First of all, a hearty apology that I have been remiss in my
reviewing for so long. Life, as it has a way of doing, got in the way of
literature for a while. In November I completed National Novel Writing Month,
which although is a tremendous flurry of words and excitement leaves very
little room for actual reading. That being said, I have a new sort of review
for y’all today, one that has been in the works since the middle of September.
I have decided to review not only two books, but two entire series at the same
time, since they fit wonderfully together and have a few quirks that cannot be
noticed without talking about both. Therefore, I present to you,
The
Belgariad and The Mallorean, by David Eddings.
I
first read both series when I was in middle school. That is not to say that
they are geared specifically towards children in any way, but more a testament
to storytelling that is broad enough to hold the attention of multiple
audiences. I found that re-reading as an adult allowed me to pick up tons of things
that had simply gone over my head at the age of eleven, the most obvious being
the sarcastic humor these novels are practically saturated in. Eddings has
truly mastered snarky characters and clever dialogue, which raises these two
series up out of the typical magical adventure plot to something a lot more
fun.
Now
then, to business. The Belgariad is the
first series, comprised of five novels: Pawn of Prophecy, Queen of
Sorcery, Magician’s Gambit, Castle of Wizardry and Enchanter’s
Endgame. They follow the story of Garion, a young boy who lives on a farm
with his Aunt Pol and an old storyteller Garion calls Mister Wolf. One night
Aunt Pol wakes Garion, telling him they must leave the farm, and they, along
with Mister Wolf, set out on an unknown adventure. They are soon joined by a
host of other companions as they journey throughout the continent, meeting
royalty of diverse nations on a quest to reclaim the mysterious Orb of Aldur
that has been stolen by a devious disciple of the sleeping dark god Torak. Already
I can see questions rising in the readers mind. Who is Torak? What is the Orb?
How are these farm hands qualified to visit royalty and get the Orb back? At
this point I’m going to throw out a huge SPOILER
ALERT! Proceed with caution.
At
the beginning of Pawn of Prophecy, and every subsequent novel, Eddings
includes a prologue that has been taken from some sort of prophecy or in book
scholarship. The first is describing how the gods made the earth and chose
particular nations as followers. Among these gods were Aldur and Torak. Aldur
is a benevolent god, choosing no one as followers and instead teaching a
handful of those talented in the art of sorcery. Torak is an arrogant and power
hungry god, ruler of the Angaraks and evil at his core. When Aldur creates a
stone more perfect that anything else in the world and filled with power that
cannot be matched, Torak is overwhelmed with desire and steals the so called
Orb. Warriors set out to steal the orb, the world is cracked by Torak in an
effort to keep his prize, and yet good ultimately wins out, with the people of
the West reclaiming the Orb and forcing Torak into an enchanted sleep, his body
ruined but his mind merely subdued for the time being.
Aunt
Pol is really Polgara the Sorceress, famed daughter of Mister Wolf, better
known to the world as Belgarath the Sorcerer. They have been tasked with hiding
an ancient bloodline of kings who the world thinks is wiped out. This
particular bloodline, of Riva, is the only one who can touch the Orb without suffering
immediate maiming and death.
As we pick back up with the books,
Polgara and Belgarath lead their company across the continents of the West in
search of the Orb, with Garion in tow. Garion realizes slowly who his family
actually is, and by the middle of the series, realizes he is the heir to the
bloodline so carefully protected by Polgara and Belgarath. He is the only one
who can touch the Orb and bring it back to Riva where Garion will take his
rightful place as King. As one can imagine, this is a bit much for a boy who
starts this journey at the age of fourteen. However, part of the beauty of the
series is watching Garion grow into his true identity as a sorcerer, eventual
king and the only person who can defeat Torak in an ultimate battle of good and
evil. Eddings plays with the idea of fate and destiny, making use of prophecy
to drive his characters toward the climactic battle in the last book. Through
some useful digging around on Wikipedia, I found that Eddings intentionally
titled his books with chess piece names and fantasy twist, to further emphasize
the game aspect of things.
Garion is the Child of Light, guided by one prophecy, and
Torak the Child of Dark, guided by another and only one of them may survive, to
decide the fate of the world. By the time this final battle takes place, the
company has recovered the Orb; Garion has claimed his throne and true name,
Belgarion, sorcerer and protector of the Orb and has matured into his role of
savior.
Now
this whole series would be horribly tedious if it weren’t for the characters
that make up Garion’s traveling companions. Eddings chooses to bring levity to
many situations that would simply flounder in overwhelming darkness otherwise,
and for that I thank him. If not for Silk, a clever merchant-prince, and Barak,
a huge warrior with a quick mouth, I probably would have not finished the
series. It is their banter with each other and Belgarath, and Polgara’s staunch
disapproval that makes The Belgariad
more than just a typical fantasy series.
I
know this is getting long, so allow me to move onto The Mallorean. Again, the series is comprised of five books: Guardians
of the West, King of the Murgos, Demon Lord of Karanda, Sorceress
of Darshiva and The Seeress of Kell.
In this series we again follow Garion, along with Polgara and
Belgarath and a host of characters, new and old, on another quest for something
that has been stolen. In this case that stolen thing is Garion’s son, the heir
to the Rivan throne. The new Child of Dark has kidnapped the baby and it comes
to light that the battle between Torak and Garion was no in fact the final
battle of good and evil. It seems that this time when the Child of Dark and the
Child of Light come together everything will be decided. I can already hear you
all going “huh?” Yes, this does seem like a complete rehashing of the plot of
the first series and in a way it completely is. Yes, there are new characters,
who I must say are even funnier than the last bunch, and new countries, but in
the end the plot is nearly identical. Instead of plowing onwards and pretending
the parallels aren’t there, Eddings makes use of them. In a wonderful moment of
meta-literary awareness, Garion points out to Belgarath that events feel like
they have all happened before. Instead of being held back by reusing the same
plot, Eddings has made The Mallorean
hinge upon that repetition. I will refrain from going in depth with the plot of
The Mallorean, but I will say
that I prefer this second series to the first.
Part
of why I am drawn to The Mallorean over The
Belgariad is Garion’s character
development. In the second series he is a full-fledged adult. He has become a
well-liked and successful ruler, and has even managed to pick up on some of
that sarcastic wit he was surrounded with during his adolescence. In short,
Garion is funny as all hell and holds together a second series that otherwise
wouldn’t really have any business existing.
Eddings
not only does humor well, but he has a gift for imagining new worlds and
creating them for his reader with vivid detail. Every new setting the
characters wander into was perfectly clear in my mind. He on occasion waxes
poetic as he describes something, but for the most part the language serves as
means of introduction to yet another new place. To have so many fully realized
countries and races of people is a triumph when done well, and Eddings
certainly has. I would put Eddings in the same realm of authors like Tolkien,
G.R.R. Martin, Patrick Rothfuss and Robert Jordan. He might not have the same
poetic command of language that Rothfuss and Tolkien share, but he has managed
to create a world I am willing to revisit and a cast of memorable characters
that I encourage you, my readers, to discover.
