Customer Reviews

The Malloreon, Vol. 1 (Books 1-3): Guardians of the West, King of the Murgos, Demon Lord of Karanda

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1 star:		(2)

 

 

"The Malloreon" is the sequel in five tomes to David Eddings' "The Belgariad". This special edition compiles the first three books of "The Malloreon": "Guardians of the West", "King of the Murgos" and "Demon Lord of Karanda".

In those books, we get to meet the characters we learn to love in "The Belgariad", and some new ones (for example, Silk will meet a young woman that is more than his match). There is plenty of adventure, magic and a lot of that quirky sense of humour so characteristic of Eddings at his best. There is also a new quest: Belgarion's son has been kidnapped by an evil sorcerer named Zandramas in order to fulfill an ancient prophecy. If Belgarion and his friends want to save him, they will need to fulfill a parallel prophecy, and vanquish Zandramas. The fate of the world as they know it is in their hands...

Of course, and almost needless to say, I strongly advise you to read these books in order. By that, I mean reading first the five tomes of "The Belgariad" and only afterwards start the five tomes of "The Malloreon". That is the way in which these books were meant to be read, and they are strong reasons for that. Make yourself a favour, and read them books in the correct order, as you will enjoy the series even more.

All in all, I highly recommend "The Malloreon Volume One". I read these books ages ago, but I still enjoy them a lot. Truth to be told, I didn't really need this special edition of the first 3 books in "The Malloreon", as I already am the proud owner of these books in their Spanish edition. All the same, I decided to buy them again in order to be able to read the series in its original language, English. Other advantages of this edition are that it isn't expensive at all, and that it doesn't take up to much space in your library. On the whole, buying "The Malloreon Volume One" is a win-win situation. Enjoy it :)

Belen Alcat

These are not as good as his first series, that being said I still think they're well worth reading. If you're just starting on your Fantasy adventure then these books are perfect for you or if you're a kid who wants a good fantasy yarn then any of Eddings's work will be enjoyable. However if you're a veteran Fantasy reader who might be expecting a series like Erikson's or Martin's then Eddings's work is not for you. While he writes well his writing is nowhere near the standard of the top writers of Fantasy, what I usually do is read Eddings after I read a top notch Fantasy, just to sort of mellow me out a bit. lol This all being said I still think Eddings's work is well worth reading for any Fantasy lover and for all ages.

The story starts a few weeks after the end of The Belgaraid, Belgaraid is just starting to settle down being King when a crisis is start, the bear cult have united behind one leader and are preparing for war. It falls to the new King of Rivan to put a stop to their fanaticism, behind the scene a new plot is being brought together, while Belgaraid is away fighting the bear cult a new dark power kidnaps his new born son Garan. Here starts the new war between light and dark, as the Rivan King and a few chosen companions race to fight this new evil, they will face fanatic Golems, demons from the very pits of her and the new possibility that a new dark God will rise.

Eddings is (with wife Leigh..are?) a terrific fantasy writer. He creates sprawling epics that maintain their page-turning intensity and characters that are interesting. He does that here, too, at times, but there are disquieting aspects to this sequel to the Belgariad. It is very fine at times, but it is not as good as the original, The Belgariad. In part, that is simply because the sequel runs into what sequels usually run into--the sense of excitement coming from a new discovery is gone and can't be recaptured. But in addition, Eddings goes out of his way here to recreate the first series--the heroes have a similar goal in mind and the plot is more or less the same. Even that's not enough for him, evidently--not only is the plot more or less the same, Eddings even goes so far as to introduce a plot device that has certain events from the Belgariad deliberately repeated (the characters even explicitly discuss fate recreating past events along the way). This makes the Malloreum sometimes seem like a cheap rehash, particularly given that the basic plot is identical to the Belgariad, with a few extra cherries on top. Second, the tight knit band of heroes becomes a little tiresome now. Eddings goes to the well too often with the repetitive interplay between the characters. It is as if the same joke is repeated over and again. It was funny the first time we met Beldin. It is not as funny the 50th time he insults Belgarath, or Velvet takes the wind out of Silk's sails, or Silk pretends to take offense when someone uses a candid word (like "swindle"), or Vella reaches once more for her daggers at some slight. Enough! By the end of the series, actually, well before that, the characters are simply caricatures. Third, this band of sorcerers (and others) consists of most of the most powerful sorcerers in the world. As a group, they arguably have more power than anyone else. Yet, they let themselves be taken prisoner (by Atesca, for instance) and slink along like helpless derelicts hiding from cops. Eddings tries to explain this by various rationalizations because he wants and needs the quest to meander along. Ok, so they're afraid the Grolims will "hear" the use of their power, etc. I suppose I can live with that little evasion--it just grates a little that so many people with such vast power never actually seem to use much of it to accomplish their goals. There are no vast magical battles. They might as well be a band of simple soldiers at times. Finally, the series starts out far better than it proceeds. The first two books are best, when anticipation and some hope of freshness remain. By book 4, it is tedious as a series and that book rambled on. If you haven't begun to wonder yet how there can possibly be any real choice to make between Dark and Light, you should. But Eddings never really explains it, relying only on a very quick, very cursory rationalization at the end in Book 5. Indeed, in book 5, we never really come to understand what basis Cyradis has to make the choice. If it is confusing that there is actually some great debate about whether dark or light should win, we never really learn what criteria exist, other than the crisis of the moment, to make the choice, or why it couldn't be done more simply and earlier. It all seems rather contrived. The Prophecy seems to be little more than a contrivance to take away free will and justify Eddings in rambling along for five books. By book 5, I mostly just wanted it to end. I would give a better rating to Books 1 and 2; Book 3 is average; Book 4 is poor and Book 5 only slightly better than Book 4. Perhaps some editing and condensing this into a trilogy would have helped a lot. The ending of the series (ignoring the long post-climax chapters) is pretty much a microcosm of the book--there is some good tense writing as the band of heroes faces Zandramas' bag of tricks. And then it peters out into a predictable, hard-to-explain mess. All that said--this reads very well at times, particularly in the first couple of books, and if it is not as good as the Belgariad, it is something fans of the Belgariad will likely want to read.

For people who enjoy reading for the purpose of getting into the story. The books written by David Eddings' are for people who get attached to characters and love to immerse themselves in reading. To me his books are like coming home for a visit.

If you want to read simply to get to the finish line---Eddings is not for you.

Ah, the Malloreon - Belgarion and his eastern counterpart managing NOT to carve up the world. The only problem is... there ain't no more! Yet, anyway. There are the stories from the rest of his family, but no continuation. I'd still like to see how the Riven Queen manages childrearing. Maybe Pol will tell us some other day.

This particular pair of books is a nice size- the first three sets I purchased, I got the individual books, and the only thing missing is the various cover art. But for those of us who already know exactly how the characters look, it's not an unimaginable loss.

Maybe, with multiple books in one volume, they won't leave my house so fast. Maybe.

A real joy to re-read this epic fantasy with a new forward by the author. Enjoyable and shelf-saving to have all five books in two volumes. I received the Belgariad Vol 1 and 2 for Christmas and then purchased these. A welcome addition to my library.

If you're an Eddings fan and enjoyed the Belgariad - don't miss this follow-up! I didn't want to put it down, and now I'm buying Volume 2 to finish the story.

My brother (who loves reading books) suggested I give this to a friend's teenage daughter who's into Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, etc. I bought her Vol 1-2, and the sequel after that. And she loved it!

I've read alot of fantasy books from all kinds of authors. High fantasy and Epics and light fantasy. Usually in a series, the first 3 books are the best and if there are any after that they decline. I started out reading the Belgaraid knowing that this series was "light fantasy" and I didn't expect anything more than that. Then I get to the Mallorean and not only did it surprised me but it was actually better than the Belgaraid. Even the 3rd book in the Mallorean was better than the first. It seems that the author got better as he wrote and had a story to tell instead of stretching out a shorter story just to sell more books.

In the Mallorean Mr. and Mrs. Eddings continue and close the wonderful story they began in the Belgariad. The combination of high adventure and wonderful wit are a joy to read. With characters you will never forget (and probably notice traces of in your own friends!) these books are a must have for any fantasy library.