The Belgariad by David Eddings

I think it’s true to say that the majority of people who enjoy(ed) The Belgariad series enjoy(ed) it as adolescents. I have a distinct memory of reading The Belgariad. My Dad had bought The Police album Ghost in the Machine for my Mum, she admitted to not being the biggest fan… so I pilfered it and devoured it, listening to it on repeat…

Soon enough I stumbled across Pawn of Prophecy on my Mum’s bookshelf. They merged together strangely. I had a CD Walkman and the disc was replayed so often whilst reading this book that the machine became so hot on my skin. I created a soundtrack out of the album for the characters in the book. 

I decided that Spirits In The Material World was the theme of Garion (the main character), Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic was the theme of Ce’Nedra (the main character’s love interest) and Invisible Sun was the theme of Asharak the Murgo and the sinister Grolim Priesthood (villains). Secret Journey was the travel music when the company was trekking across the lands of Edding’s creation (try this, it still works!). 

Many things that were once charming about The Belgariad became annoying upon a reread. I am an ardent defender of the series whilst also acknowledging its flaws. It’s a difficult thing to admit - being a massive fan of something that is objectively cliche, of-its-time and arguably tired. 

The plot is probably the thing which receives the most criticism. It’s about a farm-boy who meets an old wizard and goes on an adventure to defeat the dark lord with the help of some quirky companions, a magic sword is involved, grand scale war between kingdoms, prophecies, chosen ones, a romance with a princess and evil gods against wizards of light. 

I cannot defend the age-old cliche story that this series is and thankfully doesn’t try to hide being. 

At the point in my life where I fell in love with it, I liked the age-old cliche, I revelled in its grandeur. And I think a lot of how good you believe something is is all about the frame of mind you have before starting it. Were you young and impressionable? Were you really lusting for a fantasy series to whisk you away? Had you just finished reading another old 80s European Fantasyland series?

Upon a re-read the plot certainly felt worn. However, Eddings creates characters endearing enough that I was willing to go on the journey. 

The culture of the lands fit to stereotypes and quirks of individual characters, ones that Eddings establishes early. The Sendarians are sturdy and stubborn like Durnik the Smith, the Drasnians are sneaky like Silk the Rogue, the Murgos are scheming and greedy like Asharak, the Cherekians are fierce and barbaric like Barak the Barbarian, the Arends are proud and noble, etc. etc. 

The traits work for individual characters, but criticism argues not for whole nations. This trait carries over into the nations militaries, the Sendarians are farmers not great in war, the Cherekians are fierce infantry, the Drasnians sneaky scouts and spearmen, the Arends are proud, noble knights. It’s all seemingly too simple. The characters we meet early in the Pawn of Prophecy are proxies for how the nations are. 

I would argue however, that this simplicity works with the mythology. The people are a reflection of the gods that created them, and the characters are tokens of their land, prophets and agents of the gods whose wars they are fighting. Torak, god of the Murgos, is a scheming, greedy, evil god. Chaldar, god of the Arends, is a bull, proud and tradition bound. Belar, god of the Alorns (Cherek, Drasnia and Riva) is lusty and a feaster, a bear and a warrior, honourable yet tricksy. 

This mythology works for me. It’s a mish-mash of Roman/Greek/Norse - it feels like an old legend, just as the first scene of the book depicts. The tale is one of the mortals who represent their gods on Earth. The gods are patrons of the virtues and characteristics they possess, the characters we meet serve them, some indirectly and unknowingly. 

The best characters in this series are the wizards - Belgarath the Old Wolf and his daughter Polgara the Sorceress. Belgarath is an Odin parallel, similar in many ways to Gandalf the Grey from The Lord of the Rings. He wanders here and there, telling stories, recounting tales, scheming, being a sly trickster, whilst at the same time preparing the kingdoms for this mythologies version of Ragnarok, the war of the gods. He also checks up on our chosen one, Garion (the central protagonist). 

When we meet Belgarath in the Pawn of Prophecy we instantly like him, he is the antithesis to Aunt Pol (Polgara), Garion’s guardian. Garion takes a liking to the Old Wolf’s mischief, Aunt Pol warns against it, with her stern looks and her harsh words. But we like her too, because deep down we know her intentions, she truly cares for Garion and is like a mother to him. 

Although Belgarath is a trope, similar to Gandalf and Odin, Polgara is not. She stands out for me as the most interesting character, with a complex backstory involving a dead mother & dead sister, who she believes was better than her, who her father (Belgarath) loved more. Polgara is powerful (perhaps more powerful than Belgarath himself). She is stern but kind, seeking love but scared of commitment, mysterious and wise, damaged, yet stronger than anyone in the series. And she will protect Garion with everything she has, jealous that he’s not her biological child, but knowing that he is really her’s because she raised him. 

The relationship between Aunt Pol, Garion and Belgarath is the backbone of the series and it is superb. These are the characters we are first introduced to and the dynamic only grows more interesting the more trials they are put through. 

The other most interesting dynamic is between Polgara, Belgarath and the other sorcerers, both the Disciples of Aldur and the Grolim Hierarchs of Torak. We have Beldin the twisted and sly dwarf, Belgarath’s brother and Pol’s favourite uncle. He curses and juggles his way into our hearts, the only character who stands up to Belgarath, except Polgara. 

The three most interesting villain wizards are Ctuchik the Magician, Asharak the Murgo and Zedar the Apostate. 

Asharak is a shadowy figure at the edge of the horizon, haunting Garion’s dreams and seemingly responsible for “accidents” of his childhood, such as falling from a boat and nearly drowning. Asharak fears Polgara and won’t go closer to the farm where Garion is being raised, but is elusive enough to escape Belgarath’s grasp. He is built up as a fantastic nemesis and although the moment where he is defeated is very important to Garion, and a turning point in the series as a whole, I still felt a sense of anticlimax. I wanted this dreaming sorcerer on the outskirts to haunt Garion a bit further… but alas. 

Zedar the Apostate is a lost soul, a traitor to Aldur, a former disciple of Aldur like Belgarath and Beldin. He has become a disciple of Torak, attempting to steal the Orb of Aldur for him. Belgarath has a burning hatred for Zedar, as does Polgara, but she is a little more sympathetic towards him. Zedar is also elusive like Asharak and no true match in sorcery to Belgarath, but his duplicity and elusiveness make him interesting. He sets agents onto the company and the conclusive meeting between him and Belgarath is fantastic…

Asharak’s master is Ctutchik the wizard lord of the Cthol Murgos, and Torak’s First Disciple. 

Belgarath fears him and he fears Belgarath. The conflict between Belgarath and Ctutchik in The Magician’s Gambit is one of the best sequences in the whole series, a titanic duel of sorcerers that ends very satisfyingly. Ctuchik’s presence is felt throughout the series and his lair doesn’t disappoint, a manifestation of a depraved villain.

“The room at the top of the stairs was filled with horror. A rack stood in the center of it, and whips and flails hung on the walls. Cruel implements of gleaming steel lay in orderly rows on a table near the wall hooks, needle-pointed spikes, and dreadful things with saw-edges that still had bits of bone and flesh caught between their teeth. The entire room reeked of blood.”

The magic system is called “the Will and the Word”. Magic is inherent from the gods, and those with the Will say the Word and magic happens from their imagination. This creates a tension between the sorcerers, they don’t know who is more powerful, they are unsure of who can best who. It’s an interesting system and probably the first “magic system” I encountered as a reader. It was light enough to not be intrusive, yet unique enough to stick out. I’m not a fan of overly-explained magic systems. 

It took hold of my imagination and even bled into our early Dungeons & Dragons games, the special ones that didn’t follow the rules - the greater the Will of the wizard, the more powerful they could become. It gave room for Eddings to play around with the plot and of course at times feels contrived. When a wizard had spent energy using the Will it exhausted them, which was a nice touch. 

Some other unique world-building ideas captivated me, such as the cursed red Murgo gold, passed around by Grolim agents to taint others into greed. If a merchant was found to use it, they could be an agent of the Grolim priesthood! 

I also loved the idea that some gods lingered on the world, like the insane god Mara who constantly weeps for the massacre of his people, surrounded by ghosts. And Issa the Serpent God, who sleeps for centuries, hiding in a statue and inhabiting the immortal Queen of Nyssa Salmissra. The gods were not allowed to directly intervene and so their disciples and vestiges lingered. 

The exception was Torak, the primary antagonist, who is a dark evil lord in his dark evil mountain with his dark evil people. He reeks of cliche, but the ones I like (all down to taste see) from Norse/Greek/Roman myths. Torak feels ever-present throughout the series, as any dark-lord should, and his agents, as described above, have their own intricacies. 

There are many epic moments but very few twists and turns so ultimately the series ends where you think it would have after reading the opening pages. 

But I can’t deny its power! They are taut little books, never bloated and always focused on getting to the drama rather than taking us on side-missions. The journey is unfortunately one that shows off every country in the land for no particular reason, more like a geography trip than for any specific plot point (yes they are following the bad dude but he has no reason to go through all the lands the way he does). I think they visit every single country on the map except one in the span of 1500 pages or so. 

Art by Geoff Taylor

To summarise, The Belgariad has truly loveable characters, the mythology is interesting, the names and settings are trope-laden but memorable. It’s still one of my favourite fantasy series despite all the flaws. The Belgariad is bursting at the seams with classic imagery and characters that never leave you. 

It’s another classic, a staple for any fantasy fan, one that I’ll leave lying around inconspicuously for my Mum’s future grandkids to discover, just like she did for me. 

Best Book - Magicians Gambit (#3)

Review By Dominic Merrick