Belgarath the Sorcerer

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Thus began the extraordinary adventures that would mould that youthful vagabond into a man, and the man into the finely honed instrument of Prophecy known to all the world as Belgarath the Sorcerer. Belgarath was strong enough to drag Zedar beneath the ground to pure rock, where he locked him up for the rest of eternity, or until he decided to let him go. During his later travels, after the apparent death of his wife, he helped his sorceress daughter Polgara protect the last of the royal line of Riva, as well as opposing the evil, one-eyed god Torak. Oddly enough, I enjoyed Belgarath the Sorcerer rather more this time around than when I first read it as a teenager, probably I suspect because I was able to take it far less seriously. Belgarath the Sorcerer is another one of those Del Rey series-padding specials - there were a whole bunch of these in the early 90s, where authors rewrote their successful work from the point of view of another character.

His stories were filled with sounds that made them come alive, and through the sounds and the words with which he wove the tales, sight and smell and the very feel of strange times and places seemed also to come to life for his spellbound listeners.This means the book is peppered with little asides, aspersions, comments to and about other characters or nations, as well as the old sorcerer’s musings on the workings of the world and indeed the future events of the series. Polgara the Sorceress is a companion book to Belgarath the Sorcerer which form the memoirs of Belgarath's elder daughter, Polgara. According to Belgarath the Sorcerer, the name of the Rivan prince who survived the assassination of the royal family was " Geran", whereas in Castle of Wizardry, Polgara says that the name was "Gared".

This means that frequently conflicts, whether interpersonal, emotional, political or military simply are resolved because the prophecy says so.I know it is fantasy but the characters feel very much alive and real in the stories this couple wrote over the years. I really enjoyed it at first, I loved Belgarath in the other books and so seeing his life was great. This book defies the term, 'spoilers' reading it post Belgariad/ Mallorian you essentially already know the outcome of all the major events.

It's unique in that it's a prequel to a single generation of people that have their own stories broken into six books. That's great if the series remains consistently good, intelligent and surprising - not so great if it lapses into predictability, laziness and mediocrity. On the plus side, the interaction between Belgarath and his various brother sorcerers is extremely fun to read, especially the spiky, good hearted dwarf Beldin, and while we don’t learn any shocking insights about Belgarath or the other sorcerers, it does lead to some extremely amusing moments, such as a no holds barred brawl between Belgarath and Beldin following Belgarath’s years of grief after the death of his wife, probably the closest thing to a major conflict Belgarath has in the book. The only negative, as I see it, is the fact that this book is simply a long explanation of the life of Belgarath.You can change your choices at any time by visiting Cookie preferences, as described in the Cookie notice. The main bulk of the story therefore comprises Belgarath’s account (delivered apparently under much protest), an account of a life spanning close to seven and a half thousand years, littered with battles, politics and a rather unusual amount of snark. The story of Belgarath, the great sorcerer learned in the Will and the Word on whom the fate of the world depends. I’d not read this one before (and I was very glad the narrator was the same as the one who did The Belgariad and The Malloreon as it means pronunciations and accents were constant. But let's be real - I'm an insane completist and I'm deeply interested to see how the Eddings will describe Polgara's perpetually "flinty" gaze when SHE becomes the protagonist of the story.