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A review by nickclewley
The Seeress of Kell by David Eddings
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Using this last (non-prequel) book to sum up my thoughts on the entire 10-book saga. I first read The Belgariad and The Malloreon when I was 12 (like many it seems) and then re-read them pretty much every year throughout my teens. Easy to read, familiar banter, good vs evil with the outcome never in doubt. They were a comfort to keep coming back to. More than a comfort, they were an escape when life felt like too much.
I think if I hadn’t read them as a kid, reading them for the first time as an adult would be torturous. It really is the nostalgia factor that brought me back and kept me going this time around.
Beyond nostalgia, there are things that work. The story is entertaining. Something happens every few pages, things are always moving. The characters are, more often than not, distinct and likeable. Eddings makes you want to root for them all.
So there’s still comfort in these pages. There’s still escape, but it’s impossible to ignore the books’ profound problems.
Eddings infantilizes female characters, and the rare one or two that are given any agency are seen as somehow unnatural because they’re smart or powerful. (One is only considered smart because her husband trained her in statecraft). And he’s deeply reductive on race and nationality. Entire populations share traits because of the borders in which they live. All Arends are dumb, meanwhile cross the border into Tolnedra and they’re all greedy. The darker the skin or more “angular” the eyes, the more wicked the race.
I’m not sure if out of some deep-seated need to recapture youth I’ll reread them again someday. They do hold a special place for me, but I'll never recommend them to anyone.
I think if I hadn’t read them as a kid, reading them for the first time as an adult would be torturous. It really is the nostalgia factor that brought me back and kept me going this time around.
Beyond nostalgia, there are things that work. The story is entertaining. Something happens every few pages, things are always moving. The characters are, more often than not, distinct and likeable. Eddings makes you want to root for them all.
So there’s still comfort in these pages. There’s still escape, but it’s impossible to ignore the books’ profound problems.
Eddings infantilizes female characters, and the rare one or two that are given any agency are seen as somehow unnatural because they’re smart or powerful. (One is only considered smart because her husband trained her in statecraft). And he’s deeply reductive on race and nationality. Entire populations share traits because of the borders in which they live. All Arends are dumb, meanwhile cross the border into Tolnedra and they’re all greedy. The darker the skin or more “angular” the eyes, the more wicked the race.
I’m not sure if out of some deep-seated need to recapture youth I’ll reread them again someday. They do hold a special place for me, but I'll never recommend them to anyone.