Note: This is one of my favorite series. I read this series, it’s sequel The Mallorean, and Belgarath the Sorcerer yearly.

Queen of Sorcery is the second book in The Belgariad series by David Eddings. In comparison to the first book, Queen of Sorcery gives the reader a lot more information and a greater incentive to continue the series. One of the things I liked the most about this book is that the reader starts to get to know the side characters a lot better – and a lot of the things left unexplained in book one are cleared up in book two. Eddings is not one for a lot of loose ends, which I greatly appreciate.

Queen of Sorcery starts the same way Pawn of Prophecy does – with an info dump prologue – and then it proceeds into another info dump. The prologue tells of a famous battle that happened centuries in the past and the second info dump gives the reader a rehash of Pawn of Prophecy. It also reminds the reader that Garion is anguished and that the adults are keeping secrets from him.

Unlike Pawn of Prophecy, Queen of Sorcery tells the questing group (and the reader) the exact nature of their quest at the beginning of the book: The Orb of Aldur has been stolen by Zedar the Apostate. They have to retrieve the Orb before Zedar can deliver it to the evil god Torak, waking Torak from an ensorcelled sleep to take over the world.

Queen of Sorcery also gives the reader a better sense of Eddings’ world. Each country is populated by a different racial stock and each racial stock is a stereotype. Thus far we have met the Sendars (who are sensible) and the Chereks (who are rowdy, drunks and war-like). Queen of Sorcery introduces us to the Arends (who are “not very bright but very brave” and who’s nobles engage in almost casual warfare while severely mistreating their serfs), the Tolnedrans (materialistic and obsessed with stature) and the Nyissans who emulate the snake. The Nyissans are also drug users and dealers, they sell poisons, are untrustworthy and are also slavers. Got all that? Good.

One of the things that the reader notices is that although Garion now knows Belgarath and Polgara’s real names, Garion and the text still refer to them as “Mister Wolf” and “Aunt Pol.” I feel like the text reflects Garion’s mental state with the name usage. Garion has not fully accepted the real identities of his aunt and grandfather – so neither has the text. Some of Garion’s anguish is settled, however – he knows that Polgara is his (many times great) aunt and thus Belgarath is his (many times great) grandfather – so he is not alone in the world as he feared.

We also learn a lot more about the magic system. The rules are rather basic but it seems that those who have “talent” usually are nearly immortal. These talented people have the ability to do almost anything that they can imagine as long as they have the willpower. Eddings names this system “the Will and the Word” and it appears to have few limitations: It takes as much energy or more to do something magically as to do it physically, they cannot try to “unmake” things as it will cause the person attempting the unmaking to be obliterated and magic use makes a “noise” that other talented people can hear. This noise can be heard for long distances and can help enemies locate them.

Garion has started to show that he has this talent. He hears a “noise” when his family or others use the Will and the Word. He also uses his ability several times instinctively but with no control. Although the adults are still keeping him in the dark regarding his heritage, he’s slowly coming to realize something is strange about his parentage. People keep trying to kidnap him – including the Queen of Nyissa, Salmissra. I’m not sure why Eddings decided to make Garion so ignorant as to almost be stupid. Of course something is special about him. He’s the only descendent of Belgarath and Polgara – who are both powerful sorcerers.

One of my favorite things about this book is that you get a chance to really know all of the characters. Barak and Silk are two of my favorite characters and I really enjoy the banter between them. Silk is a prince, a spy, a thief, a merchant, an acrobat and a martial artist skilled in both hand to hand combat as well as knife work. He’s a small man with a smart mouth and a sarcastic sense of humor but as many bad traits that Silk has he’s very loyal and dependable. Barak is a huge, hairy man. He looks rather brutish and he’s a deadly warrior but he’s a gentle person with a great sense of humor. Some of the humor feels a little forced but in general it’s rather amusing.

Queen of Sorcery starts in Arendia. The group (Garion, Belgarath, Polgara, Silk, Barak and Durnik) joins with Hettar, son of the Algarian Chief; Lelldorin, son of Baron of Wildantor (Arendia) and Sir Mandorallen, Baron of Vo Mandor (Arendia). Lelldorin is an Austurian Arend and Mandorallen is a Mimbrate Arend. The Mimbrates and Austurians have been in the midst of civil war and/or hostilities for centuries and Lelldorin is an Austurian “patriot.” There isn’t much to Lelldorion: he is impetuous, emotional, flighty, an astounding bowman, a loyal friend and a walking disaster. Lelldorin was involved in a plot to kill off the King of Arendia – since the King is a Mimbrate – when he needs to depart with the group. Lelldorin tells Garion about this plot in confidence.

The company travels the length of Arendia while on their search for the Orb. During their travels Lelldorin is poisoned during a monster attack near the border of Ulgoland which requires him to stay in Mimbre. Once he realized he would have to stay behind, Lelldorin has Garion promise that he will stop the attack on the King.

Pawn of Prophecy is the first of five books in The Belgariad series. In this book we meet our hero, Garion and most of his companions: Polgara, Belgarath, Durnik, Silk, Barak and Hettar. Garion is an orphan farmboy who is being raised on a farm (of course) in Sendaria by his aunt, Pol. This trope – the orphan farmboy – is one that the seasoned fantasy reader is quite familiar with. The big difference here is that Eddings’ Garion is one of the first of his kind. Pawn of Prophecy was published in 1982 – a time when fantasy had very few titles and readers were clamoring for this type of epic fantasy.

I absolutely love this series. I read this series and the sequel – The Mallorean – at least once a year (sometimes more). As much as I love this series I feel that I see it with [somewhat] clear eyes – I can see some faults. I can also say that reviewing this book (and the series) will be difficult for me. I’ve read it too many times – the entire series is basically one book to me – and I like it too much. Every time I read this (book and series) I feel like I’m visiting old friends. It’s like…one big, warm and comfortable hug to me.

The Belgariad (and The Mallorean) has a quest based plot. This plot requires a character/group of characters to go on a search for some item/person/information that is considered extremely important – often the fate of the world depends on the outcome of the quest. The Belgariad is also something like a travelogue as well – the characters’ quest will eventually take them through most of the countries in Eddings’ world.

Pawn of Prophecy starts with Garion’s earliest memories but quickly moves to the beginning of Garion’s quest. It begins with Garion, his Aunt Pol, an old vagabond storyteller that Garion calls Mister Wolf and the farm’s blacksmith Durnik hurriedly leaving the farm one night. Garion is not sure why – only that something important has been stolen and must be recovered. After a long and exhausting walk the trio join with two others: Silk, a small and wiry man from Drasnia and Barak, a large warrior from Cherek. As the group sneaks its way thorough Sendaria in search of this unknown item, Garion knows that his life is changing but he’s given absolutely no information. Aunt Pol refuses to tell him anything about who or what [race] he is, his parents are a mystery to him and he doesn’t know where they are going or why. By this point the reader has been given several hints that all is not as it seems. Aunt Pol mentions “waiting one hundred years for the circumstances to be right again.” Mister Wolf is able to follow this important item with his mind alone and the group is chased by enemies.

There is nothing I hate more than trying to review one of my all-time favorite books from my teenage years. We all know the reason: the book just never lives up to your memories of its perfection. A fact - which if we are honest with ourselves - is inevitable, because we personally have changed too much, the world has changed too much, and our tastes have changed too much since the initial reading. This is true to a certain extent with David Edding’s Pawn of Prophecy.

Back when I picked up this first novel of The Belgariad in 1984, I was a 13-year-old or a 14-year-old (I can’t remember which anymore) just getting over an addiction to Dungeon & Dragons and trying to transition away from my pre-teen persona into my young adult one. I had also just recently made the life altering discovery of J.R.R. Tolkien, whose books made me fall in love with fantasy and ruined my dreams of ever being considered a cool kid in high school. (It was hard to be cool when you were reading The Hobbit and making jokes about what exactly JRR was talking about when he wrote "...it was a hobbit-hole, and that means comfort", but I probably shouldn’t really mention that in this review.) So when Pawn of Prophecy found its way into my hands, it must have been fate, and I fell very hard for all things related to Belgarath, Polgara or Garion. A love which lasted into my early twenties and began from the very first page of this novel.

As a teen who adored the Council of Elrond chapter in The Fellowship of the Ring, the prologue to Pawn of Prophecy was like getting a fix of my favorite pharmaceutical product. Where else except for The Silmarillion could I get to read about ancient gods creating a world only to have its perfection marred by some horrible act and throw creation into a state of constant strife? Not too many places. So within minutes, I was addicted to this story of maimed Torak and his eternal conflict with his godly siblings over possession of the Orb of Aldur, and I had to have more. Honestly, it was just a great hook.

From this beginning, Mr. Eddings immediately thrust me into the story of a simple farm boy named Garion. I learned of his earliest memories, hiding under a table watching his Aunt Pol cook. I experienced him growing up with his childhood friends, playing games, and even saw his first romance between himself and a local girl Zubrette. I also read about - but payed little attention to - the introduction of a wandering storyteller named Mister Wolf, who seemed like the comic relief more than a major character. (Boy, was I wrong on that!) And like all good fantasy books, Mr. Eddings provided me with constant foreshadowing that there was some terrible evil lurking right around the corner, waiting to destroy all this normalcy. A feeling which he deftly stoked by scene after scene of Garion experiencing visions of an unknown antagonist stalking him.

Naturally, one day Garion’s quiet farm life did end and end suddenly. Mister Wolf arriving at the farm unexpectedly, bearing news that a mysterious object has been stolen by a thief whom no-one will name. This news shocks Aunt Pol, causing her to pack up her and Garion’s things and leave the farm with Mister Wolf, dragging our clueless teenager along against his will. From there the true adventures began, and what a tale it was!

A huge, colorful world inhabited by different cultures, grand characters, and even ancient gods opened up before Garion. All of it there for our young farm boy to see and experience and me tagging along behind. Mr. Eddings dazzled both of us with his constant unveiling of ancient mysteries, evil villains, grand conspiracies, divine prophecies, and wonderful history. And the whole time, I - a teenager myself - witnessed one more thing: Garion dealing with the normal teen angst of a simple boy ripped from his safe home and thrown into a larger, more dangerous world than he ever imagined. Every adventure, every heartbreak he experienced slowly turning him into a young man before my reading eyes. Something that I was also struggling with in my own life though in different ways.

It was a grand ride that Mr. Eddings took my teenage self on during those years, and I adored every one - even when I was 19 instead of a 13-year-old, because for a few hours I could go back "home" and visit my teen heroes Garion, Belgarath, Aunt Pol, Silk, and all the rest. They felt like family to me. And it all started with this book.

Later in life I returned to Pawn of Prophecy to revisit my old "friends." Like many times when you visit your childhood haunts, I found that things had changed - specifically me. I was older. No doubt about that. The mirror doesn’t lie after all. Plus, I was a father now. Responsibilities and all that other grown up stuff weighing me down. And I have to admit that I was now a bit jaded about life. Things were more gray and a lot less black and white than back in my teen years. So Pawn of Prophecy’s straightforward fantasy about good guys defeating bad guys did not energize me as much as it once did. The best comparison I can give is going to your twentieth high school reunion excited to see your old girlfriend/boyfriend only to realize they aren’t sixteen anymore, have put on thirty pounds and gotten wrinkles just like you. How dare they change! That is how I felt as I sat there reading about my old friends Garion, Belgarath, and Polgara.

So why the five (5) star rating if I felt this way on my re-read you ask?

Simple: I try to rate my favorite, childhood books by what I thought of them when I read them the first time.

Maybe rating certain novels that way is wrong, but I cannot think of another way to be fair to a novel which I dearly loved at an earlier period of my life. It isn’t the books fault that I have gotten older after all. And the truth of the matter is that when I read Pawn of Prophecy - not once but numerous times in the 80s - I absolutely loved it! The simple plot and world spanning journeys of Garion bedazzled me, making me want more and more, and in my obviously biased opinion, it is still a great book for the right person - maybe another 13-year-old boy trying to grow up. Because I truly believe that even in its simplicity Pawn of Prophecy can still speak to that person and begin them on their journey into the world of fantasy novels. For that reason - and all my personal memories of it - Pawn of Prophecy will always remain a 5 star book and one of my all-time favorite fantasy novels.