Although brimming with aspects of original high fantasy which make this a very enjoyable and swift read, there are a few issues with the speed at which characters emotions seem to change (Eddings is a fab of using as many adverbs as he can on a page) and the fact that nothing really happens.

3.5 stars

I almost didn't keep going after the preface because of all of the incredibly high-fantasy names of people and places, many of which sound similar: Belgarath, Beldaran, Belgarion, Beldurnik, Barak the Earl of Trellheim, Aldur, Polgara, King Anheg, Prince Kheldar of Drasnia, Geran & Garion to name a few.

I'm glad I kept going and will read on. I suppose an epic fantasy series has to have lots of funny names in it or geeks everywhere would be up in arms.

...well, not literally up arms. I mean, they probably wouldn't even leave the house. Sure, they might brood over which curse they would cast while holding a replica of Fragarach, Sting, or some other mythical blade while refueling their charm bracelet. ...but I think everything would be ok in the end.

4 stars. This was a slow start for me but I was enjoying it so much by the end that I immediately got the next one and started it.
It’s a classic epic fantasy take with all the trimmings.
So far so good.
I expect to read the trilogy.

A lot of people talk about the plot of this book being very predictable, and cookie cutter, which is true. As a YA/Middle grade fantasy, this aspect is totally acceptable, and though the tropes are there, they are done relatively well.

What is unforgivable is the significant amount of racist tropes, sexism, and rape apology in this book. While it maybe be a product of the time it was written in, it is still very important to be aware of before beginning this book/series.

Prose was decent, characters were meh to fine. Plot was interesting at times.

En voi pettää lapsuuden itseäni antamalla tälle tähtiä, koska joutuisin näin aikuisena antamaan niitä todella vähän.

Tämä oli ensimmäinen fantasiakirja jonka luin, ja ilmeisen toimiva porttihuume, koska tämän lukemista seurasi (edelleen jatkuva) intensiivinen suhde fantasiakirjallisuuteen, roolipelaamiseen ja nörttikulttuuriin. Näin aikuisena luettuna tämä on kömpelö, aivan jää-tä-vän seksistinen ja välillä lähes avoimen naisvihamielinen ja noh. Ei nyt vaan hyvä kirjasarja millään mittarilla.

Mutta kyllä mää silti välillä täällä kaikessa hiljaisuudessa silittelen tätä kirjaa, että kiitos kun ohjasit oikeaan suuntaan. Ja mitään en myönnä, mutta Silkki on yhä aika ihq ja kaiken seksismin keskellä on sentään majakkana myrskyssä Polgara, eli jotain hyvää on David Eddings antanut tälle maailmalle.

9-vuotias minä antaisi tälle 7/5 tähteä. (Eddings oli lempikirjailijani pidempään kuin mitä kehtaan myöntää.)
27-vuotias minä ei henno ottaa kantaa. (Ehkä kaksi tähteä, joista toinen on Polgaralle (ja ihan hiukan ehkä Silkille.))

I am a big fan of this series.

I'm on the fence with this one, between a 1 and a 2 star rating. I don't expect the actual craft of the writing to be good in this type of high fantasy novel, but still.

The actual story doesn't feel like it starts until 112 pages in. That's a huge problem. Especially in this case, where I always felt a few steps ahead of David Eddings—meaning there's little to no surprise while reading the entire book.

Call me overly sensitive, but I also found it problematic that all the western nations seemed default white and good, and the evil, exotic nations were all bad easterners. Characters casually talk about genocide and how they can't wait for it.

Again, I get that this is high fantasy, but there's just so little in this book to like, in my opinion. It's slow; the characters are bland; the plot barely goes anywhere; and the revelations are predictable and take too long. I swear, if I had to hear "NOT NOW GARION, YOU'LL LEARN MORE WHEN YOU'RE READY," one more time, I think I'd implode.

I WILL read the second book, though. This one felt like all setup for a bigger story. Which isn't okay—a book should be able to setup the bigger elements of the story while giving us a good story on its own. But my brother read this series when we were younger and I'm going to give it a chance.

I listened to this story as an audiobook a couple years ago now, and I found the story and world to be thoroughly entertaining, if a bit predictable. I always love a high fantasy world. A little dated in some aspects of description, but otherwise a fun adventure with a young protagonist who I felt was very relatable as he was thrust into a world far beyond the reaches of his simple life, and the people he thought he knew turned out to be completely different from who he expected.

While my enjoyment of the book was undeniable, I stopped from going further into the series due to what I later learned of the author's personal life. I am by no means discouraging those who want to read it from doing so, but I am not always able to easily separate art from the artist, especially when we know so much.