Belgarath the Sorcerer

Um.  Okay, this one featured all of the trademark fantasy stuff that made Eddings famous.  For some reason the whole thing tasted stale and uninspired.  Maybe I wasn't in the mood.  If you're an Eddings fan, and find the book on sale and have nothing better to read go for it.

Polgara the Sorceress

Don't ask.  I wasn't super impressed by the last one, so why read this one?  'Cause I bought the dang thing that's why.  Okay it's the same story as the last book, with a shift in narrative voice.  I guess eventually every main character from the Eddings' collection will have his or her own book.  That being said, I really enjoyed this book, a lot.  I couldn't put the dang thing down.  Go figure.  You do need to read it's predecessor though.  Oh well. 

The Rivan Codex

I must have the word "sucker" stamped on my forehead. This isn't so much a book as a cheap way to make some money off the back of what was a pretty good series.  Hmm, collect some of your old notes, plop them together, sell them.  Like always, with Eddings if you like him, you'll like this too.  That being said this is an interesting book, and provides some insights into what it takes to create a fleshed out fantasy series.

The Redemption of Althalus (©2000)

I waited a couple of years before picking this one up. I wasn't sure if I was up to another iffy Eddings adventure. Especially since I've enjoyed so much of their other work. However when I found the hardcover as a remainder, it was cheaper than buying the paperback (but more expensive than going to the library as my wife is fond of telling me).

The basic story is a good versus evil, mixed up with a set of relatively interchangeable characters whose names kind of blur together. The bad guys have a gang too, and they're all underdeveloped and as flat as week old soda.

But ...

And here's the kicker - if you go along for the ride, and let yourself have fun this is a really good story. Once it got going I didn't really care that I couldn't tell some of the characters apart or let some of the dialog bug me. It was over the top fun and by golly it was a lot of fun. This was a fun adventure, and dang it if I wasn't going to enjoy myself.

This doesn't rank up there with their previous series, especially the Elenium and The Tamuli, but as a one off I didn't have to wait several years for them to finish up either. Besides, this was a fat bugger of a book, so it probably held a trilogy worth of large print paperbacks.

Reviewed March 2003