[polishgenius]

Bollocks. I had a nice long rant written out about how the first four series are a gradually declining line in inoffensive entry-level stuff like everyone else says (the Belgariad in particular, despite being hard to read now due to rather twee prose, containing more solid character relations than the unrelentingly flippant dialogue shows at first glimpse). Then Althalus ruined it with crap versions of previous characters and logic-gaps you could hurl a Battlestar through, which considering Edding's rather flimsy world-logic was criminal. But I pressed the back button by accident and deleted it all.
The Dreamers is even worse. The Crystal Gorge is the worst book I've ever attempted to read - it's the only thing I've ever found genuinely unreadable, as opposed to difficult, or annoying. I had to stop after a chapter.

I do think it's rather harsh of Cougar to hold Eddings and Feist in the same category. Sure Feist has his bad books and some slightly clunky prose, but at his best he also has a complexity a level above, an imagination Eddings can't even conceive of and some moments, particularly in Magician but peppered through most of his books that I've read, that remain among the most magical in fantasy.
Mind, I skimmed his latest in the shop the other day and glancing at the end, the event happening was possibly the bravest storytelling choice I've read by a long-series fantasy author but the writing was utterly dire. So he's a bit inconsistent.

[Slum]

@polishgenius - Feist ain't bad, per say... But he likes the 'Young Man on a Quest' scenario too much for his own good.

[Kalahinen]

Abyss;280355 said:

- Abyss, did, however, think Silk was one of the greatest characters ever.

Among me and my brothers Silk was the favourite character from Eddings too.

[polishgenius]

True, but unlike Eddings he's been known to deviate. Magician and the Empire trilogy are a level above that archetype.

I made an argument for why I think Magician deserves recognition for being one of the prime fore-runners of aSoIaF on another board I post on recently, if anyone cares I might repost it here. Just because.

[RodeoRanch]

Repost! I've always enjoyed the first Feist books.

[Optimus Prime]

The first Feist series is enjoyable...after that...it's just the same old plot over and over again...Pug saves the world...blah blah blah.

Silk was an awesome character.....the world Eddings created was just too....lame.

@Abyss, ditto on the Althalus eye bleeding...ugh

[Raymond Luxury Yacht]

Silk was the man. Beldin was also fun in an over the top demented sort of way.

[polishgenius]

RodeoRanch;280632 said:

Repost! I've always enjoyed the first Feist books.

polishgenius said:

Turn The Kingdom on it's side and stretch it out, and you basically have Westeros. Right down to the people - the Starks are very similar to the ConDoins, and are also posted at the farthest harsh outpost from the capital, and the people become more corrupt as you get closer to the center of power.
Also the political machinations, although more explicit in aSoIaF, are there in Magician.

There's also the fact (this observation I believe I appropriated from Wert, but have it anyway) there's no explicit badguy. The closest we have is that Baron or whatever his name is, and let's face it, why is what he does so different to what the Crydee folk do? They're both after the throne coz they think they're the best for it.

Even in the rather more cliche immediate sequels, the Enemy isn't really evil, rather very alien and very insane, but really just trying to get back home.

[Tiste Simeon]

Aye I like Silk, although having just reread ASOIAF I can see clear Silk influence in Littlefinger.

Althalus was just awful. I know everyone has said it, but I read it thinking "isn't this exactly the same thing as everything he has done but not as good?" Ugh. Read it once, and never again...

Did anyone ever read his non-fantasy stuff? "High Hunt" "The Losers" and "Regina's Song"? I thought High Hunt was boring, the Losers wasn't actually bad, and Regina's Song (if that was what it was called... don't actually remember... ) I quite liked. Though that could have been because I read it at the time I was getting into "Metropolis Part 2: Scenes from a Memory" by Dream Theater, and for some reason the two went very well together... Odd...

[Macros]

Who lumped fiest in with eddings?
shame on you, yes his latest offering are dirge but magician is still one of my favourite books ever, and the empire tirlogy is fantastic.

[Kalahinen]

I too enjoyed Feist's Magician -trilogy, and I was already in highschool when reading them. Nice and easy reading they made. Of course that I read them in English might have made them somewhat better for me.

[Gem Windcaster]

Raymond Luxury Yacht;280684 said:

Silk was the man. Beldin was also fun in an over the top demented sort of way.

Indeed, after Silk Beldin is a close second.

[Raymond Luxury Yacht]

Gem Windcaster;281016 said:

Indeed, after Silk Beldin is a close second.

~Luxury Yacht, produces a white-hot hook from out of nowhere and waves it menacingly around.

[RodeoRanch]

I liked Belgarath. He had some good lines that make me chuckle.

[Raymond Luxury Yacht]

True, but he was more stereotypical than Beldin.

I always thought Beldin's name was a mistake by Eddings. Remember how Bel was a prefix added to their names when they became sorcerers? Garath became Belgarath, Garion became Belgarion. This means that Beldin's name was originally Din. Riiiiiight.

[Salt-Man Z]

Gah. I just read The Belgariad for the first time ever -- prior to my current reread of MBotF -- at my wife's insistence. I pretty much could not stand it, but -- surprise! -- I'm 29 years old. Now my wife's whole family thinks I'm crazy that I don't like Eddings, and when I responded with "Maybe I would have liked it if I was 12" they were flabbergasted.

Besides Tolkein, who I read in 5th grade, I never really got into reading fantasy until after college. And then I chanced upon Donaldson's two Covenant trilogies on clearance at Half-Price Books and gave them a shot. So that pretty much explains everything right there: When Donaldson is your entry point into the fantasy genre (and I loved Donaldson from the get-go) the bulk of the books out there are going to leave you disappointed. I did read Feist's Magician (again at my wife's recommendation) and found very little to like about. (Oh, look, it's Middle-Earth Elves and Dwarves. How interesting.)

Back to The Belgariad, about the only characters I liked were Silk and Mandorallen. I absolutely hated Polgara, and even Belgarath irritaed me. (And it always pissed me off that Eddings never had the cajones to kill any of them off, either.)

[Abyss]

Salt-Man Z;281209 said:

...And it always pissed me off that Eddings
never had the cajones to kill any of them off, either.)

Oh, c'mon, Dave killled oodles of important characters, like Random Boyhood Friend #2, Mostly Unseen Ancestoral Enemy #4, Mutesidekick whodoesn'tdoanythingguy, and King NotSeenBeforeHeWasKilled #3.

And despite his being identified as The Man With Two Lives halfway thru book three, I, for one, was shocked, SHOCKED, when Durnik (sp) bought it in book five. For about six pages or so.


- Abyss, ...and what about all those poor murgos!!!

[Raymond Luxury Yacht]

Abyss;281218 said:

- Abyss, ...and what about all those poor murgos!!!

~Luxury Yacht, sharpening his saber while gazing hatefully at the horizon, thinking of the one thing that gives him solace, avenging his family against those damn murgoes.

[Tiste Simeon]

Raymond Luxury Yacht said:

~Luxury Yacht, sharpening his saber while gazing hatefully at the horizon, thinking of the one thing that gives him solace, avenging his family against those damn murgoes.

Forum said:

You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to Raymond Luxury Yacht again.

Denied *sigh*

Abyss said:

Oh, c'mon, Dave killled oodles of important characters, like Random Boyhood Friend #2, Mostly Unseen Ancestoral Enemy #4, Mutesidekick whodoesn'tdoanythingguy, and King NotSeenBeforeHeWasKilled #3.

Hahahaha, I remember when I first read the Mallorean, I was trying to guess who was going to die. When Toth died, I was all like "Meh." Not important enough to make any real impact.

[Gem Windcaster]

Yeah, those books needed a really tragic moment. LIke the death of Ce'nedra - I'd have totally cheered.