19 AM Rating: Decent
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Incinerated, stabbed, beaten senceless, tricked, turned into a snake, buried in rock, dueled, jousted or mentally crushed maybe but enemies knocked out to avoid story progression i don't recall.


dosen't lelldorean pass out after the fight with the algoroths on the hill? when mandorallen first shows up? love that guy
#15 Sep 03 2004 at 4:46 PM Rating: Default
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Garion doesn't get knocked out either Hon.

Still think you are reading different books to me.



That's quite possible. I've read so many books that are so similar to this series that I could very well be confusing them. But I'm not going to re-read them to find it.

#16 Sep 03 2004 at 8:32 PM Rating: Decent
I like it.

One of my characters in FFXI is named Belgarath.
#17 Sep 13 2004 at 9:04 AM Rating: Decent
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Great characters and some of the best dialogue in fantasy, period. Only Robert Asprin comes close in humor and color.

Yes, there's no great twists or earthshattering secrets revealed, but then again there doesn't have to be.

Almost all fantasy is formula. It's part of the fun of the genre. If you're looking for a twist ending, you read a thriller. If you're looking for an escape, you read fantasy.

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#18 Sep 14 2004 at 4:32 AM Rating: Good
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Stereotypcial fantasy stuff. If you read it before you read the half dozen other series that are just like it you'll love it.


I love fantasy books, makes up a majority of my reading and collection. I have not read the books that the topic is about, I admit. Just how many truly inventive and new fantasy stories are there? I don't want to hear about the twist on one of the few story lines, I want new story line period.

I don't belive there are any original stories anymore. I belive it is about what the author does to a story arc, weather it be dialouge, a new twist, or great characters. Everything old is new again; and in fantasy books this is a very true thought.

#19 Sep 16 2004 at 4:47 PM Rating: Decent
But unfortunately, Eddings just decided to rewrite this series, over and over again. 'The Malloreon' is basically the same, 'The redemption of Althalus' is too. 'Belgarath the sorcerer' and 'Polgara the sorceress' are two the same stories. And 'The Rivan Codex' is nothing but repeating the stories Eddings already wrote in 'The Belgariad' and 'The Malloreon'.

What I think of Eddings? He wrote one good story and then just decided to repeat himself, over and over again.
#20 Sep 17 2004 at 11:33 AM Rating: Decent
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But unfortunately, Eddings just decided to rewrite this series, over and over again. 'The Malloreon' is basically the same, 'The redemption of Althalus' is too. 'Belgarath the sorcerer' and 'Polgara the sorceress' are two the same stories. And 'The Rivan Codex' is nothing but repeating the stories Eddings already wrote in 'The Belgariad' and 'The Malloreon'.

What I think of Eddings? He wrote one good story and then just decided to repeat himself, over and over again.
I agrre this is Eddings main fault.

however i consider Belgariad, Mallorian and the two prequels to be one set of books.

Many authors are guilty of this R Jordens WoT manages to write the same book three times and call it book 8,9 and 10.

It is rare to find an author who can diviate from the previous books, i think this may be because of Publishers more than the writers themselves.
#21 Sep 17 2004 at 10:27 PM Rating: Decent
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'The Malloreon' is basically the same

But wasn't that kind of the point? I think it was even brought up in one of the books.

I haven't read the Rivan codex. I did like both the "Belgarath" and "Polgara" books... even if they're just repeating the story, they offer two distinct points of view. I found them interesting because of that.

I do remember being very annoyed with Eddings at one time, though. He'd put out the first 3 books (I think, may have been 2) of the Malloreon, and then released the first book in another series (something about Gem knights, I think, I really couldn't get into it). I had to wait even longer for my "fix".
#22 Sep 18 2004 at 5:36 AM Rating: Decent
True, 'The Malloreon' has the same events (sort of) as 'The Belgariad' and Eddings did explain this in 'The Malloreon.

This was due to the fact that the fight between the two prophecies was cyclical, they in short repeat everything (again, sort of) untill their fight is over.

It is more the fact that other books of him are just too similar, and this mostly his characters. The characters in 'The redemption of Althalus' are basically the same characters as in 'The Belgariad', slightly altered but not even by much.

And I really wouldn't bother much with 'The Rivan Codex', that just has a feel of trying to get easy money to me, personal feeling ofcourse.

As for other writers having the same problem, true, Jordan is one example; Anne Rice is another, her last two or three books of the Vampire Chronicles are not only extremely repetitive, they are also quite bad, lol.

Perhaps it is unavoidable if someone writes a long series, but then I think of for instance 'Amber' by Roger Zelazny, and although you could state that the first part of the series with Corwin and the second part with Merlin are similar in structure, it is quite different and does not have the repetitive nature other writers have.
#23 Oct 11 2004 at 3:49 AM Rating: Decent
i'm at the end of the second book of the malloreon, great story, love it, finally some twists , or at least something happening that i hadn't seen coming for 3 chapters, love it. My only critisism is the repetative dialogs, if i have to read through a scene which consists of the men getting drunk and the women making fun of them when they're hungover, i'll scream. The other repetative thing is the drasnians doing something cunning or sneaky and someone saying something along the lines of "your'e a scoundrel, you know that?" or "you're a horrible person" to which the drasnian (silk or liselle or whoever) replies "i try" or "naturally" RRRRRRR!!!
#24 Oct 11 2004 at 9:49 AM Rating: Decent
oh and the malloreon/belgariad similarities are mentioned and justified in "the king of the murgos" where belgarion and gramps are in varana's castle dealy at tol honeth, child of light / dark kinda thing

editted to add: he needs to write another book where angarak terrorists hijack cherek warships and sail them into docks, to which anheg declares war on nyissa

Edited, Wed Oct 13 10:44:44 2004 by Dracoid
#25 Oct 18 2004 at 9:26 AM Rating: Decent
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I've read the Belgariad a few times, and the Mallorean (don't remember if I finished that series or not) and, while they were pretty good reads in junior high, I started to find them a little silly. The writing is all right, I guess, but the characters and storyline failed to hold me.
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#26 Nov 04 2004 at 10:57 PM Rating: Decent
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I have read all of the books having to do with the Belgariad and the Malorian. Including the Rivan Codex, Polgara the Sorceress, and Belgarath the Sorcerer. Great series of books. I also recommend R. A. Salvatore's Drizzt Do'Urden series, and the Cleric's Canticle. The War of the Spider Queen is really good. Lets not forget the Harry Potter series. All six books on Sparhawk. The Left Behind series up till they killed off Chloe. The new books out on the Dune series as well.

All the Star Wars books, especially once they finish up the filling in the holes. Like why does Luke keep mentioning the Emperor Reborn and Luke's turn to the dark side, but there is nothing in the entire series. I have read all of those that have come out. Of course I am worried about Episode III the one with the silly name. We will see though.

These are all the series I go through on a continous basis. Lets not forget Musashi, Romance of the Three Kingdoms, and Taiko.
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