Review: Pawn of Prophecy

Pawn of Prophecy by David Eddings

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



The rating should be 3.5 stars. I really started to enjoy the book towards the end and laughed out loud several times during the book. That counts for something, right?

Well, to get into my actual review, I started this series as a filler while I'm waiting to read Words of Radiance, The Doors of Stone and the next book of the Demon War cycle. It was really a toss-up between this and one of the more modern fantasy series I have lined up on my to-read list. Books like Joe Abercrombie's The First Law Trilogy.

I decided on The Belgariad because I'm still recovering from A Memory of Lightand I needed a new Heroic Fantasy series to fill the void A Wheel of Time has left in my reading life.

I've seen Brandon Sanderson name Eddings, and specifically the Belgariad, along with other YA fantasy titles. I'm not sure I agree with this categorization entirely, or otherwise YA fantasy seems to be right up my ally because I really enjoyed this book.

As I mentioned, there were great moments when "aunt Pol" actually made me laugh out loud at the way she dealt with some of the characters in the book. Garion's development as the main protagonist is slow, but interesting enough and progressing at a good pace. This is probably the most important part to me, as I really like the foreshadowing brought by prophecy, and the development of a hero/heroes/heroins. This is also the main reason for my enjoyment of the Wheel of Time. Robert Jordan was a master at foreshadowing and prophecy.

To be fair, the worldbuilding and mythology was fair. Not spectacular, but in line with what can be expected from this era of fantasy writing.

I'm looking forward to the next book in the Belgariad, and I hope this series can at least help me to recover in part from my Wheel of Time withdrawal symptoms.




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