The Belgariad was clearly written cynically for gold -- I think the frontispiece explains that the author was 'exploring certain features of the genre' -- ie that you could make money for old rope. It is, I think, the only series I've ever read where there's a map at the front, and by the time you get to the end you have visited every single location on the map exactly once.
The second quintet (the Malloreon) has to introduce an entire new continent full of exotic new places, and by the end of it they've visited every single one of them.
I do have a certain amount of respect for David Eddings, actually. He's made (presumably) millions of dollars by writing essentially the same story about half a dozen times, and doing so in such a way that people keep buying it. I remember a bit in the Malloreon where one of the characters says something like "have you noticed that a lot of the same things are happening to us this time round as well?" and one of the aforementioned immortal sorcerers says something about the cyclic nature of history and explains that this is the latest in a long line of battles between good and evil that have been going on since the creation of the universe. But this one's the decider. Oh yes. Even as a relatively naïve 14-year-old I thought "Ah yes, I see what he's done here..."
Fair play to him, though - and to JK Rowling, for that matter. They've hit on a formula that works and have very successfully milked it for all they can get. I've derived at least some enjoyment from reading their work over the years, even though they're not exactly the height of SF or fantasy literature.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
no subject
I do have a certain amount of respect for David Eddings, actually. He's made (presumably) millions of dollars by writing essentially the same story about half a dozen times, and doing so in such a way that people keep buying it. I remember a bit in the Malloreon where one of the characters says something like "have you noticed that a lot of the same things are happening to us this time round as well?" and one of the aforementioned immortal sorcerers says something about the cyclic nature of history and explains that this is the latest in a long line of battles between good and evil that have been going on since the creation of the universe. But this one's the decider. Oh yes. Even as a relatively naïve 14-year-old I thought "Ah yes, I see what he's done here..."
Fair play to him, though - and to JK Rowling, for that matter. They've hit on a formula that works and have very successfully milked it for all they can get. I've derived at least some enjoyment from reading their work over the years, even though they're not exactly the height of SF or fantasy literature.