Possibly VERY Unpopular Thread lol

[ghost8772]

well, the books did have a kinda simplistic view, them and us. we win its all good. Actually it was easy to see the complexity of the storytelling grow with each book. Unfortuntely by the Tamuli the story they were trying for just got too artificial. I did, and still do enjoy picturing each character, and the scenes they fill. The greatest part of their works was that it was collaborative. I can guarantee that Belgarath and Polgara were David and Leigh's masterpiece characters. reading the biographies of them you could see each putting their vision of who that character was. The best part is that the men were men, and the women were women, unlike some authors who try to write a character of opposite gender, and it comes out as a fantasy of what the gender ought to be like in their eyes. Friday, The Vampire Lestat, that kind of work. if it had just been David writing, Pol, Sephrenia, and even Ehlana would not have come across as WOMEN in power, but a fantasy person in power who was being called a woman. with this kind of character development, I can overlook some landscape development, and plot complications for this twisted anti-hero wordhipping era.

 

[LJonesy]

Not unpopular with me, Eddings has always been one of my least favorite, and IMHO one of the most overated authors in fantasy.

Oh please you're forgetting Rowling

 

[Yuoaman]

I actually do like Eddings, I'm 16 and have been reading fantasy for 5 years, and despite his writing being rather simplistic when compared to other authors, such as George RR Martin, I actually do enjoy his stories... And contrary to several other posters, I thoroughly enjoyed The Redemption of Althalus, despite Althalus being just a Silk clone...

 

[Cloven-leaf]

Ashen Shugar said
"I haven't read the Elder Gods stuff & probably won't unless someone who can recognise the repetition of dialogue and characters informs me that this deficiency has been rectified. Unfortunantly, I can't see it happening".

Sorry to burst your thought but i have read the eldar gods and other then the slow beginning i found it very good. even if a little repetative (mangled that) i found that the storyline underneath was very in depth and as eddings first writing of this particular style it was very good!

 

[Satan Morroc]

I read Eddings back when I was in school and it was wonderful then. I devoured the Belgariad and Mallorean and went on to get Polgara and Belgarath. Also read the Tamuli and Elenium pretty much as soon as they hit the shelves. But I stopped there and have not read anything since.

For me they fit that stage of my life and were a good place for someone beginning to read fantasy. I believe that they still serve this purpose and I have gotten several friends interested in the genre by starting them on Eddings.

I have them on the shelf still but they no longer have the same magic. I keep them because of the memories and because they played a role in my reading habits. Many books work this way for many people and that is perhaps what books are meant to do. They fit different phases of our lives and then we move along but the books are still there for others that need them.

This.

I am exactly the same. Reading the Belgariad series sparked my interest in reading fantasy novels. My taste has evolved somewhat from then but they are what turned me into the voracious reader that I am now. They are all on my shelves too including the Mallorean series. I do take them down once in a blue moon and read a few chapters that I've always particularly enjoyed but I don't really read them seriously anymore. Nevertheless it is a good series to start on when you are young. I have also read the stand-alone Althalus, had some interesting concepts but the dialogues had no inspirations. Luckily I borrowed that one from the library so it wasn't like I had to fork out money for that. Anyway my first post on this forum, just stumbled here an hour ago and I'm glad I found this place =)

 

[Grimward]

Then welcome, SM, and glad to have you! Stop by the Introductions Sub-forum (if so minded) and tell us a little more about yourself. In the meanwhile, there's a lot more Eddings where this thread came from, and if you read other SFF, you're not likely to want for any other favorite authors you may have!

 

[Karn Maeshalanadae]

Call me crazy, but as far as I've read Eddings-that is, all the Garion and Sparhawk books-I've always enjoyed him. I'm rather into his simplistic style of writing.

I suppose I'm rather biased, though, considering here in Oregon I've never had the supposed pleasure of coming across Martin or Wurts or anything else along those lines. Pretty much, as far as pretty famous fantasy authors go, the bookstores I've had access to had four choices: Eddings, Brooks, Anthony, and Tolkein. I've bought and read all of them, and Eddings and Anthony are my favorites.


Tolkein seemed just a bit TOO old-fashioned for my taste-and it's no wonder, since he all but pioneered the genre-and Brooks just got horrible as Shannara went on and on.

Eddings at least has a repeatable familiarity to his stuff that I find comfortable, if not variable.

 

[GOLLUM]

Tolkein seemed just a bit TOO old-fashioned for my taste-and it's no wonder, since he all but pioneered the genre-and Brooks just got horrible as Shannara went on and on.

Eddings at least has a repeatable familiarity to his stuff that I find comfortable, if not variable.

Hi again.

Juat to clarify a point Tolkien didn't actually pioneeer the fantasy Genre (although you did say in fairness "all but pionereed" ), for that we can look further back to Lord Dunsany, William Morris, George Macdonald (and even further back including if we're talking myths and legends) etc... but he certainly did popularize it and give it a springboard into the public's imagination for the second half of the 20th Century.

I'm with Nesa on this one. I too read a lot of Eddings e.g. Belgariad and Mallorean when I was at school and enjoyed them but I've found my tastes have since changed and I read a very wide variety of authors directly or indirectly related to this Genre.

@Manarion Good point you make about feeling comfortable with a particular author's style, I can relate to that. Have you considered trying other authros .e.g. travelling to other shops or purchasing online or phone order?

Cheers for now....

 

[Rosemary]

I've read most of his series, a few years ago and thoroughly enjoyed them. Because my taste in literature has changed so much, they seem very easy to re-read. A good series while I wait for the next book in an epic series.

 

[Karn Maeshalanadae]

@Manarion Good point you make about feeling comfortable with a particular author's style, I can relate to that. Have you considered trying other authros .e.g. travelling to other shops or purchasing online or phone order?

Cheers for now....

While I HAVE considered taking a look at Amazon for different authors, I simple don't ever seem to have the funds in a bank account to do so-and you can't put cash in a CD-Rom and expect a web site to receive it.


Same with phone orders. Like I said, I'm limited in my choices about what I have. And when I said book shops around here, I actually meant, every book shop I've been to in Oregon.

Though I HAVE read many of the Thomas Covenant series-but that's for another thread and forum.