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Title | Pawn of Prophecy
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Author | David Eddings
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Cover Art | William O'Conner
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Publisher | Ballantine Books - SFBC Omnibus Edition - Date unknown
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First Printing | 1982
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Title | Queen of Sorcery
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Author | David Eddings
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Cover Art | William O'Conner
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Publisher | Ballantine Books - SFBC Omnibus Edition - Date unknown
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First Printing | 1982
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Title | Magician's Gambit
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Author | David Eddings
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Cover Art | William O'Conner
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Publisher | Ballantine Books - SFBC Omnibus Edition - Date unknown
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First Printing | 1983
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Title | Castle of Wizardry
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Author | David Eddings
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Cover Art | William O'Conner
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Publisher | Ballantine Books - SFBC Omnibus Edition - Date unknown
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First Printing | 1984
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Title | Enchanters' End Game
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Author | David Eddings
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Cover Art | William O'Conner
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Publisher | Ballantine Books - SFBC Omnibus Edition - Date unknown
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First Printing | 1984
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Category | Epic Fantasy
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Warnings | None
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Main Characters | Garion, Belgarath, Polgara, Silk/Keldar, Barak, Hettar, Durnik, Mandorallen, Ce'Nedra, Lelldorin, Sadi
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Main Elements | Wizards, gods
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Website | ---
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Books 1-3
The god Aldur created the Orb, imbued it with great powers, and used it to work wonders. But Aldur's brother Torak stole the living jewel, provoking war among gods and men. And the war raged until Torak raised the Orb in fury and split the earth apart.
The Orb began to glow then with a blue fire that seared Torak's face, leaving him hideously scarred and forever anguished. He led his people away to hide in darkness, and put the Orb in an iron chest - not daring to look upon it, but unable to give it up.
Yet the Orb was not his to keep. Brave men found a way to regain the jewel, placing it in the care of the only man among them who was pure in his soul. Riva Iron-grip.
They feared that Torak would try to retake his treasure, but Aldur said, "So long as the Orb remains with the line of Riva Iron-grip, Torak shall not prevail." And so began the duty, and doom, of Riva's descendants.
This is the saga of the last of Riva's blood: Garion, unaware of his heritage and his destiny...born at a time when, once again, the Orb has been stolen, and the world stands on the brink of destruction.
Books 4-5
An exultant song seemed to soar in his mind, filling him with wonder. It was the Orb, Garion knew...the living jewel, recovered from the servants of the maimed god Torak after more than a year of searching. But the danger was not over.
Murgo soldiers were hunting them, intent on capturing those responsible for their leader's fall. Even more to be feared were the Grolim Hierarchs - evil priests who could fuse the power of their minds to attack anyone, anywhere...with devastating effect.
Garion's own powers were growing - a heritage of sorcery he was reluctant to use but helpless to deny. More than ever he was grateful for his friends, whose experience was so much greater than his, and whose unique abilities had prove their worth many times during the long quest for the Orb.
There was Barak from the north - a huge, ferocious warrior who feared only the reality of his own strange doom: to be transformed into a bear when battle fury was upon him. There was Silk, known as Prince Kheldar in his homeland, and by other names as well - a wily trader and master spy. The brave knight Mandorallen was a man whose courtly manner never interfered with his deadly skill. Relg, the zealot from the underground kingdom of the Ulgo, was so attuned to the earth that he could find his way through the darkest caves and move through solid rock. And Durnik, the loyal smith from Garion's former home, had the ability to remain calm and practical, even in the most alarming situations.
Belgarath the Sorcerer, centuries-old disciple of the god Aldur, had led them for most of the quest - and had nearly lost his life in the final confrontation with the evil one from whoe they had regained the Orb. That left the Eternal Man's daughter Polgara in charge, a wise and beautiful sorceress in her own right, but alreayd pushing the limits of her own strength...the stern yet loving "Aunt Pol" who had raised Garion, never revealing her true identity or the boy's destiny.
Now that destiny was upon him, ordained by a Prophecy given ages ago. Torak would soon arise; the world would be plunged into war. And the only hope of avoiding total annihilation lay in Garion's ability to overcome Torak in combat.
Unfortunately the Prophecy did not guarantee his success.
A coworker called David Edding's books "juvenile". I suppose there is some truth to that, things are not all doom and gloom, and violence isn't particularly gory, and male/female characters barely interact, let alone run off into another room to do their thing. But I like it...no, I don't just like it, I like it a lot.
There is a large number of characters, maybe a little two-dimensional, but I think I like them better that way. Besides, the story isn't about them but rather about Garion, our hero who is more than he seems. But each character brings something of interest to the story, and you end up loving them all. Like Silk, the Drasnian Prince who moonlights as a spy. Or the uber-religious Ulgo Relg who can walk through solid rock. Or the reserved Algarian Hettar, who isn't so reserved when an opportunity to shed Murgo blood arises. Finally, throw in an evil, and insane god and things get interesting.
It was interesting to follow them along their travels as they cover the various regions of their world, from the cold Cherek lands to the tropical Nyissan lands of the snake people. Those were bizarre people, though not quite as strange as the Ulgos.
There were some moments that made me laugh out loud, like the time Garion managed to bury himself up to his armpits in the ground and had only a young foal to help him. The foal of course was more interested in chasing butterflies. I'll let you read the books to figure out how he managed to get himself into that situation.
My only criticism is that some of the things that are supposed to be secret, are blantantly obvious. Most of the characters aren't able to figure it out, but the reader figures it out right away. Such as Garion's part in the prophecy. It is *obvious* who he really is, but very few people know it, especially him. It's one of those situations where you want to just smack some sense into someone. I suppose we can blame it on them not knowing their history, something we get filled in on at the beginning of each book during an introductory prologue. On the other hand, there are things not so obvious to figure out, such as who the voice in Garion's head is (no, don't worry, he's not crazy). I had my suspicions but I wasn't sure.
One suggestion I might make is to write down the names of all the places, and the people's who live in them. The characters freely refer to Alorns, Arends, Algarians, Angaraks...which seem pretty obvious and easy to keep apart, but they're not, believe me. Especially since an Arend is a subset of an Alorn, it can get complicated. And you need to know who are the good guys, the bad guys and their characteristics. By the third book you'll have a pretty good idea who is who, but the first book will be confusing, especially since the provided map doesn't show the entire region, only the part relevant to the current novel.
I highly recommend reading this series. Note however there are some issues still unresolved at the end, such as the significant of Errand's meeting with the colt. There is also the part of the Prophecy that has yet to pass. I've got my fingers crossed that the book club I'm a member of will republish the Mallorean...and I hope they do it soon!
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