Bit of Ivory

Now, I know that I just told everyone to go read all the Perry Mason
books, but I also need to put in a plug for David Eddings. Good stuff,
man. For all you fantasy fans out there who are dying until Harry
Potter 5 comes out, I heartily recommend David Eddings to help fill the
insaitiable need. The reason I like Eddings so much is that he’s FUNNY.
F-U-N-N-Y. Most of the High Fantasy, the Sword and Sorcery type, is dry
as dust. I mean, Tolkein is great, but his sense of humor leaves much
to be desired. That’s one reason I like Harry Potter so much– J.K.
Rowling has a great sense of humor:
“So, after that disgusting bit of cheating. . .”
“Jordan!”
“I mean, after that open and revolting foul . . .”
“Jordan, I’m warning you!”
“All right, all right. Flint nearly kills the Gryffindor Seeker, which
could happen to anyone I’m sure. . .”
–Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
Eddings has a similar sense of the ridiculous:
(Silk has just thrown Brill off the edge of a cliff.) “What was
that?” Belgarath asked, coming back around the corner. “Brill,” Silk
replied blandly, pulling his Murgo robe back on. “Again?”
Belgarath demanded with exasperation. “What was he doing this time?”
“Trying to fly, last time I saw him.” Silk smirked. The old man looked
puzzled. “He wasn’t doing it very well,” Silk added. Belgarath
shrugged. “Maybe it’ll come to him in time.” “He doesn’t really have
all that much time.” Silk glanced out over the edge. From far
below–terribly far below–there came a faint, muffled crash; then,
after several seconds, another. “Does bouncing count?” Silk asked.
Belgarath made a wry face. “Not really.” “Then I’d say he didn’t learn
in time,” Silk said blithely.
–Magician’s Gambit
The cycles I’ve read so far all deal with the same characters and
world, but he’s written others which I’ll be reading soon. Start out
with the 5-book Belgariad: Pawn of Prophecy, Queen of
Sorcery, Magician’s Gambit, Castle of Wizardry, and Enchanter’s
End Game, in that order. Next comes the 5-book Mallorean: Guardians
of the West, King of the Murgos, Demon Lord of Karanda, Sorceress of
Darshiva, and The Seeress of Kell. There are also two
sequels disguized as prequels: Belgarath the Sorcerer and Polgara
the Sorceress. Don’t make the mistake of reading those two before
the others, because they contain A LOT of spoilers. You also need to
read Belgarath before Polgara.
Really, and truly, read these books. They move kind of slowly, I’ll
grant you, but after all, Tolkien does too. If you like Tolkien and
Harry Potter, these books are a nice in-between. They’ve got all the
history (more than 7,000 years), mythology(seven Gods, two opposing
prophecies, fate of the universe in the hands of a single young man)
and depth of Tolkien, with the light-heartedness and true-to-life
characters of Rowling. And the best thing is, the series is FINISHED,
so you don’t have to wait for the next book to come out. That’s always
a happy thing.