The Belgariad, Vol. 2 (Books 4 & 5): Castle of Wizardry, Enchanters' End Game (Paperback)

by David Eddings (Author) "Ctuchik was dead-and more than dead-and the earth itself heaved and groaned in the aftershock of his destruction..." (more)
Key Phrases: imperial princess, massed legions, steel mask, Aunt Pol, King Rhodar, Lady Polgara (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review
?Fabulous . . . Eddings has a marvelous storyteller style . . . exceedingly well portrayed and complex people. . . . More! More! More!?
?ANNE MCCAFFREY
-- Review

Review
“Fabulous . . . Eddings has a marvelous storyteller style . . . exceedingly well portrayed and complex people. . . . More! More! More!”
–ANNE MCCAFFREY


See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 496 pages
• Publisher: Del Rey (August 27, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0345456319
• ISBN-13: 978-0345456311
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (44 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #7,589 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars They Saved The Best For Last., September 13, 2004

A Kid's Review

I was sad when I finiashed reading this book. After loving the first volume with books 1,2, and 3, I loved even more, this volume, contain the final 2 books of the Belgariad series, and as great as the first 3 are, the final 2 are much better, no comparison. Obviously the book became much more exciting here. Garion learns who he is, the final battle and the final duel, and an interesting twist at the end. So I just finished reading one of if not the greatest fantasy series ever, so why was I sad...it was over.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Classic book, the wizard of oz of fantasy novels!, January 8, 2004

By	Derrick Schommer (Hudson, NH USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The story (beginning in Vol 1) is your classic good vs. evil. For those who have read the Belgaraid Vol 1. this is a must have. For those that are reading the review, but have not read Vol 1. (or the three books that it comprises) then stop, find it, and buy them both!

Why? Learn how a young immature boy, and a young spoiled girl grow up "the hard way" with conflicts, battles, and hard lessons learned. They grow up fast, and become very memorable characters. Eddings does an amazing job fleshing out the characters in the Novel. Everyone has a personality, everyone has a reason to be there. Even the story itself seems to speak to you as if it is a stand-alone character.

If you like fantasy novels like The Lord of the Rings (JRR), Icewind Dale (Salvatore), The Magician (Feist), etc. then you'll love these books.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Concluding Eddings' best work, August 23, 2006

By	newyork2dallas (Dallas, Texas United States) - See all my reviews

The Belgariad is Eddings' first and best fantasy series. First published in the mid-1980s, the Belgariad differed from other fantasy fiction because: (1) it was not based on the elf-dwarf-human creature structure like Lord of the Rings and its various copycats (Terry Brooks, Weis/Hickman, Dennis McKeirnan, etc.); (2) it had mature and defined political systems (including a country that popularly elected its king), international relations and ethnic patterns, unlike even the more mature fantasy offerings of Donaldson (Thomas Covenant) and LeGuin (Earthsea); (3) it had a unique formulation of magic -- the will and the word; and (4) it inverted the purpose of the fantasy quest -- the EVIL ONE sleeps and the heroes seek to prevent his awakening BEFORE he begins his attempt to take over the world (again).

Eddings narrative is sly and occasionally slick -- the characters balance seriousness with humor and the dialogue is often very funny. His world is believable because the political and religious interactions make sense. The best feature of the Belgariad is its relative tonal change -- from reflecting the innocent wide-eyed view of young Garion (the hero, farmboy, of course) in Pawn of Prophecy, the next two books become darker and more serious as Garion begins to realize who he is and what is at stake, and he comes to grips with who his "Aunt Pol" and his "Grandfather" really are.

By the time book four, Castle of Wizardry, starts the hero is acting and thinking proactively instead of merely reacting to events or bobbing along with the tide (like in Queen of Sorcery, volume 2). He's grown independent and a good deal wiser. By the end of Book 5, his emotional range includes earned sympathy for his enemy -- a rare trait in the standard fantasy fare.

This volume includes the weakest entry in the series, Castle of Wizardry, where the heroes regroup after a successful end to part one of the quest. But from the second half of Castle onward, the conclusion is full of action.

Eddings' books are something of a quest story with a travelogue in the world he created -- in the Belgariad he leaves no country untouched in the western continent; in the Mallorean the characters go to every major district in "boundless Mallorea" and his other series (Tamuli, Elenium) are similar. Unfortunately, each of the countries' citizens tend toward a stereotype that Eddings establishes for each nation.

If the various Eddings series sound repetitive, that's because they are -- Eddings repeats the same formula with some variations in his other series and the various wisecracking and irreverent humor that is refreshing in the first Eddings series you read becomes tiresome and predictable thereafter.

That said, the Belgariad is the first, the most original and probably the best farmboy-saves-the-world quest of the genre.