Polgara the Sorceress - David Eddings

There’s something I don’t fully understand. You’ve written a hugely successful series of fantasy books. (Well, you’ve actually written four, but let’s not worry about the other three right now). You’ve written a prequel to one of these series. That’s fine with me, so far, even if the prequel was a little limiting. The bit I don’t get is this – why do you need a second prequel? The “show me the money” bit from “Jerry Maguire” is running through my head for some reason. Buying this book is a little like putting “go faster” stripes on a 1.0 litre Metro City. Sure, it ...  Read the complete review

Together with 'Belgarath the Sorcerer', this novel forms the prequel to ten novels known collectively as the Belgariad and the Malloreon. Right there, you can see an ambitious undertaking - twelve novels forming one giant series. Well, not to worry. David Eddings carries a familiar theme throughout all his novels (or should we say his wife's novels, as he's lately taken to crediting her as a co-author) so once you've read one, you've read them all. The eternal Belgarion/Sparhawk/Athalus central character is nearly always present to plague readers with familiar overwraught plot holes. Fortunately, 'Polgara the Sorceress' sees the emphasis ...  Read the complete review

Polgara, Daughter of Belgarath. Sorceress, dutchess, Beauty and downright furious. To explain, let me introduce the story - just the beginning. Belgarath, Polgara's father, was forced, more or less, to write, basically, a history of the world. Or, in other words, his lifes story. And, to quote Polgara, he's "an expert in starting a job and getting somebody else to finish it for him!". Belgarath has left his story full of holes - and questions about what Polgara was doing from time to time, which basically forces Ce'Nedra to come and demand the rest of the story. So, from before her birth, through her early years, the marriage of her sister ...  Read the complete review

This is almost certainly the last entry in the Belgariad and Mallorean series, and tells the story of Polgara, from before her birth, until just before the start of the Belgariad. You might think this is familiar territory, already covered in Belgarath the Sorcerer, but there is actually a lot in here that we haven't seen before. There are two areas that are almost entirely new here. The first is something of a side issue as far as the main plot is concerned, and tells of Polgara's ultimatly futile attempts to end the Arendish civil wars by helping the Wacite Arends, the most civilised of the Arends. While this has little impact on the overall ...  Read the complete review

Polgara the Sorceress is undoubtedly one of the best books written by David and Leigh Eddings and probably deserves pride of place in anyone's fantasy collection. The scripting throughout the book is very accurate but that is not unexpected from the Eddingses who have built up a huge dossier of information on their universe and even released as a book. Polgara character was a good choice as she is undoubtedly one of the most powerful women in this universe and her description of events and the conflict between herself and her father is nothing short of enjoyable. I am very much in favour of this first person method of writing as I feel it ...  Read the complete review