Tag Archives: YA fantasy series review

Book Review: Enchanter’s End Game by David Eddings

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We made it all the way to the end of the five book series, The Belgariad, by David Eddings. Woot! Congratulation are in order. I’m finding myself a donut. The last book, Enchanter’s End Game brings us to the end of Garion’s story arc and ties up all the loose ends, just as it’s supposed to. I still stand by my initial feeling that the majority of this book could have very well been included into the end of Castle of Wizardry, but the publisher probably argued that it would have made that book too long.

If you want to check out my reviews on the first four books in the series, here are some handy links:

The Story

We began the Belgariad by learning that the Orb of Aldur, a magical item created by one of the pantheon of gods in this universe, had been stolen. At book three, the orb is successfully recovered. In book four, it is restored to it’s rightful place. Now, in book five, the one who was behind the plot to steal it must be confronted and receive an appropriate consequence.

And … this is where the weird starts happening. Not that what has happened earlier in the story wasn’t unique in itself, but this is a bit weirder than usual. The overarching villain of this entire saga is none other than Torak, the god of the Angarak people. Torak, being a god, knows of Garion’s destiny and wants to thwart it. Instead of just killing him, Torak tries to make a deal.

It seems one of the Mallorian Prophecies marks his Aunt Pol as Torak’s fiancé. I told you this got a little weird. Torak wants to marry Pol and have Garion accept him as a father.

Hmmm . . . where have we heard this story line before?

There is a bunch of sneaking and fighting. The party gets captured by the mini boss, Zedar who delivers them to Torak. Torak uses mind control to get Pol to do what he wants. Garion uses magic to protect her. More fighting and all the feels happen as everyone tries to make it out of this story alive.

As this is the final book in the series, there is a rather lengthy post victory sequence where everyone gets what they want.

My Review

It’s always a little bittersweet to get to the end of a story and know that every battle, fight, and conflict must lead to something final. For me, the best part of a long series is watching characters grow into themselves and realize what kind of role they need to play. The journey is more interesting than the destination.

That said, there are some really nice moments in this book where these characters who have been through so much finally get what they deserve. Hard earned happiness is the best way to send a main character off into the sunset, and our motley crew of misfits each get a nice ending.

While I personally don’t ever want an exciting story to end, this one does end and Eddings makes it a good one. The series was so successful, that Eddings went on to expand this universe and the timeline, creating another five book series, the Malloreon, as well as three stand alone books.

Recommendations

The Belgariad is a must read for fantasy enthusiasts, especially those who want to dive into the roots of modern fantasy and see where different ideas and concepts took root. Critics claim that it was the Belgariad that breathed new life into the fantasy genre when many started to turn away.

It’s clean, fun, full of adventure, and good for everyone ages 12 and up.

I rate Enchanter’s End Game 4/5 for being a solid conclusion to a great story, even though the post climax material did feel a bit long.

I rate The Belgariad 5/5 for being an awesome, well paced, fantasy.

Thank you for joining me as I reviewed Enchanter’s End Game today on the blog. If you enjoyed reading this review and would like to see more, please consider connecting with me by either following the blog here on WordPress, liking my Facebook page, or subscribing to my newsletter. As an added bonus, newsletter subscribers receive free books, stories, and special offers every week.

Book Review: Castle of Wizardry by David Eddings

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We are four weeks into exploring the Belgariad and are now diving into the fourth book, Castle Wizardry by David Eddings. True to the hero’s journey, now that we’ve passed the half way mark in this five book series, the main character Garion must take charge of his destiny and start making decisions that matter.

If you want to check out my reviews on the first three books in the series, here are some handy links:

The Story

Our noble party has finally recovered the Orb at the end of the previous book, Magician’s Gambit. Yay! Their goal is to now deliver it safely back to its rightful place and ensure it remains in the right hands. Garion finally gets to lead the party, mostly because Pol and Belgarath both were incapacitated, as they work their way closer to the mythical Isle of the Winds.

Common to many long form stories, the Belgariad has a number of prophecies running about the edges that bring extra significance to events. In Castle of Wizardry, we see the culmination of a handful of these prophecies, namely, what Garion is destined to become. There was a reason he’d been brought up by a sorceress who pretended she was his aunt – he needed protecting because of his bloodline.

Also, in another twist, the same prophecy that reveals who Garion really is also spells out who he is meant to marry – someone who just happens to be traveling with them. She’s understandably enraged.

And because all good things come in threes, there is a third prophecy that Garion deciphers after the betrothal that says if he is “the special one” then he must also kill the Really Bad Guy or die himself. The story ends with Garion heading off toward his destiny to die or kill the bad guy, while his betrothed borrows a page from Tolkien and raises an army to distract the bad guy’s army and allow Garion’s safe passage.

My Review

It’s at this point in any long story where the reader can fully get behind the main character and what they are setting out to accomplish. All along the way we’d collected breadcrumbs and clues so when the prophecies started being fulfilled the resulting reveals didn’t come across as a huge surprise.

There is one super charming element I neglected to mention earlier, and that’s the character of Errand – a small boy who, through his absolute innocence, can handle the Orb of Aldur safely. Up to this point, the ensemble cast has been killing themselves to first find this Orb, then restore it to its rightful place. When they finally get it, they must take Errand as well, as none of them can handle it safely. Errand spends the entire book trying to give the Orb to anyone who will take it despite the casts efforts to tie, lock, and seal the Orb into its carrying pouch to keep him from doing it. In a story of good vs evil and light vs dark, it was nice to have this darling little boy keeping things from becoming too grim.

Where the past three books were spent exploring the nature of magic, Garion’s coming of age, as well as most of the map, it’s in Castle of Wizardry where we see a culmination of a whole lot of promises. We finally understand Garion’s role in the world and what he’s meant to do. In fact, if it were not for the fact that he had yet to beat the bad guy, it would have been a great ending to the series to finish here.

Recommendations

This is a series. Start at the beginning and work your way to this point. No, really. The weight of all the stuff that happens in this book relies on the reader understanding everything it took to get there.

For you parents out there trying to decide is this is an appropriate read – it’s clean as is the rest of the series. I’d recommend it for ages 12 and up for the complexity and the intensity of some of the fight scenes.

I rate Castle of Wizardry 4/5 for being a solid fantasy that should have probably been limited to a four book series.

Go here for the review of the last book in the series, Enchanter’s End Game.

Thank you for joining me as I reviewed Castle of Wizardry today on the blog. If you enjoyed reading this review and would like to see more, please consider connecting with me by either following the blog here on WordPress, liking my Facebook page, or subscribing to my newsletter. As an added bonus, newsletter subscribers receive free books, stories, and special offers every week.

Book Review: Queen of Sorcery by David Eddings

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As with most multibook series, the middle few books tend to do more than their fair share of escalating the stakes as they approach a much bigger problem, without actually facing that problem head on. Queen of Sorcery is a fun romp through all the many lands that make up Garion’s world as they come closer to recovering the legendary orb. If you missed the review of book one, click here.

The Story

Garion is no longer a naive teenager. Yay. He’s now a somewhat naive young man with a lot to prove, and not a lot of experience to draw on. So, it makes total sense for him kick off the story in a duel and then go on to try to break up an assassination attempt of neighboring duchy’s king.

They go on to travel all sorts of places following more clues to find the orb, and end up in the middle of political intrigue after political intrigue. During one of these intrigues, the Princess Ce’Nedra disguises herself and joins their party.

Throughout the story, Garion is starting to learn how to use the Will and the Word, the magic system of the universe shared by Belgarath, Polgara, and the other sorcerers. Like I said before, he’s still a bit naive and when he tries to use this magic it only causes more problems.

They encounter dryads, snake people, and a man who can change into a bear.

My Review

There are certain expectations when it comes to fantasy titles, and for Queen of Sorcery, it feels like Eddings is going through a checklist to see if he can get them all. Magic, check. People who transform into animals, check. Kings and political intrigues, check. Lands and kingdoms with wholly unique qualities to themselves, check. A stolen princess in disguise, check. A large wandering party composed of people all with varying unique skills, check. Lots of tavern meetings, check. Swords, check.

That said, it’s still a very enjoyable book. The characters are entertaining, especially Ce’Nedra, who has always been a favorite of mine. There’s a whole boob armor scene somewhere in the series where she complains about her armor not being flattering enough and wanting it to show that she indeed is a woman.

Eddings doesn’t pull back from making life hard for Garion either. The poor kid really can’t catch a break.

Recommendations

These books are perfect for the young adult fantasy reader. There’s adventure, danger, humor, and magic to keep things entertaining and nothing I would consider objectionable.

I give Queen of Sorcery 4/5 for not giving us a strong villain to contend with directly.

For the review of the next books in the series, here are some handy links:

Thank you for joining me as I reviewed Queen of Sorcery today on the blog. If you enjoyed reading this review and would like to see more, please consider connecting with me by either following the blog here on WordPress, liking my Facebook page, or subscribing to my newsletter. As an added bonus, newsletter subscribers receive free books, stories, and special offers every week.