"The Belgariad" is an epic novel written by the late David Eddings that details the life of a common young boy named Garion, who lives on a huge farm with his Aunt Pol. Little does he know, Garion is the latest descendant of an extremely long line of kings kept hidden by his aunt, whose name is really Polgara, a 3000-year-old sorceress. Garion is a part of a prophecy that has been shaping the world of "The Belgariad" for eons for a singular purpose, which is resolved in its sequel, "The Malloreon." Garion is destined to fix an accident that happened during the early formation of the universe. This accident caused the universe to split into two possibilities, each with their own unique awareness, and his task is to be the vessel of one the possibilities and combat the vessel of the other possibility, the maimed God Torak.
Many book reviews have said that "The Belgariad" is the typical modern day fantasy novel, and it is often compared to the "The Lord of the Rings" franchise, by J.R.R Tolkien. However, "The Belgariad" is anything but. Besides the fact that the way the novel is written is much more similar to Arthurian legends than to Tolkien’s novel, Eddings wrote "The Belgariad" with a much more robust theological background. Throughout this series, Eddings has created a beautiful creation myth, an interesting pantheon, and all the aspects of a real-world religion within the novel. Not only that, but rather than defining the various sorcerers’, Gods’, and priest’s supernatural abilities as “magic," he defines their abilities in real-world terms and even in terms of physics. In some ways, it can be seen that Eddings wrote this series by envisioning how magic, religion, and divinity intertwine, as well as how they can operate in real-world terms.
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I have been reading this series since I was 13 years old, and I continue to read the series over and over to this day. Not only does Eddings heavily discuss the human condition (belief, denial, growing up, and purpose), but many of my beliefs that have defined my life are things I learned at least in part from the philosophy that Eddings created from "The Belgariad" and "Malloreon" series. As a writer, I hope to be able to write what I've learned from observing his unique style of blending esoteric philosophy along with plot in my own writing; it will most likely take me a while to be able to do it at the level of complexity that Eddings was able to.
From beginning to end, the story of "The Belgariad" and its sequels have always captivated me. I originally bought the novel as a child. I don’t know what my initial motivation was, but I continue to read them and gain new insights to this day. There have been few novels that I've read continuously to learn from. I would love to be able to have the same effect with my writing one day.
Eddings has passed on, but if I could write to him as I have other writers, I would ask him what motivated him to write several characters in the way he did. Did he envision certain characters to have traits that they seem to have in the novel, such as several characters who seem homosexual? I would ask him for his take on the differences between his novels and the "Lord of the Rings" franchise, or other novels of the same genre that his is compared to. Most importantly, I would ask him about his spiritual background. "The Belgariad" is rich in its undertaking of creating a fictional spirituality that, to me, can only come from a spiritual person. For anyone who is curious about Universal Principle and the nature of the universe, I would encourage them to read David Eddings’ "Belgariad," as well as its sequels.
