Castle of Wizardry, By David Eddings
Rak Cthol is falling to pieces as a result of the tumultuous battle of Belgarath and Ctuchik. The Orb has been recovered along with it’s curious thief: a very small innocent boy. The company barely manages to escape being caught by Murgos and killed in cave-ins, but they make it to the bottom of the city and rescue the Marag woman who was trapped there. They now have to travel very quickly to make it to Riva by Erastide: unbeknownst to Garion he has an important appearance to make. For his part in this story is not yet finished, as much as he might want it to be. And Ce’Nedra also has a role to play, much to the dismay of her and Garion both.
The chase has ended, and more storyplots reign! New things are happening that have been built up to for the past three books that we finally get to see. I will now descend into specifics, because they are too much fun to skip over. You may scroll down to the next paragraph if you don’t want to find out. Most of us should have probably figured out that Garion was the last descendant of Riva a long time ago. Book one should have given it away pretty well, but finally Garion realizes it. I mean, even though he might have heard at one point that the line of Riva was marked with a silver circle on one palm he still hadn’t figured it out. Maybe Polgara kept close watch on him to make sure he never learned that. Maybe. But Garion is King of Riva and totally clueless about what to do. No wonder he runs away with Belgarath and Silk, even if it’s to eventually confront Torak in single combat. Choose the lesser of two evils, Garion. Ruling a kingdom, or fighting single handedly with a god. Smart boy. But Ce’Nedra! She finally stops being quite as annoying as she was, and starts to realize that she is not the center of the world. Maturity is good for her, and makes me dislike her less.
Now that I have spent most of my review in spoilerific descriptions, I will attempt to close up with something generic and yet profound. Eddings has truly crafted a very good series. It is well written, interesting, funny, clever, and just a bit cliché. But if we look around that last point it’s really not all bad. Beside the fact that a somewhat normal person could see the plot coming from miles away, it’s often the exact journey the story takes that makes it a worthwhile book to read. I mean, hey, we can’t always have everything. An unforeseeable good plot combined with superb writing and good characters is very hard to find. Not many books fit that description. So I am perfectly content with a book that might be slightly predictable yet a true joy to read. So that is why I am still reading the Belgariad. Hint hint: you should start.
The chase has ended, and more storyplots reign! New things are happening that have been built up to for the past three books that we finally get to see. I will now descend into specifics, because they are too much fun to skip over. You may scroll down to the next paragraph if you don’t want to find out. Most of us should have probably figured out that Garion was the last descendant of Riva a long time ago. Book one should have given it away pretty well, but finally Garion realizes it. I mean, even though he might have heard at one point that the line of Riva was marked with a silver circle on one palm he still hadn’t figured it out. Maybe Polgara kept close watch on him to make sure he never learned that. Maybe. But Garion is King of Riva and totally clueless about what to do. No wonder he runs away with Belgarath and Silk, even if it’s to eventually confront Torak in single combat. Choose the lesser of two evils, Garion. Ruling a kingdom, or fighting single handedly with a god. Smart boy. But Ce’Nedra! She finally stops being quite as annoying as she was, and starts to realize that she is not the center of the world. Maturity is good for her, and makes me dislike her less.
Now that I have spent most of my review in spoilerific descriptions, I will attempt to close up with something generic and yet profound. Eddings has truly crafted a very good series. It is well written, interesting, funny, clever, and just a bit cliché. But if we look around that last point it’s really not all bad. Beside the fact that a somewhat normal person could see the plot coming from miles away, it’s often the exact journey the story takes that makes it a worthwhile book to read. I mean, hey, we can’t always have everything. An unforeseeable good plot combined with superb writing and good characters is very hard to find. Not many books fit that description. So I am perfectly content with a book that might be slightly predictable yet a true joy to read. So that is why I am still reading the Belgariad. Hint hint: you should start.
posted by Tai Schutz | Thursday, February 08, 2007
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