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

David Eddings (Author)

Book Description

Release date: August 30, 2005

Discover the magic of The Malloreon–David Eddings’s acclaimed series, the sequel to his bestselling The Belgariad. Now the first three Malloreon books appear in a single volume, taking us on an epic quest across strange lands among gods, kings, sorcerers, and ordinary men. It is a gripping tale of two ancient warring destinies fighting a battle of good against evil.

Garion has slain the evil God Torak and is now the King of Riva. The prophecy has been fulfilled–or so it seems. For there is a dire warning, as a great evil brews in the East. Now Garion once again finds himself with the fate of the world resting on his shoulders. When Garion’s infant son is kidnapped by Zandramas, the Child of Dark, a great quest begins to rescue the child. Among those on the dangerous mission are Garion and his wife, Queen Ce’Nedra, and the immortal Belgarath the Sorcerer and his daughter, Polgara. They must make their way through the foul swamps of Nyissa, then into the lands of the Murgos. Along the way, they will face grave dangers–captivity, a horde of demons, a fatal plague–while Zandramas plots to use Garion’s son in a chilling ritual that will make the Dark Prophecy supreme. . .

Product Details

• Paperback: 816 pages
• Publisher: Del Rey (August 30, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0345483863
• ISBN-13: 978-0345483867
• Product Dimensions: 6.1 x 1.4 x 9.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (37 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #17,337 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.

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#55 in Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Fantasy

#90 in Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy

#55 in Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Fantasy

#90 in Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars These are the kind of books you happily buy twice :) September 21, 2005

By M. B. Alcat

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

"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

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars suspenseful fantasy sometimes, ultimately tedious September 1, 2010

By monsieurms

Format:Paperback

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.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Love Eddings January 23, 2008

By cat ^. .^

Format:Paperback

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.