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I've heard a lot of people complain that the Belgariad is rewarmed Tolkein. But the narrative and dialog in Eddings books are fun and enjoyable, while Tolkein's is a burden. At least for me.
Any other Eddings fans here?
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I like Eddings. The books are not earth shattering, but throughly enjoyable. I just finished a re-read of The Tamuli, it still kept me up too late to finish it, even though I knew what happened next.
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I love reading the belgariad, mallorean, elenium, and tamuli. They are just good fun fantasy books.
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I love the Belgariad. It was one of the first fantasy books I read and holds a special place in my heart. It's just so much fun!
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I wanted to be Polgara when I grew up! I have read those books so many times I feel like the characters are my family.
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I liked the Belgariad when I was younger. i haven't read it in many years. I didn't think it was rewarmed Tolkien, but looking back on it, I remeber it as being really simplistic and sort of predictable, where now I love my fantasy extremely complicated and dark and unpredictable (i.e. George R. R. Martin, Hart's Hope, etc.)
I probably wouldn't like it now if I were to re-read it just because I recall it as being the polar opposite of what I like to read, but back then, I dug it.
It has a guy in it who can walk through rocks, right?
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It is fun to read the dialog and Edding's creates characters that you care about, but he seems to care so much that nothing bad ever happens to them. One David Eddings story is pretty much the next.
My stone is better then your stone!
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It's simple and you don't have to worry about the good guys getting hurt, but in the end, I found it nice fantasy concerning decent people.
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I enjoy Eddings the same way I enjoy McDonald's food: it's cheap, trashy, low-quality crap that satisfies. When I stop and think about it, Eddings is a horrendously bad writer: his characters are all one-dimensional, all use the same jokes, all have the same speech patterns, never encounter true hardship, etc. etc. But I enjoy the books anyway, and frequently re-read both the Belgariad and the Mallorean, mostly because I can finish either series in about 5 hours of reading.
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Liked the Belgariad. Liked book one of the Mallorean. Books 2-4 had their moments. Book 5 made me cringe.
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I liked it when I was a teenager, but I doubt I'll ever read it again. I remember it as pretty generic fantasy.
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The best book I have read by Edding's was Polgara the Sorceress, simply because the span of time and the pre-established plot lines guaranteed that it would contain a long line of tragedies and setbacks and losses and sorrows.
Belegarath on the other hand lost his wife and later got her back, no great list of tragedy to speak of and so it was dull.
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I like the Mallorean more than I like the Belgariad. Mostly because I adore all of the new characters in it. Zakath is awesome, as is Velvet, and Sadi, and...
I just don't understand the hostility that Eddings generates. I understand that it's fluff, but fluff isn't without value. The Belgariad and the Mallorean have gotten me through a lot of really tough times when I needed to read something happy where the good guys win and make witty comments while doing so. Sometimes you need the books like that, instead of the books where everyone is miserable all the time.
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I actually read something he wrote online where he explains his formula for fantasy epics. He's quite open about writing to that formula. But who cares? I love the characters. It's fun. It's never going to be seen as literature, but there's nothing wrong with eating yummy candy in between serious meals.
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I think it is that he is published when they are not. Seriously has anybody not thought after reading an Eddings book "I could have written that if I had the chutzpah to hand it to a publisher." At least with Jordan and Martin and Card and even formula writers like Crichton and Dan Brown you nod and say, yes that was an interesting thought, or insight or pile of research. With Eddings you just shrug and think wow, that was so mediochre... and I paid seven dollars for it and I need to buy four more books... and yet you buy them because they are not a waste of money.
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I'd rather a fun fantasy romp than a horribly-written and poorly-thought conspiracy theory. Or a book in which all the main character seemingly does is clip his toenails. I've never been one to accuse Jordan of an interesting thought, to be sure.
And Lisa, have you ever read The Rivan Codex? Eddings talks a lot about his formula in there.
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quote:I think it is that he is published when they are not. Seriously has anybody not thought after reading an Eddings book "I could have written that if I had the chutzpah to hand it to a publisher." At least with Jordan and Martin and Card and even formula writers like Crichton and Dan Brown you nod and say, yes that was an interesting thought, or insight or pile of research. With Eddings you just shrug and think wow, that was so mediochre... and I paid seven dollars for it and I need to buy four more books... and yet you buy them because they are not a waste of money.
Now that's not fair, I've often thought about the Will and the Word and the man who likes quiet nights.
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Hmmmm... I've generally avoided Eddings because of the way he's been discussed in the past. If he's light a fluffy (like a good omelette), he might be a good writer to have laying around. I've hit sort of a wall in my personal reading lately. I think I need something like this to wet the appetite for the harder stuff.
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quote:Originally posted by Eaquae Legit: I've never thought that.
I'd rather a fun fantasy romp than a horribly-written and poorly-thought conspiracy theory. Or a book in which all the main character seemingly does is clip his toenails. I've never been one to accuse Jordan of an interesting thought, to be sure.
And Lisa, have you ever read The Rivan Codex? Eddings talks a lot about his formula in there.
The Rivan Codex came out after I read that essay online. I think I knew at some point that it was material that was going to wind up there.
So... folks who've read the Elenium and Tamuli and whatnot, is it as fun as the Belgariad/Mallorean?
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I liked the Belgariad/Mallorean and the Elenium/Tamuli, but I found Belgarath and Polgara unbearable. I hated all the "Got you that time, Father," and "You didn't think I was watching, did you, Polgara?" So annoying.
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quote:Originally posted by Lisa: So... folks who've read the Elenium and Tamuli and whatnot, is it as fun as the Belgariad/Mallorean?
I'm glad I read it, and I'll probably reread it at some point, but it's essentially a less interesting clone of Belgariad/Mallorean. I'd check it out if I were you, there is some interesting/different worldbuilding that I think makes it worth it.
Don't bother with The Dreamers, though. It's amazingly boring.
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quote:It's simple and you don't have to worry about the good guys getting hurt, but in the end, I found it nice fantasy concerning decent people.
I completely agree with Irami here. I am planning on getting it for my daughter for Christmas because I think she'll enjoy it.
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I read them when I was twelve and I was bothered by some of the sexual references. You might want to hold off for a year or talk to her about them before she reads them.
To give you some perspective, I read the Alanna series two years before, and was not bothered by the sexuality in that. I don't remember if your daughter has read The Song of the Lioness or one of the later and more explicit books, though.
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Remind me about the sexual references. It just occurred to me that I could get those for my 16 year old (but, I am certain, very innocent) niece.
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These all sound fairly silly to me as an adult, but I remember they bothered me as a 12 year old.
-Ce'Nedra's casual attitude toward clothing, and her deliberate conquest of Garion. Later, the sly comments about their married life.
-Vella's dancing
-Silk and Velvet: Pretty much their whole relationship.
Eddings makes a lot of sly and not particularly explicit comments about his character's relationships. As an adult, they appear amazingly discrete. As a rather sheltered 12 year old, they bothered me a little. I wouldn't have brought it up, except I know Belle's daughter is even more disturbed by these things than I was.
A sixteen year old should be fine. They'll see and hear much worse walking the halls of their high school.
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blacwolve, she's about to be 14 and has read stuff I think is worse than what is in the Belgariad. We DO talk about such things, for example there is a sexual lesbian relationship in Tamora Pierce's The Will of the Empress that we've both read and talked about. I think she'll be okay, but thanks for reminding me - that's always good information to bring up and I had forgotten about some of it. Posts: 14428 | Registered: Aug 2001
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After I posted that I wondered whether I'd lost a year somewhere. Apparently I did.
I just remembered she was uncomfortable with Tamora Pierce, and thought it might be worth bringing up.
I didn't mean to imply you didn't talk about things, I know you do, I just wanted to mention that there are some things that might bear talking about.
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quote:Originally posted by Belle: blacwolve, she's about to be 14 and has read stuff I think is worse than what is in the Belgariad. We DO talk about such things, for example there is a sexual lesbian relationship in Tamora Pierce's The Will of the Empress that we've both read and talked about. I think she'll be okay, but thanks for reminding me - that's always good information to bring up and I had forgotten about some of it.
Really? I'll have to check that book out.
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Lisa- Tamora Pierce is one of my favorite authors and I love how she handles homosexuality in that book. You definately should.
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I like the characters and the relationships Edding's creates, that is why you read book after book. It is not for the plot which moves from point to point like a computer generated dungeon.
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Rereading the Mallorean now, after reading the entire Belgariad over a two day period when the power was out. It's like spending time with an old friend.
I've been trying to convince my 13 year old son he'd like it, but I don't think he will actually read them until I capitulate to his urgings to read Eragon.
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The Elumni and Tel... have some interesting bits in them that are quite different that the Belgariad. Some of the quotes stay with me, but not exact like a Serenity quote:
"Ohh Skulking. I haven't skulked in a long time. Can I skulk? Can I?" Something like this coming out of the mouth of an old squire in full armor was quite amusing.
There is another quote about language that has stayed with me almost. The idea is there, but I don't remember the exact words. I'm changing the countries spoken about to avoid spoilers, or because I don't remember them either.
"The French aren't really dumber than we are. Its the language thing. They take up too much of their brains translating the thoughts, which are naturally in English, into their stupid French language. Why do they do that?"
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I really enjoyed the Elenium and Tamuli, though they are quite similar in concept to the Belgarath books. The dialogue is different enough, and the plot different enough. I even enjoyed the stand-alone Redemption of Althalus quite a bit. I'm still struggling through the Dreamers set, and it'll only be out of affection for the other books that I finish them.
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