Reviews: (by author)

Eddings, David. The Belgariad: Pawn of Prophecy. New York: Corgi, 1982, republished 2006. ISBN 978-0-552-55476-3. $6.99. Ages 11+. 346 pp.

This new republished edition of the first book in David Edding’s popular series, The Belgariad, brings a fantasy world of gods at war, sorcerers, and the coming of age of the protagonist Garion, together into an accessible new paperback package.

Garion is a young farm boy who is being raised by his Aunt Pol. The story begins when he is only a little child running around in the kitchen of the farm that Aunt Pol works in. He has a fairly normal childhood running around Faldor’s farm and getting into trouble with Aunt Pol for many childhood escapades with the other children on the farm.

But Garion’s favorite thing to do is listen to stories about the gods—particularly Torak, the evil god who declared war on the other gods in order to steal the Orb of Alder, which is extremely powerful, only to be defeated by Balgarath the sorcerer. Garion’s favorite storyteller is a troubadour he calls Mister Wolf. Mister Wolf comes in and out of Garion’s life at the farm and one day when he comes back after an absence of several years, the adventure begins.

All throughout his childhood, Garion thinks the tales about the gods are only stories, but little does he know, the stories are far from being myths, and that he himself is deeply wrapped up in the middle of it. Together with Aunt Pol, Mister Wolf, a smith named Durnik, and two men from other lands named Silk and Barak, Garion sets off on a whirlwind adventure throughout the many kingdoms of his world chasing after a mysterious object and encountering many dangers.

This first book in Edding’s epic series is fun and exciting. Like many other fantasy writers, Edding has managed to create a fascinating new world full of interesting characters, some with supernatural abilities and invent many new and different races and cultures.

Edding’s ability to write a great epic in which mystery, fantasy, and adventure are weaved together made it hard for me to put this book down. His writing style is fluid and easy to follow. Edding is a master storyteller. He is even a great influence on very contemporary fantasy writers such as Christopher Paolini, the author of the Inheritance Trilogy. I cannot wait to get the rest of the books in the series to find out what happens next, and I expect that other readers will feel the same.

Highly recommended
Joyce Ho, June 2007

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