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A review by marimoose
Belgarath the Sorcerer by David Eddings
3.0
This book was pretty good. If you chopped off the middle 200 pages or so. It was one thing reading about history repeating itself once The Mallorean came to pass, but to find out the history has been repeating itself in a glorious 5-millennia cycle might be slightly off-putting. The beginning stages of Belgarath's story, at least, was amusing and intriguing enough to read.
That said, I loved reading about how the Old Wolf's character was shaped. I loved how the narration was in his perspective, and was doubly amused as to how he was made to start the story. The presence of Polgara and Beldaran, and his brothers--Beldin, Belkira, Beltira, and even Belmakor, Belsambar, and Zedar--made Belgarath the Sorcerer come to life. And I loved that the Eddingses at least created the respective Alorian ancestors to be a little more different than their descendants (even though I would have forgiven Silk's ancestor had he been the epitome of the typical Drasnian).
Okay, scratch that. The last 100 or so pages weren't so bad, either. I liked reading about how the other "prophecy" characters grew up. Silk had some particular highlights, which were glorious (but I was always partial to the long-nosed, rat-faced Prince Kheldar to begin with). Polgara was the mystery woman of the book. It was fantastic seeing her in her father's eyes. But I did agree with Ce'Nedra at the end. What about her own story? I would certainly have liked to read about her stint as a slave in Gar og Nadrak? Honestly, could the Eddingses have gotten even more tantalizingly merciless with these teasers?
And Vo Wacune. There was definitely something more interesting in Vo Wacune while Belgarath was busy lurking and preparing for war. If the book had 200 pages on Vo Wacune (minus the incessantly annoying "thee's" and "thou's"), or if the extra 200 pages had a story on Kal Zakath (instead of the short anecdote given from an eyewitness), then I wouldn't have minded the extra stuff so much. At some point, a couple hundred of pages of war does get to be repetitious.
Overall, Belgarath was Belgarath. And I wouldn't have it any other way.
That said, I loved reading about how the Old Wolf's character was shaped. I loved how the narration was in his perspective, and was doubly amused as to how he was made to start the story. The presence of Polgara and Beldaran, and his brothers--Beldin, Belkira, Beltira, and even Belmakor, Belsambar, and Zedar--made Belgarath the Sorcerer come to life. And I loved that the Eddingses at least created the respective Alorian ancestors to be a little more different than their descendants (even though I would have forgiven Silk's ancestor had he been the epitome of the typical Drasnian).
Okay, scratch that. The last 100 or so pages weren't so bad, either. I liked reading about how the other "prophecy" characters grew up. Silk had some particular highlights, which were glorious (but I was always partial to the long-nosed, rat-faced Prince Kheldar to begin with). Polgara was the mystery woman of the book. It was fantastic seeing her in her father's eyes. But I did agree with Ce'Nedra at the end. What about her own story? I would certainly have liked to read about her stint as a slave in Gar og Nadrak? Honestly, could the Eddingses have gotten even more tantalizingly merciless with these teasers?
And Vo Wacune. There was definitely something more interesting in Vo Wacune while Belgarath was busy lurking and preparing for war. If the book had 200 pages on Vo Wacune (minus the incessantly annoying "thee's" and "thou's"), or if the extra 200 pages had a story on Kal Zakath (instead of the short anecdote given from an eyewitness), then I wouldn't have minded the extra stuff so much. At some point, a couple hundred of pages of war does get to be repetitious.
Overall, Belgarath was Belgarath. And I wouldn't have it any other way.