New to Eddings?

[Ronsworth]

I don't know about anyone else but I am. I found "Pawn of Prophecy" at my work (I work at a book/music/movie store) and I was intrigued by the cover. As I always seem to be lol. I bought it and was in love from beginning to end! This was just last week and I blew through the book. I now have the second book and I'm already halfway through.

I cannot wait to continue on to all his other books. It's a bit worrisome that many here seem to dislike his more recent books. Hopefully I won't and even if I do I've still got the Belgariad which is continuing to entertain me.

Anyone else a bit newer to Eddings fandom?

 

[Talysia]

Firstly, welcome to the Chrons!

I'm not really new to Eddings' work - they were actually some of the first fantasy books I read. I started with the Elenium and Tamuli series, though.

For me, I wouldn't say I dislike his later books, rather that they followed the same formula, and I wanted something different from them. They're still good books if you like one particular series, and want more of the same, though.

 

[Clansman]

I'd echo Talysia, Sinastra. I started with the Belgariad when it was coming out in the early 80's, and my heart has a very soft spot for it. The Malloreon continues the story, but it is really more of the same from the Belgariad. However, once I was well into the Elenium (Eddings' third series), I really started to think "Okay, can he do anything else but give different names to the same characters?" To be fair, the plot devices in the Elenium were different, but that's about it. I gave up on Eddings at first book of the Tamuli series. Years later, I read the Redemption of Althalus, but it was more of the same.

So, Sinastra, read The Belgariad. It was ground-breaking character-focussed fantasy when it was released in the early 1980's, and it is a lot of fun. Finish the story with The Malloreon and the prequels if you really like it. But be warned, if you are growing in your appreciation of fantasy, Eddings will not grow with you. It is fantastic to start with, but my tastes now run to much edgier and adult-themed stuff, like George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire, Janny Wurts' Wars of Light and Shadow, and Steven Erikson's Malazan Book of the Fallen.

A nice step up from Eddings are writers like Raymond Feist, Brandon Sanderson, Robert Jordan, Terry Brooks, Katherine Kurtz, and a whole bunch of others, without getting into the heavier (yet much more satisfying) series I listed above. I wouldn't want to turn you off serious fantasy by throwing you into the deep end before you are ready to be there.

 

[Karn Maeshalanadae]

I would have to echo Talysia and Clansman, except that I actually started with the Elenium rather than the Belgariad. I now own most of his books-all the Belgariad, all but the first of each the Elenium and Mallorean, the full Tumuli trilogy, the biographies of Belgarath and Polgara, the Rivan Codex, and all of the Dreamers series. (I have yet to read anything from the Dreamers, however, after reading some less than inspiring reviews on it.)


It's pretty much as Talysia said, though. Even the Elenium/Tumuli books (which bind together characteristically) are very much like his Garion novels. (Belgariad and Mallorean.)

I haven't yet run into the Redemption of Althalus or his non-fantasy works, but I am hoping to do so at some point. Eddings certainly is a good read to those new to him, but I do have to say his stuff gets kind of baroque after a while.

 

[Ronsworth]

I'd echo Talysia, Sinastra. I started with the Belgariad when it was coming out in the early 80's, and my heart has a very soft spot for it. The Malloreon continues the story, but it is really more of the same from the Belgariad. However, once I was well into the Elenium (Eddings' third series), I really started to think "Okay, can he do anything else but give different names to the same characters?" To be fair, the plot devices in the Elenium were different, but that's about it. I gave up on Eddings at first book of the Tamuli series. Years later, I read the Redemption of Althalus, but it was more of the same.

So, Sinastra, read The Belgariad. It was ground-breaking character-focussed fantasy when it was released in the early 1980's, and it is a lot of fun. Finish the story with The Malloreon and the prequels if you really like it. But be warned, if you are growing in your appreciation of fantasy, Eddings will not grow with you. It is fantastic to start with, but my tastes now run to much edgier and adult-themed stuff, like George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire, Janny Wurts' Wars of Light and Shadow, and Steven Erikson's Malazan Book of the Fallen.

A nice step up from Eddings are writers like Raymond Feist, Brandon Sanderson, Robert Jordan, Terry Brooks, Katherine Kurtz, and a whole bunch of others, without getting into the heavier (yet much more satisfying) series I listed above. I wouldn't want to turn you off serious fantasy by throwing you into the deep end before you are ready to be there.

Thank you for the book suggestions! Funnily enough I already own the first in A Song of Ice and Fire and Malazan Books of the Fallen. I'm already partway through the latter (and yes, it is sensational!).

 

[Karn Maeshalanadae]

I didn't completely read through Clansman's post here, and I just now did.... Does Terry Brooks REALLY have to be mentioned?


If you're looking for fairly light fantasy reading, Sinastra, you can also check out some of the Xanth books by Piers Anthony. Namely, some of the earlier volumes. Piers Anthony also has some heavier work in the form of the Incarnations of Immortality and the Phaze/Proton books. They're all radically different from Eddings and very worth mentioning.


I suppose Terry Brooks isn't TOO bad, but his signature novels, the Shannara novels, are extremely annoying as in them he is just in love with the habit of changing characters very frequently. In the first trilogy, time lapses have occurred so greatly between volumes that there is only one common character between the three of them.

 

[Tinsel]

I don't know about anyone else but I am. I found "Pawn of Prophecy" at my work (I work at a book/music/movie store) and I was intrigued by the cover. As I always seem to be lol. I bought it and was in love from beginning to end! This was just last week and I blew through the book. I now have the second book and I'm already halfway through.

I cannot wait to continue on to all his other books. It's a bit worrisome that many here seem to dislike his more recent books. Hopefully I won't and even if I do I've still got the Belgariad which is continuing to entertain me.

Anyone else a bit newer to Eddings fandom?

Eddings wrote a lot of books and they were popular, but there was a gap of a year between each book, at least later on, and than his last books that were titled after individual characters didn't come out until many years later. If you read everything now it is to your advantage because you don't have to wait for years before you can proceed to the next book. That was the biggest problem for me, but I liked them all. I just couldn't read the last books because I had lost track of the story since it was so many years ago since I had initially read it.

 

[bookfan]

I suppose Terry Brooks isn't TOO bad, but his signature novels, the Shannara novels, are extremely annoying as in them he is just in love with the habit of changing characters very frequently. In the first trilogy, time lapses have occurred so greatly between volumes that there is only one common character between the three of them.

Although the first three books of Shannara is marketed as trilogy, they are really separate stories; hence, the different characters and time difference.

 

[Karn Maeshalanadae]

Although the first three books of Shannara is marketed as trilogy, they are really separate stories; hence, the different characters and time difference.

Yes, and the trouble was that that is how all his Shannara books seemed to be. Except for the Scions and its set, that was alright.


But that's getting off track.....

 

[jennyjj]

hiya i'm not new to Eddings, my dad used to read the belgariad to me at bedtime and i found (as others have posted) them a great intro to scifi. I do think though his style is very much 'writing by numbers' for fantasy. I too wasn't a fan of the elder gods and do think his characters are very basic, with a few exceptions. I think Belgarath is a brilliant well rounded character and loved Belgarath the Sorcerer, all about his life and Polgara the Sorceress. I'd hoped he would tackle Belgarath's drinking and how he learned to deal with his powers more but we cant have it all ...

 

[jennyjj]

hiya newbie to this site. I must say you really sound like you know what your on about thanks for the reading list i'm in need of a new project..pls let me know if you think i'd like any others? I enjoy R Feist, D Gemmell, M Bradley, Hobbs, Wurts (although the politics get annoying)....

 

[Celystial]

I'm also new to Eddings. I'm ten chapters into The Pawn of Prophecy and loving every second.

Some of the things about the story are making me think of the Inheritance Cycle by Christopher Paolini (which I also loved).

 

[BAYLOR]

I'm also new to Eddings. I'm ten chapters into The Pawn of Prophecy and loving every second.

Some of the things about the story are making me think of the Inheritance Cycle by Christopher Paolini (which I also loved).

Ive never read Paoline by have read Edding Belgariad , an excellent series.

In your to the Forum inter thread I put list of book you find of interest. ,

On I neglected to mention

The Star Rover by jack London This book is his only fanctsy novel and unlike all his other books it about straitjacket deathromw inmate who discovers via Transcendental mediation that he has power to astral project himself into his past lives at will. Its epic stuff you can find it complete via project Gutenberg it amazing book .