An Old Favourite

I mentioned in my last post that this one might be about my least favourite books, but I've decided that topic is simply too depressing for this early in my blogging life, so instead, I'm going to discuss one of my all-time favourite authors.The author in question is David Eddings.

I first read a book by David Eddings when I was in high school, and I was just hooked. He had a style of writing that really appealed to me (and still does). His books are fantasy books, written with a great deal of humour. I found the characters likable and believable, and cared about what happened to them. This is important to me as a reader. If I can't or don't relate to a character I'm unlikely to enjoy the book.

Eddings' books are set in a mythical world that can easily be related to our medieval world. He's a lot like Gay Gavriel Kay in that way. The characters live in castles or villages, dress in doublets and carry swords or rapiers. What can I say, the history teacher in me loves that. Of course, they also use magic and fight dragons, but that just adds interest to the stories. This is the one peeve I have with Eddings - each of his series follows a very similar plot line. There is a quest for a mysterious jewel of great mystical power, a child who may or may not be a god, and a couple who love each other deeply but do nothing but squabble. You do get a sense of what is going to happen, but it's like watching a movie you've seen before; it's an old friend.

The first series from David Eddings is The Belgariad. It is a series of five books which tells the story of Garion, a young man growing up on a farm with his Aunt Pol. One night he and his aunt steal away from the farm and go on a search for an item which has been stolen. Over the course of this search, Garion learns of his destiny. He is to face the evil god Torak and restore balance to the world.

After completing this series, Eddings wrote The Malloreon, which continues Garion's story. Eight years have passed since the ending of Enchanter's End Game, the final book of The Belgariad. In this new series, a new evil has risen in the land, and again, it is up to Garion and his friends to save the world.

After writing these ten books, Eddings went back and filled in some of the back story by writing Polgara the Sorceress and Belgarath the Sorcerer. These two books give the background to two of the major character of both The Belgariad and The Malloreon.

This group of novels was my favourite for a long time. I read his other books, but nothing rang quite so true as the twelve books dealing with Garion, Polgara and Belgarath. If you enjoy fantasy novels and haven't read anything by Eddings, I would really suggest beginning with Pawn of Prophecy, the first novel in The Belgariad.

I hope that I have piqued your interest, and you look for some of his works.

Getting Started

Well this is it - my first attempt at blogging. Let see how it goes. I've thought about starting a blog for quite some time, but always felt that I didn't have anything important enough to say. I think I've finally found something about which I can speak with some authority - what I'm reading. Yes, dear reader, I am going to discuss books I'm reading, books I've read, books I liked and books I hated. Perhaps I'll even get some suggestions.

So, what am I reading now? I'm reading The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown. How sad is that. My first blog entry will be about a Dan Brown book. I haven't finished the book yet, but so far I am finding it fairly cringeworthy. I am willing to give most books a chance, but this one is pretty bad. I can almost see Dan Brown sitting down to write his latest "thriller" with screenwriters at his shoulder. I'm confident that a movie will be made of this before too long.

I usually enjoy thrillers, but there is really nothing thrilling about The Lost Symbol. The plot twists can be seen coming from a mile away. I don't want to give anything away, because you may still want to read it, but I can't really say that there were any surprises. Robert Langdon receives a mysterious message, there is a damsel in distress, lots of mysterious symbols that only he can decipher, an insane and odd looking bad guy (this time he's tattooed instead of an albino), and a mysterious organization. If you've read The Da Vinci Code or Angels and Demons you've read The Lost Symbol.

On the upside, I'm thrilled to be reading this just before taking a trip to Washington. Reading about all the DC landmarks just a few weeks before visiting makes me want to go all the more. Reading about the Capital, whether the secret rooms exist or not, increases my excitement for going. The plot revolves around someone high up at the Smithsonian Institution, so it will mean even more when my darling husband I and get there. See, there's definitely a good part to reading The Lost Symbol. I doubt that I'll try to join the Eastern Star, but I will enjoy my trip to Washington.

Well, I think I will sign off now. I'm thinking my next post will be a list of my least favourite books.