Magician's Gambit (The Belgariad, Book 3)

First, everyone is a critic, few get paid to do so. Any work had rave reviews and negative reviews. Take a chance and read it for yourself to be the final judge. Well, Unlike most reviews, I'm not going to 'book report' it and summize what happened. The story continues nicely, and a tension that started in the first book continues to build. If you've read the first 2, then, you'll want to finish! I would recommend it! A+

Volume three of the Belgariad brings the first story arc, the quest for the orb, to closure. It also complete the grand tour of the West that Eddings has been taking the reader through. With Nyissan interference out of the way, Belgarath and Silk rejoin the rest of the party and reveal that the Orb has fallen into Murgo hands. Ctuchik, an old enemy of Belgarath is guarding the Orb in Cthol Murgos, and the wizard is willing to let him have for the moment. There are more important things to do before fetching it back. Taking a shortcut through Maragor, where a lonely god weeps for his lost people, the party heads for the Vale, where Belgarath first learned to be a wizard, and Polgara grew up. It's time for Belgarion to meet Aldur and even experiment with his new found (and uncomfortable) powers. It's also time to start developing C'Nedra into something other than a very spoiled and dubious imperial princess. The next stop is the land (make that caves) of the Ulgos. When gods were choosing out peoples, the Ulgos got left out. After what is probably the world's most effective guilt trip they managed to get Ulgo to be their god. As a result, they have become a very serious people about their religion - in a good way. Belgarath is looking for a special Ulgo guide who can deal with solid stone walls, and he's quite willing to interfere in a religious rebellion to get what he needs. C'Nedra is left safely behind, and the trek to Cthol Murgos to retrieve the orb is under way. In Magician's Gambit, Eddings' style crystallizes. He will spend a lot of time on side adventures, details, and character interaction, only advancing the plot when he has to do so. Later this will become the characteristic that will cause some people to become great fans and others to lose interest. Because I like Eddings' sarcastic style, I enjoy the periods where almost nothing happens just as much as those times when the action really picks up. It's a pleasant break from the high speed novels of modern fantasy. Eddings has created a very large world. So large that two more volumes and another whole series will fit into it. This interesting environment and the characters that people it make Eddings' work into the equivalent of literary comfort food for me. If you've made it this far, you will want to read on.

Magician's Gambit steps up the actual quality and stakes in this ongoing series. Princess CeNedra is a wonderful creation, definitely one of the more colorful and vivid characters in the series. She adds a new element to the story, and readers take a sly pleasure in knowing exactly what Garion and CeNedra's destiny is while the two unwitting youths stumble closer to each other. Eddings masterfully weaves this semi-subplot into the ongoing saga of Garion, Belgarath and Polgara. The story telling is crisp and without frills again, causing the action to move swiftly and the reader to be drawn in immediately. Description and setting are done well, but not overdone to the point of stagnating the story. Subplots move along swiftly--unlike the plodding of Robert Jordan. All in all, an excellent episode in the ongoing saga of the Belgariad.

Garion and his new found friends continue on their search for the Orb of Aldur. Now that Asharak is dead, our focus turns back to Brill, the rank smelling, evil looking "farm hand" who seems to be attempting with all of his power to kill Garion. We then add another evil character to the story, the magician Ctuchik. In the caves of Ulgo, the party gains one more member, that being the Ulgo fanatic Relg. Relg is a diviner, meaning that he can walk through stone. Our crooked friend comes to be very useful once he gets over the fact that he sins, and he becomes a staple character in the story. Silk spends his time being devious as usual, Barak now has an overwhelming urge to turn into a bear every time Garion is in trouble, Mandorallen swears himself the protector of Ce'Nedra, Lelldorin gets over his hate for Mimbrates and he and Mandorallen become close friends. Ce'Nedra is starting to have certain feelings for Garion that she knows she can't have because she is a princess and he is a scullion. When Ce'Nedra is left in the caves of Ulgo, her feelings for this sandy haired farm boy grow and intensify. Belgarath finally confronts Ctuchik, and we meet the little boy who carries the Orb around like it's his favorite toy, and then he tries to hand it off to people saying "Errand?". Errand seems to be the only word the little boy can say. I fully recommend that you continue to read this book, and do whatever you have to do to get you hands on it. Borrow it, steal it, hey, you can even buy it if you want to, but whatever you do...Read this book!

The Magician's Gambit, and this entire series rocks! I have also read Tolkein's Hobbit and Lord of the Rings and I thought they were great. But they were very intricate and sometimes VERY difficult to get into and enjoy. A lot of Tolkein groupies are out Eddings-bashing. They seem to think that a great fantasy epic is a threat to their geekdom. Well towel off people, and realize that its just another great fantasy series. Yes there are times when the plot of the Belgariad is a bit predictable. That is about the only negative thing (if you consider that negative) that can be said about this series and the Mallorean. The characters are extremely rich and diversified. You are plunged into their very lives. Playful, witty, even affectionate banter is a staple to the stability of these wonderful characters, from the first campfire banter between Silk and Barak outside of Faldor's farm, all the way to Garion and his unforseen buddy Zakath on the Island of Perivior. There is a lot of good humor throughout the entire series. Lots of good savage fighting, even if a bit easy for the good guys, but hey - they had the Overlord of the West on their side! As far as this individual book goes... In a nutshell it was excellent. Not many fantasy books can actually get a sniffle outta me, but when Garion brought that colt back to life up in the cave of the gods, I almost got a bit choked up. I guess I have a soft spot for horses. By the way, Lord Hettar rules! Buy, read, and covet the enitre 10 book series. You will love it and find new things to celebrate every time you read it!!