I was glad they started publishing this series with more than one book per volume. It is much better to have a few books lying around than ten unnecessary ones. This of course in the first of the combined format and includes Pawn of Prophecy, Queen of Sorcery and Magician's Gambit.

This, to be honest, is one of my favorite series, especially when you consider the next five books, after these first five which are the Melloreon which include an additional five books. A reviewer has already pointed out that one of the strong points of these two series is that they have a beginning and an end are not like the Wheel of Time which goes on and on and on and on.

The plot here has been addressed quite well in other reviews so I will not linger all that long on it. The book, and indeed the series, is a quest story, beginning with a small lad living on a farm in a distant land. You have your good guys, bad guys, magic swords, magic stones and a plethora of characters that become quite endearing quite quickly. One of the strongest parts of Eddings' writing is his humor. The banter between characters in this work is amusing at the very least. Yes, the plot is pretty simplistic to the ultra-sophisticated reader, but hey, sometimes a person just needs a good story to take their minds off things, i.e. escape. These books fit that need perfectly.

As I have pointed out in other reviews of this series, if you go through all ten books, and read quite closely, you will find error after error and inconsistency after inconsistency. That is part of the charm of these books! It does not really matter and does not hurt the story one bit. Finding these little quirks has become a bit of a hobby for me, one I delight in.

For a good simple read, a read that is fast (yes, these are page turners) and one that is simply fun, you could do worse.

Don Blankenship
The Ozarks

I absolutely loved this book. It's not perfect, I would actually prefer to rate it 4 1/2 stars, but since we can't do half stars I went with the 5-star ratting.

There are the common peculiarities of fanstasy here - the farm boy thrust onto a journey, the wizened old wizzard, the companions on a journey, etc. But they are done in a refreshing way, there are also many original elements thrown in, and the real stringth of Eddings is his wonderful dialogue.

I am entranced by these books. I've been reading fanstasy for 20+ years, and I've read so much that it's really surprising that until now I hadn't read Eddings' series. I'm enjoying them very much now though, and wishing I had tried them much earlier. Highly recomended.

I'm glad I found the "Belgariad" books. I used to like this kind of thing when I was younger but have not been able to tolerate much of the silliness. I am 59 years old. But these books have been very enjoyable, have engaged my imagination, have given me a sort of uplift that I was not expecting. The story is interesting, not boring. The plot is reasonable, not silly. The characters are believable, engaging. I'm so glad I found it.

Roger McCook

If what interests you is escapism with fascinating characters, these stories are an excellent past time. I recommend them to people of all age groups and can't wait to get my hands on the next series.

The Belgariad series by David Eddings is one of the most addictive series I have ever read. The characters and his world are fully developed, and there is a good spicing of humor mixed in with the suspense and horror. The characters are wonderful. Aunt Pol is a particular favorite. The massive series, which includes the Mallorean, reads quickly and is always a joy-much like comfort food, this is comfort reading.
By Verna McKinnon, author of "Gate of Souls, A familiar's Tale Book One."