1982.
444 pages, Corgi/Randomhouse paperback.
As the hunt for the Orb of Aldur continues, Garion, Belgarath, Polgara, Silk, Barak and Durnik passes through Arendia, Tolnedra and Nyissa. They are also joined by a crippled handful of new companions, all of which (predictably enough) bring some new abilities and idiosyncrasies to the group. The plot also progresses in a fairly predictable manner, without any major surprises along the way.
It’s solidly enough done, though, to keep me reading, and Eddings deserves praise for keeping to the point and not elaborating long and arduous journeys to make them more “real” to the reader. I, for one, find reading detailed descriptions of long and arduous journeys extremely boring, so this is something I’m grateful for. He keeps most of his other descriptions on a modest level too, without wasting too much effort. There are exceptions, of course — such as the frequent repetitions of such phrases as “[Barak's or Mandorallen's] heavy sword” or “Silk’s sardonic/dry/ironic bow” — but all in all I didn’t notice these all that much in Queen of Sorcery; they became more annoying in Magician’s Gambit.
A fun read, better than the first installment, but still far from the genre’s best.
6,5/10.
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