Pawn of Prophecy

I was in the mood for classic high fantasy, and this book certainly captured that. It's a pretty straightforward quest story about a boy discovering his mysterious past and how the fate of the world hangs in the balance. It is very obviously the first of a trilogy, and as such primarily feels like exposition, but I think it will probably feel better as part of a whole rather than a stand alone. This book was written before 900 page fantasy novels were a norm, so I'll cut it some slack there. The series has been sitting on my shelf for a while in the “classics what I should have already read” section, so I'll likely finish it out.

It's been decades since I read this series. And I've been introduced to many, more recent, fantasy books. I have to say, this book stands up well today, not outdated or uninteresting to my tastes today. Good characters, the author doesn't veer off the storyline, and the pace keeps moving.

It's going back into my collection and not the repurpose box.

This is one of the first series as a teenager (2008) that I rented from my nearby library and was obsessed with. Life went on and I forgot about the series but never forgot the story. Finally, during 2020 shut down, I had time to get back into reading and hunted down this series based off of fickle memory and images I could recall in my head and googled the heck out of it. Finally, I found it and I reread this first book entirely and it was JUST as exciting as it was back then. Can't wait to continue the series again!

Classic. Read it about thirty years ago. Time to check it again

just to be clear, this is my twelve year old self rating this.

Food Rating: If Pawn of Prophecy were food, it would be the ultimate comfort meal of tomato soup and a grilled cheese sandwich on a cold day. Simple yet deeply satisfying, it’s a warm and familiar experience that wraps you in nostalgia. It might not be the most complex or innovative dish, but it delivers exactly what you need - a sense of security, adventure, and timeless charm. Perfect for when you want to escape into a classic, feel-good fantasy.

Revisiting Pawn of Prophecy feels like sinking into a warm, familiar chair—a journey back to a magical time that evokes the wonder and simplicity of youthful reading. Eddings masterfully crafts a quintessential fantasy world filled with charming archetypes, a rich sense of destiny, and the ever-reliable hero's journey. The book is undeniably comforting, akin to literary comfort food, as it wraps you in a narrative that balances humor, intrigue, and heart.

The tropes of prophecy, ancient magic, and a battle between good and evil are handled with warmth and a lighthearted touch, making this story an easy and enjoyable escape.

For readers who grew up with fantasy (like I did), Pawn of Prophecy is a nostalgic treasure and worthy reread, a reminder of why I fell in love with the genre in the first place. It’s not just a story; it’s a return to a time when adventures felt boundless and heroes were still finding their way. Whether you're discovering it for the first time or revisiting it after years, this book promises the kind of joy that only classic fantasy can provide.

By far one of my favourite books in the world. Usually I would hum and haw if someone asked my what my favourite anything is, like a song or movie, but if asked after my favourite book I will undoubtedly give them the name of this series. Having read it once a year since I was possibly 12 or 13, I do have quite the personal connection to it, but I genuinely believe that it doesn't influence my current opinion on it.

To begin with, the world building is absolutely astounding for the genre. Sure, it's simple, but isn't simplicity just the ultimate form of sophistication? It's clear-cut, it's defined, it's interesting and it's engaging. The different kingdoms and races are so different from each other, and so many things to love about the people, I feel like they're as real and recognisable as if they were in our own world. And on that note, the characters are incredibly vivid and loveable. Their relationships are evident through genuine writing, time and effort is put into illustrating their stories and characteristics. I feel like I'm in the same room as them, able to see them for all they are like I could any of my material friends.

Despite the series being a prophecy, chosen-one type trope, a trope that I would typically avoid, the plot is still grappling enough to keep you on board, and possibly engaging enough to illicit public emotion. I have often cried and laughed at chapters that I knew were coming, but couldn't help myself from feeling a genuine emotion towards these people of ink on paper. The prophecy trope might ruin a plot by making it far to easy to guess at, it might steal away the intrigue that a series of five would need, but Eddings managed to balance such a beautifully complex plot with this trope and make it work, keeping you lead on.

I could genuinely ramble and yap for hours about the series but have never found someone who has read it, even after my insistence. Sure, Eddings wasn't the best fellow around, but he won't be listening to my adoration.

Sometimes you just need a nice book to read. This is that book. Thoroughly recommended. Old-school fantasy without any grimness.

I thought it was a little slow at first, but once I got the characters figured out, I thought it picked up. I think the next one will be even better since this one seemed to set everything up. I love Garion and his “aunt”. I'm excited to see what happens in the next one.

Wikipedia defines GrimDark as something that is “particularly dystopian, amoral, or violent” and that's pretty much the definition of what I do not like in my fantasy books. When I read fantasy, I want the heroes to be good people at their core. I want a world that's essentially worth saving and not a dystopia that basically deserves going down the drain anyway and while violence is nothing I abhor, it's something that should be used sparingly and only if necessary for the story. Fortunately, “Pawn of Prophecy”, the first volume of “The Belgariad” is quite the opposite of GrimDark and pretty much exactly what I outlined above: Garion, a young farmhand, tutored by his “Aunt Pol” grows up on the farm of a modest, good-natured man who cares about his people. When strangers arrive at the farm, Pol and an elderly story-teller, “Mister Wolf”, come to the conclusion it's time to make a move of their own and so they leave with Garion and the local blacksmith to go on a dangerous trip through the land, searching for a dangerous ancient artefact and its thief. They're closely followed by their mysterious adversaries at each step... A lot of this book reminded me of Tolkien and I suspect Eddings was inspired by Lord of the Rings to some extent. The story, albeit simple so far, is original enough, though, to have kept me entertained throughout the entire about 80.000 words and I was actually surprised when I hit the end of the ebook edition I was reading. Of course, this being a somewhat simple story, there's no philosophical depth to be expected or huge new insights into life, the universe and everything to be gleaned but even simple truths are helping me feel “at home” in a book and in this particular case, I was captured by the very first paragraph of the first chapter already: “THE FIRST THING the boy Garion remembered was the kitchen at Faldor's farm. For all the rest of his life he had a special warm feeling for kitchens and those peculiar sounds and smells that seemed somehow to combine into a bustling seriousness that had to do with love and food and comfort and security and, above all, home. No matter how high Garion rose in life, he never forgot that all his memories began in that kitchen.” As everyone knows, the kitchen is the (secret) haven of any respectable home and the heart of every good party as well as the place where said party starts and ends. As such, it is only fitting for any respectable book to start right there! That and quite a bit of humour... “My Master wanted me to move a rock,” Wolf said. “He seemed to think that it was in his way. I tried to move it, but it was too heavy. After a while I got angry, and I told it to move. It did. I was a little surprised, but my Master didn't seem to think it so unusual.” ... are good enough for me to be happy. Anyway, depth and insights are not required for my personal taste in fantasy anyway, though, and so I enjoyed this book for what it was – an excellent start into a work of epic fantasy that's new to me. That said: Please excuse me while I start devouring the next book in the series... Blog Facebook Twitter Instagram

A teenager's dream
the world revolves around him
kings stroke his ego.

There's a chance that when this book was first written, it was original. But now, 33 years after it was first published, it's not. This is a good example of the things I hate in fantasy stories.

Farm boy with a mysterious DESTINY? Check.
Constant traveling for over half the book? Check.
First meet the main character when he is younger than ten? Check.
SECRETS? Check.
Secrets that aren't so secret to half-intelligent readers? Check
But that are major plot points? Check.
MC that has a ‘voice' talking to him inside his head? Check.
‘He can't do anything because he's a child'? Check.
‘They're controlling because they're adults'? Check.
Absolutely atrocious and self-absorbed main character? Check.

And no, being a teen doesn't excuse the last one. It might be realistic, but I do not enjoy reading it.

There were a few good things about this book. I liked the fact we had a group traveling together. Several of the characters were interesting. I liked Silk. (Seriously, probably the only character I can unequivocally say ‘I like' about.) Some of the plot was good. I like the idea of a slumbering evil. There's a supposedly mysterious prophecy floating around that seems totally obvious and I have mixed feelings about it.

After The Dreamers series and Pawn of Prophecy, I'm thinking Eddings just isn't the author for me.

A lot of people seem to regard this series as an old friend, but I come to it completely fresh, and after reading the first book I have mixed feelings about it.

On the one hand, it's a very standard fantasy that seems to have been created by reading Fantasy For Dummies and following the instructions. I don't specialize in fantasy and I've read only a limited amount of it; but, even so, nothing is very original or surprising about this one.

On the other hand, Eddings writes quite fluently and confidently, and the story makes pleasant light reading. If you want something to read on a journey, this would serve well.

I'd describe it as a book for adolescents that can also be read by adults. I don't think it's aimed directly at the adult reader. The central character is a boy of 14; the story hints that he has undiscovered powers. Well, if we find a 14-year-old boy as the central character of a fantasy series, and he turns out to have no special powers, that would be rather surprising, no?

Bear in mind that this book has a “to be continued” ending. If you want any real end of story, you have to buy more books.

Really good writing, but too slow for my taste. This book is as slow as The Wheel of Time, but the plot seems to be weaker.

About half way into the book and here the following is all that happens:

A young boy goes out into a journey with his aunt and some old storyteller/vagrant guy, both of which may be more then what they appear to be. They are both fleeing from some people and looking for something as well. They are also keeping some secret about the boy's true identity.

It is implied that the people that are looking for the boy, which is a whole race of them (race as in Men of the West from LotR) are known to serve this dark lord of evil, but they live among everyone else as if that is not a problem.

Neither here nor there. Too formulaic in its telling and plot. The only thing it does different is that it is short. The benchmark is always whether you will go on to read the second book. I guess this one fails that test.

Old school epic fantasy with the boy from the farm who is the only one who doesn't know that he is to save the world.