Sorceress of Darshiva (The Malloreon) [Paperback]

David Eddings (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 24, 1990

The fourth book in "The Malloreon" series, this book recounts the adventures of Garion and his company as they continue their pursuit of Zandramas across the known world. But Zandramas always stays one step ahead, taunting them, spying on them and threatening to strike.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In the battle between good and evil in the land of Mallorea begun in Guardians of the West , the wizard and shape-changer Belgarion continues his quest with 10 companions. They include his wife, Queen Ce'Nedra, his grandfather, Belgarath, and other members of his shape-changing wizard family, and the wily merchant Prince Kheldar, also known as Silk. The sorceress Zandramas, now Child of the Dark after the death of the god Torak at the hands of Belgarion (who is the Child of the Light) has stolen Belgarion's young son to use in a ritual prophesied to assure the dominance of the forces of the Dark. They find an original copy of the Ashabine Oracles, written long before Belgarion's birth, which contains a message to him from Torak that directs them to the ancient city of Kell. As they race other interested parties across battle-blasted landscapes, the group encounters warring troops of men and demons, and the Emperor of Mallorea, who joins the party on the orders of a blind seeress. Eddings depicts a complex, believable and colorful society filled with nobles, rogues and common people, the latter characters ringing particularly true, as does the world of the wolves into which Belgarion and his relatives change.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From the Inside Flap

Troubles and delays continued to mount as Garion, Belgarath, Polgara, and the company pursued Zandramas across the known world. Possessed by the Dark Destiny, she had stolen Garion's infant son to use in a ritual that would destroy all that was fair and good.

Always the quest led onward, across and beyond the continent of Mallorea, where the Evil God Torak had once been supreme until Garion slew him. And always Zandramas was one step ahead of them. The armies she had raised, led by a Demon Lord, threatened to cut them off on one side: on the other, the forces of the Emperor Zakath were seeking to capture them.

Zandramas was taunting them and spying on them, flying over in the form of the great dragon, while the Dark Destiny changed her and etched away the last of her touches of humanity.

Somehow, as the Seeress of Kell had warned them, they had to be at the Place Which Is No More for the ritual at the same time as Zandramas, if they were to have a chance to defeat her evil schemes.

But where that might be they still had no clue. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Bantam Books (May 24, 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0593015649
• ISBN-13: 978-0593015643
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.9 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,147,820 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

David Eddings was born in Washington State in 1931 and grew up near Seattle. He graduated from the University of Washington and went on to serve in the US Army. Subsequently, he worked as a buyer for the Boeing Aircraft Company and taught college-level English. His career as a fantasy writer, with his wife Leigh, has been spectacular.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars finally nearing the conclusion, March 26, 2004

By 

Joe Sherry (Minnesota) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Sorceress of Darshiva (The Malloreon, Book 4) (Mass Market Paperback)

Book 4 of the Mallorean

Have you heard the expression "The more things change, the more they stay the same"? That expression is perhaps a good analogy for Eddings' Mallorean. Belgarion, Polgara, Belgarath and company are hot on the heels of Zandramas, the sorceress who kidnapped Belgarion's infant son way back in Book 1 "Guardians of the West". Now the group is only a couple of days behind, but more than just finding Zandramas they have to follow the prophecy which is gearing up between a final (truly final) meeting between the Child of Light and the Child of Dark. This story takes place on the continent of Mallorea, and another character is added to Belgarion's group as they follow the clues laid out by prophecy. While it may feel at times that the story will never end and that Belgarion is not truly getting closer to finding his son, this novel does give the sense that there is a true resolution that is going to happen if we just wait for it.

Neither this review nor this book is capable of changing your mind about whether or not you like David Eddings or his work. If you like Eddings, the "Belgariad" or the first three books in this series, then you will certainly like this one. It is more of the same. If you don't like Eddings...you won't like this one because it is still more of the same. Every character is witty and makes jokes at the others expense, but in a good natured way because they all like each other. They are the same jokes and side comments that have run through 8 previous novels set in this world. On one hand the jokes are amusing, but on the other hand, we've been reading the same jokes and comments for eight novels. This series (along with "The Belgariad") is one which hooked me on the fantasy genre when I was a young teenager, so I will always have a certain fondness for the series. In terms of overall quality, it is not one of the best you will read but it has always been enjoyable to read.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Just When You Thought It Would Never End, It Doesn't, July 13, 2005

By 

Marc Ruby™ "The Noh Hare™" (Warren, MI USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Sorceress of Darshiva (The Malloreon, Book 4) (Mass Market Paperback)

[wry smile] By this point you are either an Eddings fan or you aren't. I like him because of the things that often irritate other readers. He doesn't create continuous flows of action, but uses a picaresque style that leads the reader back and forth across a continent on a quest that is going to take exactly as long as it is supposed to, no matter how you feel about it. Edding's solution to writing a series that covers a nine month effort is to make it feel like it has been nine months. If you don't like a perpetual stream of distractions you aren't going to like this book.

This time the questers are following Zandramas through Melcena. With and without Zakath, harried by demons and grolim, and generally perplexed by the mystery of finding a place that 'is no more.' This book rises and falls on the banter between the characters as they alternatively criticize themselves and the people around them. There are plenty of moments of humor and a few plot twists, but, like the third volume of the Belgariad, this is where the story bogs down.

My theory is that Eddings always overwrites by one full volume. He loves quests and he wrings every detail out of them. It is only when he realizes that his characters have begun to parody themselves that he changes pace and finally heads for a conclusion. This is an admitted flaw in a writer whose imagination I generally appreciate. Parts of what he has done have extended the epic genre, and his decision to use approachable and even weak characters has made fantasy more appealing to those of use who are put off by flowery language.

If you've gotten here, you have read eight full volumes of the author's work. You are considering to reading the ninth, and I promise you that nothing much is going to change. If you like Eddings you will have fun reading that, if not, you won't. But if you don't read it, you will miss Ziss's pregnancy and Vella's teasing.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Master of Fantasy, October 10, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Sorceress of Darshiva (The Malloreon, Book 4) (Mass Market Paperback)

David Eddings is the master of fantasy. I have read the Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings Trilogy. I have read so many fiction books that sometimes i confuse fantasy and reality but I know a great book when i read it and David Eddings books are just that. They have all the elements of fiction Magic, Sorcery, Intiuge, Creatures that exist nowhere else, and a world with a past and present so finely detailed that you swear its almost real... if you could only find the door. Some claim his books are predictable that good always wins but if some thing wasnt just a little bit predictable we would all probly take to our beds to frightened to go on.

We all belive Belgarion and the Orb will win and good will once again prevail but again and agian our minds fill with doubt as Eddings tests that belief. If we all wernt so fascinated with the series and the doubts it gives us we would have stopped reading long ago.

But we havent stopped .That alone speaks for it self.