Warr
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Instead of derailing the Wheel of Time thread, I'll start one here:
So I'll admit that is true for the first 2 series he wrote (Belgariad and the Mallorean). You had the orphan hero destined to be king, a couple wizards, a buff warrior, a rogue, a knight, etc. But the next 2 series with Sparhawk and the Church Knights I thought were a little more unique and badass. I also liked the mystery and political intrigue sprinkled into the Elenium, and those two 3-book series came across as just a little more tightly written compared to the two 5-book series that came before it.
Tying this back to the Wheel of Time: The one thing I noticed from my very first reading of any of those Eddings series was the planning and pacing. Both within each book and across the whole series. It's like he planned out everything to take the exact number of books needed (5 or 3), with appropriate climaxes in the each book and a finale in the last book of the series, and enough room to breathe after it was all over. Compare that to a series where you know they are building towards something but you have no idea when it will end while you are reading it and it's like night and day.
Warr said:
I didn't know there was hate for Eddings. Granted I did the majority of all this reading 20-some years ago, but Eddings still holds up for me. And I know my tastes have changed at least a little over time because other stuff from back then like Drizzt books have not held up.
Sterling said:I don't hate Eddings, but it's totally intro level fantasy and all of his characters are essentially trope archetypes dialed to 11. In fairness he wrote a lot of his stuff in the 80s before fantasy was nearly as popular as it became later so it didn't feel as blatant at the time especially as a kid. It's definitely miles better than that Drizzt trash though, for sure.
So I'll admit that is true for the first 2 series he wrote (Belgariad and the Mallorean). You had the orphan hero destined to be king, a couple wizards, a buff warrior, a rogue, a knight, etc. But the next 2 series with Sparhawk and the Church Knights I thought were a little more unique and badass. I also liked the mystery and political intrigue sprinkled into the Elenium, and those two 3-book series came across as just a little more tightly written compared to the two 5-book series that came before it.
Tying this back to the Wheel of Time: The one thing I noticed from my very first reading of any of those Eddings series was the planning and pacing. Both within each book and across the whole series. It's like he planned out everything to take the exact number of books needed (5 or 3), with appropriate climaxes in the each book and a finale in the last book of the series, and enough room to breathe after it was all over. Compare that to a series where you know they are building towards something but you have no idea when it will end while you are reading it and it's like night and day.
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