Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I'll tell you why David Eddings' Belgariad and Malloreon series are among the best in fantasy. THEY END. Both series are confined to five books: they have distinct beginnings, expansive middles, and satisfying conclusions. This may sound like an odd thing to praise, but anybody who has waded into (and become hopelessly mired in) Robert Jordan's "Wheel of Time" or Terry Goodkind's "Wizards First Rule" series will know exactly what I'm talking about. Tolkien didn't make us slog through - and this is quite literal, in Jordan's case - tens of thousands of pages of pointless verbosity before bringing his opus to a rousing crescendo, and Eddings...though certainly no master like Tolkien...gives us the same courtesy. Aside from this most appreciated of gifts, Eddings is also an imaginative and engaging author. Terry Brooks' "Shannara" series, for example, was a barely, thinly, poorly veiled ripoff of Tolkien. Jordan's glacial repetitiveness has caused his once-promising series to run completely out of steam. Goodkind has the same problem. But Eddings keeps things fresh. He also writes some of the most engaging and multi-dimensional characters in fantasy. He writes real growth and dotes loving care on his characters: the changes they undergo through the course of the ten novels of the Belgariad and the Malloreon are believable, understandable, acceptable, rather than visceral and awkward (Terry Goodkind, take note). All too often, fantasy is given short shrift in serious literary circles. It would do well to remember how much utter trash there is across ALL genres of fiction, not just fantasy, and to accept Eddings' for what he is: a talented and engaging writer. Give these a try.