15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great reading, March 31, 2000
I have read everything I can find by Tolkein. I have read all I can of Tad Williams. I have read hundreds of books in this genre and I can say this series is excellent. This genre is popular because it requires an imagination, and it is there for the readers to have a good time, not to make literary students of all of us. I don't give a damn for character development and plot - I want something that is going to take me away and let my imagination go on a ride. Eddings did brilliantly with this. The last few books were so fast paced, I couldn't put them down. I can't wait to begin reading the Mallorean. If a person wants to do some seriouse literary reviewing then try a different Genre.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Long Tale Comes To An End (almost), June 28, 2005
Enchanters' End Game chronicles the climax to Garion's long quest to bring two conflicting prophecies back into synch. As Child of Light, he and his friends have wandered across the Alorn kingdoms, ventured into Tolnedra and Nyissa, and now Garion, Belgarath, and Silk are in the Angarak side of the continent heading for the final confrontation with Torak.
Pacing Garion is C'Nedra, who has rallied the armies of the West to provide what amounts to a distraction so that Garion, thousands of miles away can slip into Cthol Mishrak without the entire Murgo population trying to put an end to them. For all the sarcasm and wit that the characters display, this is a grim struggle, and C'Nedra's forces will be caught between the massive armies of the Mallorean Emperor Zakath and Taur Urgas the insane king of the Murgos. Levity or not many will die in the confrontation.
Of the two story arcs, C'nedra's is the more interestingly told. Garion's adventures are mostly hiding and running at a very forced pace. His challenge is to keep his fear in check as he prepared for a duel that will kill one of the participants. On the other hand, the Alorn kings and many friends surround C'nedra. The preparations for the final battle are extensive, and many of the characters show unexpected sides.
In retrospect, once this series slows down in Castle of Wizardry, it never quite regains its pace. Eddings hadn't quite learned to control his efforts in this series, and his early rush left him lacking a bit of plot in the fourth volume of this series. Enchanters' End Game recovers (nothing like a massive battle to perk things up) but Edding's will always be noted more for characterization and detail than for action. But his next series, the Malloreon is more evenly written, so the pacing is much smoother.
I tend to view these stories as comfort food for fantasy addicts. While they lack something in the way of fast paced action and emotional range, they are genuinely entertaining. I've reread them all several times and they always seem to bear up. I wish everything I read was at least this well done.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A fantasy not to everyone's tastes, February 20, 2002
I'm probably one of the very few people that actually admit reading David and Leigh Edding's novels now. Especially since Tolkien has come back into fashion in a big way. But I've always been a great admirer of Eddings novels - their plots are EXACTLY the same as Tolkien's literary classic, right down to the location names ("Cthol Mishrak", anyone?). Despite all that, there are two things that keep drawing me back to their novels.
The first strength is how strongly their characters are written. It's so easy to believe that these characters COULD exist in real life, because they're so flawed...and yet so noble and heroic.
A good example is "Belgarath the Sorcerer" - Belgarath is DEFINITELY not a Gandalf clone. He's a thief, a liar, a cheat, and loves keeping the company of woman of questionable reputation. Despite all that, he's still one of the most adept masters of "The Will and the Word", and can perform heroic deeds when called upon.
The Edding's other strength is their narrative. The plotline IS a rip-off of Lord of the Rings, but it moves along at such a good pace, and is so well written, that you totally ignore that issue as soon as you read the first page. The only conclusion I can come to is that although the main plotlines are similar, their execution is totally different.
Now...onto the book review. Of all five books in the Belgariad, this is my favourite. And a large portion of that is due to the battle at Thull Mardu. The plotline in this book revolves around this single event - we see the lead-up (gathering the troops), the battle itself (which is realistically written), and the aftermath. In the lead-up, we get a much better look at some of the protaganists - especially the Alorn Kings. We're also introduced to General Varana, a character who will return in the Mallorean. All of them are very well written, and each of them has a character quirk that endears them to us. We start to care about what happens to them.
The battle itself is quite realistically written. The Edding's strength in this area isn't the body count - we don't seem to get a real idea of how many people die. It's their portrayal of individual events that make it so powerful. There's one quite affecting scene involving a young boy playing a flute on top of a hill that is very well written - and is also used to portray the stupidity and waste of war. It's also important to point out that the good guys are actually outnumbered in this battle, and very nearly don't win. My only complaint about this section of the book is that the Edding's don't provide a really good explanation of exactly how the good guys escape in the end. It just seems to reach a particular point, and then, seemingly satisfied that things will turn out alright, we immediately switch to the battle between Garion and Torak.
As for the battle between Garion and Torak? It was every bit as interesting as I thought it would be. I would love to see this scene portrayed in a movie. The one aspect that really surprised me was HOW Garion defeated Torak - anybody who's read the book knows what I'm talking about. In the end, it wasn't through Garion's skill with a sword, instead it was through taking advantage of a certain aspect of godhood. In retrospect, this makes sense. After all, a god is totally infallible but does have one obvious weakness.
In conclusion, I enjoyed the battle at Thull Mardu far more than the final battle between Garion and Torak. Both were equally powerful events, it's just that one had more time devoted to it than the other. I actually read the Mallorean novels before I read the Belgariad, so it was interesting seeing the events that lead up to the second set of books. I can certainly see why so many people like the Belgariad more than the Mallorean. As for me, I enjoy both saga's equally, although I have a soft spot for the Mallorean because I read it first.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
