PAWN OF PROPHECY - DAVID EDDINGS

 PAWN OF PROPHECY

Pawn of Prophecy - David Eddings

- David Eddings -

This is the first book in the Belgariad series...and a good start! It gave me classic Fantasy Novel Syndrome (FNS for short). A disease that afflicts avid readers of fantasy books. Read on and I will explain...

This book has all the makings of a great Fantasy series:

First: a young boy/man who is starting to realize he is something special (possibly the person to save the entire world). 

Second: There is an older, all knowing, protective wizard who is looking over said world saver...and knows much more than is letting on.

Third: There is an adventure across a made up world full of magic, dwarves, elves, horses...things of that nature.

You can't beat the classic Fantasy adventure story. It's been done thousands of times before, and yet it still never seems to get boring. All we need is a magic ring or sword to top things off, right?

The Pawn of Prophecy was great. I whipped through this book in a day or two and liked reading it...however, looking back nothing really sticks out to me. No memorable incidents, no philosophical questions I still ponder...just a vague memory of a medieval world full of magic and the build up of much more come. I have the urge to find the next book in the series b/c I want to find out what will happen. So, that means the book must have been good. I sound like a bit of an idiot here, with no memory, and a vague picture of a made up map in my head, but that is just a clear case of Fantasy Novel Syndrome I call it. Happens all the time. 

I've already extrapolated what I think will happen in this story - it's not hard to do. But, it's the details that make the reading worthwhile. The details I'm finding a hard time remembering. I guess to me Fantasy Novel Syndrome is when I'm reading a book that takes me away and completely takes over my mind. It's enjoyable, it's time consuming, and leaves me feeling good...but it also only leaves a sort of blurred memory of the story I was reading. It doesn't really matter, most fantasy books are so similar that they all tend to blend together after reading them anyway. Another symptom of FNS.

I'd lump this book in with others like LOTR, The Sword of Shannara, Eragon, Donaldson's books...you know the type, just cruise down the Fantasy aisle at your local bookshop. These are the flint and spark that can light a case of FNS with just a few pages.

Well back to my hunt looking for book two.