Pawn of Prophecy - David Eddings
Book one in 'The Belgariad' series: 'Pawn of Prophecy'; 'Queen of Sorcery'; 'Magician's Gambit'; Castle of Wizardry'; 'Enchanter's End Game'.
I've heard of David Eddings before, but this is the first book of his I've ever read. Elise and I were looking for a new adventure or fantasy series to read, and a friend recommended this one. Having read it now, I would describe Pawn of Prophecy as a little bit like the first episode of a television series, rather than a stand alone book.
We are introduced to Garion, a boy growing up in a remote farm in Sendaria along with his aunt Pol. He seems relatively ordinary, or would do, except that we are given an extended historical prologue, outlining the history of this world and the five gods who exist within it, and also highlighting the history of a particular family tree, with which we immediately connect Aunt Pol, and thus Garion, with. As a result of this, the reader has far more of an idea of who Garion is than Garion does himself, with the book unfortunately taking a lot of time to let Garion in on the information. Garion is quite young, 12 for much of the story, and those people caring for him are seeking to shelter him from the burden of responsibility knowing the truth of his lineage would bring. This makes sense from a story point of view, but as the story is being told largely from Garion's perspective, the fact that we know more than he does led to a few moments where Elise and I got frustrated at the lack of 'development' of Garion's plot. "Why doesn't someone just tell him something?" was an occasional comment from one of us, even when we understood the logic in not telling him. By the end of the book, Garion has learned some information about his heritage, but it is also obvious that much is purposefully being held back for future instalments.
As any good 'first episode' should do, the main purpose of Pawn of Prophecy seems to be to introduce the characters. So although it could be argued there is not a lot of plot in this particular episode, we do understand our main party of characters fairly well by the end. Garion is young, eager to know more, and not quite ready to step into his destiny. Aunt Pol is protective of her nephew, and also powerful and mysterious. Mister Wolf, who may or may not be an ancient sorcerer, is a bit more easy going than Pol, but also wise and opinionated. Other characters include the sly yet friendly Silk, warrior Barak, and slightly lovelorn smith Durnik, each of whom gets moments to shine throughout the book. We are also introduced to the dangerous Angarak, who has a mysterious connection to Garion, and receive hints throughout of the larger overarching plot that will inevitably develop in later episodes. There is also more humour in the book than I anticipated.
Overall, Pawn of Prophecy does a good job at setting the scene for The Belgariad series as a whole, but because of its episodic structure, its a little hard for me to judge the book on its own merits. I am interested in seeing how the series develops, but I may have to reserve my judgment on whether the series has 'gripped' me until a few more episodes in.
Completed, with Elise, 27 March 2021.
(Elise Books)
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