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| My interests are, among others: *reading (fantasy, novels, you name it!) *listening to music (Alanis Morrisette, No Doubt, classical music and more...) *just spending some time with my friends *watching horror movies In june, I'll finish the nine-year compulsory school and in august I will start attending an IB senior high school.
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David Eddings and his works
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| Introduction David Eddings is one of the most well known authors within the genre of fantasy. In his genial books, he creates a whole world right before the reader�s eyes. On another planet, in a universe far beyond ours, his world lives and prospers in the minds of the dedicated ones. Even though there is a distinct border between good and evil, that is the main thread through all the books, the heroes are not complete saints. They have all got their own personalities and talents. They have all got their flaws and deficiencies, which can however be overcome. Each and every one of the characters has his own part in the story and the plots back and forth. Short biography David Eddings was born in 1931 in Spokane, Washington. He grew up in the Puget sound area, north of Seattle. In 1954 he received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Reed College in Portland, Oregon. Seven years later, in 1961, he received a Master of Arts degree from the University of Washington. He has served in the U.S. army, he has been a buyer for Boeing Co., has been a grocery clerk and has taught English. Nowadays, Eddings and his wife and supportive writer, Leigh, live in Carson City, Nevada. His very first novel was �High hunt�, a contemporary adventure story. Yet, he could not publish it by then in lack of money. The first book published was instead �Pawn of prophecy�, the first book of the Belgariad. Bibliography The serial of Belgarion: Prequels Belgarath the sorcerer Polgara the sorceress The Belgariad Pawn of prophecy Queen of sorcery Magician�s gambit Castle of wizardry Enchanters� end game The Mallorean Guardians of the West King of the murgos Demon lord of Karanda Sorceress of Darshiva The seeress of Kell The serial of Sparhawk: The Elenium The diamond throne The ruby knight The sapphire rose The Tamuli Domes of fire The Shining Ones The Hidden City Other books by Eddings (not fantasy): High hunt The losers Summary of the books In the summary, I have decided not to include �High hunt�, �The losers� and the books about Sparhawk. Instead, I focus on the fantasy novels about Belgarion and his friends, which are the ones I like the most. Belgarath the sorcerer  This book is a prequel to the Belgariad. We learn more about Belgarath, the mighty sorcerer and first apprentice of the god Aldur, and his amazing life. The events described in the book took place long before Belgarion (former Garion), his wife Ce�Nedra and the others were even born. The story spans 7000 years, from Belgarath�s childhood until the moment where Garion, aunt Pol ( otherwise known as Polgara the sorceress, Belgarath�s daughter, and as well a disciple of Aldur�s), Durnik (a blacksmith and Polgara�s future husband) and Belgarath together leave Faldor�s farm and begin their long journey. Belgarath, at first called simply Garath, was born in the small village of Gara. He was from the very beginning an orphan, and his former name meant �from Gara�. The prefix �Bel� did he get first when he came to the Vale of Aldur and became Aldur�s disciple. He survived by the villagers� alms, and they offered him shelter in their barns. He was stealing from them too, but they connived at that. But when Garath was �caught in the barn� with a villager�s daughter, it had gone just a bit too far and he was driven away. A mysterious old man in a cart gave him a ride. The old man dropped Belgarath in the reign of Tolnedra. He found a village with exclusively old people. They seemed to die at a rapid currency, but there were no younger individuals to assure the survival of the clan. In the autumn, Belgarath ran off. The winter came, and he nearly starved and froze to death. But all of a sudden, he found the vale of Aldur the god, and his tower. His peculiar master gave him small assignments, such as chopping wood and sweeping the floor. Though, the fire in the fireplace seemed to burn without fuel and there was never a single grain of dust or sand on the floor. After a couple of years with successively heavier chores, Belgarath finally discovered the Will and the Word. The Will and the Word is a kind of incantation, where the sorcerer uses the forces of nature and focuses it on a specific target. But it is strictly limited, and to get to be a good sorcerer takes a lot of exercise and experience. Then, others arrived to the valley, and Belgarath got to train them all. Aldur had given a soul to a stone, and just by his gentle touch through millenniums, he had polished it into a jewel, glowing in brightest blue. This stone was created in good purposes, but if it would be abused, its powers would be able to tear Earth apart and destroy galaxies. Then Aldur�s brother Torak, a beautiful young god (gods have an age too, though it is not counted in years. There are, for example, infant gods), stole the Orb of Aldur. Torak found himself acutely threatened by armies, and in desperation, he tore the world asunder using the devastating powers of the Orb. Even if it was not a thinking creature, it got outrageous when it was used in evil purposes. Torak got severely burned, his left hand got totally turned into cinder, one side of his face got disfigured and his eye boiled in its orbit. Normally, a god does not get hurt, as humans do from time to time. Due to that, his body�s abilities to heal itself are not developed at all. The greedy god was therefor doomed to eternal pain and torment without relief. When the Dragon God tore the world, destiny was split in two prophecies, the prophecy of Darkness and the prophecy of Light. Repeatedly, the Child of Darkness and the Child of Light would meet in mortal, earth-trembling encounters, where it would be determined which prophecy would dominate the world until the next fight. In these meetings, there were always a choice, the choice of good and evil. It had to be made by an impartial person. All these events would finally lead to a final encounter, where the decision should be settled once and for all. In the world war that emerged after Torak tore the world asunder, his head was pierced by the sword of Riva Iron Grip, and he was thrown into lethargy. He was not to wake up until the next encounter between him and Belgarion, the Child of Light. Belgarath had to take the Orb back. On the journey he brought a king�s sons. After successfully recovering the Orb, Riva Iron Grip became the keeper of the precious jewel. He took it to the Isle of the Winds, where it was relatively safe. That was however not the end of it. All of a sudden, one generation of descendents of Riva was killed. Again, the Orb was in the hands of the enemy. A little boy, Geran, was the only survival. Polgara, Belgarath�s daughter, took care of him and generation after generation of boys, waiting for the final Child of Light to be born. He, who would hopefully end the miserable life of the Dragon God, reclaim the throne of Riva and reunite destiny. Polgara the sorceress In this book we see the same story as in �Belgarath the sorcerer�, only through the eyes of Polgara. Since this book is not available in Sweden (it was released in the U.K. just a year ago, in 1998), I have not read it just yet. Pawn of prophecy Garion lives on a farm in Sendar, a kingdom of the West. He is a practical, modest young boy, and he has no idea he is going to be the overlord of the West. One day his ordinary life gets turned upside down, and Garion is whisked away with aunt Pol (Polgara), mr. Wolf (Belgarath), and Durnik, a blacksmith. They are looking for the mysterious Orb of Aldur and its thief. Queen of sorcery The search for the Orb continues. The reluctant Garion thinks that he is not prepared yet to start his education in the Will and the Word. He changes his mind, though, when he faces the Torak priest Chamdar, the man who killed his parents. In rage, Garion uses his powers to destroy Chamdar, something he deeply regrets later on. After that, he decides to learn how to control his mighty gift. Magician�s gambit Garion finds out who aunt Pol and Mr. Wolf really are. He is getting better at utilizing the Will and the Word. He meets Ce�Nedra, the spoiled little half-dryad princess of Tolnedra, and finds that he is strangely attracted to her, in spite of their perpetual fights and teasing. The confrontation is getting nearer, and the mutilated god is writheing in his light sleep. Castle of wizardry hough the Orb has been regained, the dark prophecy is still struggling. They have to get out of Cthol Murgos with the Orb. The bloodthirsty grolim priests of Torak are hunting them and sharpening their oblation knives. Once an hour the priests sacrify someone and burn the person�s heart in a holy fire. Belgarion (formerly Garion) thinks that his work is complete, but there will be much more to it before he will be done. Enchanter�s end game Belgarion has been crowned as the Rivan king and Ce�Nedra and he have gotten married. But the prophecy has yet to be fulfilled. The evil god is awakening; Belgarion, Belgarath and Silk (one of their friends and fellow travelers) have to leave immediately to get to the City of Eternal Night in time. Ce�Nedra is raising a huge army to support her husband. Guardians of the West The prophecy is seemingly fulfilled. The child Errand lives in the Vale of Aldur with Polgara and her husband Durnik. Errand already shows deep wisdom and flashes of astonishing powers. Life has gone back to normal, king Belgarion and his little queen are living happily on the Isle of the Winds, trying to find a way to rule wisely. But the Orb is glowing dark red, and a premonition resounds in the throne room: �Beware Zandramas!� Nobody knows who or what Zandramaz is, but now they are all on their way to the final encounter at the Place That Is No More. King of the Murgos Geran, the beloved and eagerly awaited son of Belgarion and Ce�Nedra, is suddenly kidnapped from the Isle of Winds. Again, they are all thrown out on a search for the infant Geran and his mysterious kidnapper. He, or she, is as carefully as possible covering up every trail, and no one who has seen him/her is alive when the kidnapper has went on with Geran still in a firm grip. The faint, winding trail leads Belgarion and his friends through Nyissa, the land of the snake people, and Cthol Murgos. They all know that in the end, at the Place That Is No More, a horrifying danger must be met, and that one of them will die there� Demon lord of Karanda The search for little Geran goes on, but they are running short of time. They have to arrive at the Place That Is No More before Zandramas do with Geran, or they will lose the fight forever. Then their efforts, sacrifices and struggle during 7000 years will have been in vain. They become captives of Zakath, the emperor of Mallorea. He is friendly and treats them as his guests, but he will not let them go. Meanwhile they plan how to get out from Zakath�s palace, a terrible plague strike the city closing all traffic in or out. Zandramas is evoking hordes of demons, which ravage the cities Belgarion, Ce�Nedra and the others will have to go to before they can continue to the meeting place. Sorceress of Darshiva The difficulties and delays mount as Belgarion and his friends continue the chase. The Child of Darkness still has Geran, and she is always a step ahead of them. The unyielding Zakath�s gigantic armies are threatening on one side and the terrifying demon hordes on the other. Even worse, they still have no clue where the Place That Is No More might be. The seeress of Kell Now Belgarion�s party has to figure out where the secret meeting place is located, or they will not be able to get there in time. Only Cyradis, the seeress from Kell, can reveal it. To Zandramas Kell itself is closed since she is a former grolim priestess, but she uses her foul magic to attack the weakest link of Belgarion�s party, Ce�Nedra. The little queen is devastated with sorrow; her little son is gone and her very best friend has been stabbed to death right before Ce�Nedra�s eyes. Zandramas masters grolim magic, which mostly builds on affecting people�s minds in many cruel ways. She wrests the important information from Ce�Nedra by making her think that Zandramas is Arell and a bundle of lump is Ce�Nedra�s long lost little son. Will Polgara be able to cure Ce�Nedra, and will they be at the Place That Is No More in time? This is the Rivan family tree, as far as it is known. It encompasses many of the main characters, such as Belgarath, Poledra, Ce�Nedra and Belgarion. The dotted lines indicate that there are generations missing (they are not mentioned in the books). In the Rivan Codex (coming out soon) there might be some further information on these �missing links�. Names in bold indicate major characters.
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