When I first heard about author David Eddings’ books, I asked a few people who had read them about their opinions. They either gave me a “meh” or a “he’s ok”. But no one could give me any explanations as to why they felt that way. That being the case, I left his writings alone and read other tomes over the years.
Eventually, a friend of mine lent me the first book of his “Belgariad” pentology (also known as “Pawn of the Prophecy”). So I read it over the course of a week during my commute. I liked it. But I could clearly see why I was getting the mediocre reactions from my friends. His writing feels almost generic. It’s what I would call “Pop Fantasy”. You may have seen it before, but you still feel like reading (at least for a little bit).
The story begins on a farm and focuses on a boy who doesn’t know much beyond the sheltered world of the farm. Then something occurs to force the boy and a few of his friends/relatives/caretakers to leave the farm on a mission. They travel to strange new lands and meet new friends and enemies as their quest starts to become clearer while even the farm boy’s closest friends are hiding secrets from him in order to protect him until he’s ready to know about them. You see? It sounds like some other sci-fi/fantasy stories you’ve read or seen, doesn’t it?
As I was reading this tale, I could tell where it was going, and it was somewhat dull at times. I also noticed that his tale had a lot of similarities to works by other writers (like Robert Jordan). Did they steal from him? I don’t know. I think it’s more likely that Eddings is just following Joseph Campbell’s guidelines about the journey of the hero. Although the route he was taking was rather predictable.
But there was something that had hooked me in and compelled me to read further. That “something” was the way Eddings wrote his characters. They had fun dialogue and quirky expressions. As a reader, I was hard-pressed NOT to like them (at least some of them). They weren’t like people I knew. They were just interesting and I wanted to know more about some of them (Silk, in particular was easily my favorite).
All in all, I like the book and I’ve picked up the second tale in this saga (which I’m enjoying so far). Will I continue reading the “Belgariad”? That’s up to Eddings and his development of the characters. I need to see how he ends the second part before I decide whether to pick up the third book.
