Eddings' Eternal Cash Cow (Polgara the Sorceress - David Eddings)

Member Name: campb3ll

Product:	Polgara the Sorceress - David Eddings
Date:	15/01/02 (66 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Gentle, flowing prose lulls you through the novel

Disadvantages: Eventually you realise the story is a tad too familiar, You have to read the other novels in the series first

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 shift - for one time only - to the title character, Polgara, who is slightly more approachable and less hackeyed.

Polgara is a beautiful, powerful sorceress who, in addition to being magically gifted, is also apparently immortal. This seems to immediately call for (a) a suspension of belief in reality and (b) feverish reading of the other eleven novels to catch up on the storyline.

An obviously tacked on prologue and conclusion sandwiches in a condensed history of Polgara's life to date. From her earliest years (starting ambitiously in the womb) through her rebellious teens to her adulthood and ... through her lengthy extended adulthood. Fans may be pleased to read the missing background to the Belgariad and the Malloreon (as already told in 'Belgarath the Sorcerer') from a new perspective. The gentle, flowing tide of prose will sweep readers from Polgara's idyllic childhood with twin sister Beldaran to her initial discovery that she can do magic, from her beloved twin's death to her increased dabblings in politics, from her ...

Well, I simply can't keep up this sham any longer. 'Polgara the Sorceress' really is just a dull monotonous volume of twee cliched events. Moreover, try as you may, it is impossible to read it without having previously
indulged in wading through its eleven companions. The other eleven novels are the only things that bring a little colour to the monotone world of 'Polgara the Sorceress', inviting you to say 'Ooh, that ties in with novel four of the Belgariad and novel five of the Malloreon' rather than simply yawning all the way through.

I am perfectly aware that I will be offending vast legions of Eddings fans but at least I'll be saving a few newbies from swearing off reading any of his works ever again. Eddings has written some good stuff in the past; the Elenium and the Malloreon are not too shabby at all. However, even the best author in the world can't keep milking the cash cow forever. (NB: Christopher Tolkien - take note.) Readers are intelligent enough to notice when the same characters and the same storylines are being continually recycled, with the only token difference being a price hike. Sorry folks, but this is one for the fans only - or possibly die hard fantasy addicts.

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