yes, the two prequels have, so far, sucked.
But I have to disagree with what you say about Eddings' body of work.
No, the latter works aren't exactly the embodiment of originality, but
in my opinion, the silly/snippy goddess/aunt, the ragtag bunch of
characters, and good overcoming adversity, often through rediculous
amounts of serendipity provided by fate, luck, or a snippy goddess, and
some totally awesome witty dialog is what make his books worth reading.
I've read *The Redemption of Althalus* enough that my paperback is
falling apart. My copies of *Belgarath the Sorcerer* and *Polgara*
aren't in much better condition.
No, these aren't deep, mind-blowing works. But that's not what I want
them to be, any more than I would want Empire to be like Citizen Kane or
some other "great" work of filmography. They're fun, cheesy, thoroughly
enjoyable pieces of fluff with enough philosophy in them to keep them
from being mindless.
And that's what I love about them.
--benD
Jim Campbell wrote:
> I'm a guy in my late 20's so it goes without saying that I grew up with
> Star Wars, and it was, not surprisingly, my favorite movie for a while.
> I can watch it now and get past the rotten acting and stilted dialog and
> Greedo shooting first (damn you, Lucas!), but I still appreciate the
> effect it had on me as a child.
>
> As a kid, I was also a big, no, HUGE fan of David Eddings - I read the
> Belgariad over and over again, all five books in only a few days. The
> followup series - the Mallorean - was equally welcome. I knew the
> characters inside and out, I could get lost in that world in a
> heartbeat. Two followup "autobiographies" of main characters from the
> series "Belgarath" and "Polgara" are in my book collection as well,
> along with the "Rivan Codex", something of a "behind the scenes" wrap-up
> of the minutae and process of developing what, at that point was
> essentially a duodecology.
>
> So, the last statement is that I've been growing steadily more
> disappointed with the Eddings' (he writes with his wife, Leigh), from
> the second Sparhawk trilogy (The Tamuli), to the Redemption of Althalus
> to the execrable Regina's Song - a non-fantasy set in Washington State,
> filled with amalgams of every character they've ever written, put into
> impossibly frustrating characters, in a plot with all the surprises of a
> bowl of tomato soup.
>
> So, I approached the most recent work from them - "The Elder Gods" with
> some trepidation. On one hand, their writing had become routine and
> extremely predictable. On the other, the prospect of another fantasy
> series had potential - maybe they were going to clean the slate and
> start over with new ideas, and strong characters and... no, it sucks.
>
> Sucks is the best way to put it, as well. Eddings makes so much of his
> knowledge of epic fantasy and classical literature, yet can't come up
> with a unique idea anymore that's not wholly derivitave of his own
> originally interesting characters. Oh, look, it's the snippy girl-god.
> Oh look, it's the witty banter. Oh, look, a rag-tag cast of mismatched
> characters. Oh, look, it's the good guys overcoming adversity and
> suffering almost no casualties... on and on and on.
>
> Eddings, like Lucas, can't be faulted for a lack of imagination.
> They've both created rollicking, evocative, fantastic worlds that you'd
> want to be lost in forever if you had the chance. However, the other
> shared aspect of their personality is that they just don't know when to
> throw in the towel and call it quits. Eddings will trundle out the next
> three books in what will likely be the worst series he's ever written
> over the next few years. The world waits, nauseously, for Lucas' last
> Star Wars movie, knowing, despite so much optimism, we all know how it
> will turn out.
>
> Oh well. I'll always have Faldor's Farm to keep me company.
>
> - Jim
>
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