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    Guardians of the West
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    Guardians of the West
    Unavailable
    Guardians of the West
    Audiobook15 hours

    Guardians of the West

    Written by David Eddings

    Narrated by Cameron Beierle

    4/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    Garion has slain the evil God Torak and been crowned King of Riva. The Prophecy has been fulfilled--or so it seems. While the strange child Errand was growing up in the Vale of Aldur with Polgara and Durnick, showing only occasional flashes of inexplicable knowledge and power, Garion is learning to rule and be a husband to his fiery little Queen, Ce'Nedra.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBooks in Motion Audio
    Release dateSep 15, 2004
    ISBN9781596072374
    Unavailable
    Guardians of the West
    Author

    David Eddings

    David Eddings was born in Washington State in 1931 and grew up near Seattle. He graduated from the University of Washington and went on to serve in the US Army. Subsequently he worked as a buyer for the Boeing company and taught college-level English. His first novel was a contemporary adventure, but he soon began a spectacular career as a fantasy writer with his bestselling series ‘The Belgariad’.

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    Reviews for Guardians of the West

    4/5

    1,304 ratings24 reviews

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    • 4/5
      Safe fantasy books. YA maybe. They never encounter any difficulty.
    • 3/5
      With the publication of the Malloreon, we learned an important fact about David Eddings: He only has one story in him. The plot of the Malloreon is essentially identical to that of the Belgariad, and the books suffer from all the same weaknesses. That said, the characters are now old friends, and Eddings knows and writes them better. The likable characters were the chief charm of the first series, and if you enjoyed the first series for that, then the characters may be enough to get you through the second series. Otherwise, don't bother.
    • 4/5
      This is the first book in Eddings' second bite at the cherry of this particular world and is an answer, sort of, to that question 'what next...' that you really should have at the end of a series unless it's one where everyone dies. Garion is still the Overlord of the West and guardian of the Orb of Aldur. He and Ce'Nedra have a baby son, Geran, who has several attempts on his life as someone meddles with Ce'Nedra's mind, then gets taken by somebody pretending to be a member of the Bear Cult of Belar. This is a good start to a new series, but the earlier parts of the book, where we see Errand growing up with Polgara and Durnik in the Vale grated a bit as the young Errand didn't quite ring true.
    • 3/5
      The Mallorean series starts where the Belgariad series left off. On a surprising note, this series starts with a few mysteries that need to be solved along with the misdirection that every good mystery has. In this first book, we spend a lot of time exploring the character and mystery that is Errand. And although nothing is every fully revealed, we are getting tidbits of information that lead us to want to know more. Of course with the mysteries comes some court intrigue that end up with a few kingdom wars. Overall a more satisfying start to a series than I found in the first novel of the Belgariad.
    • 3/5
      All of your favorite characters from the Belgariad are back in Eddings follow-on series the Malloreon. Once again, Belgarion is pitted against two prophecies regarding the Child of Light and the Child of Dark and this time he must act to save humanity and his newborn son.Eddings brings back and expands upon the characters first introduced in the Belgariad. The most interesting transformation of character is that of Errand. The somewhat intriguing boy from the previous series is found to have sorcerer-like powers allowing him to see into the minds of others across great distances. Magic of this nature is unknown to the likes of Polgara and Belgarath and is sure to be an essential element to future books in the series.For fans of The Belgariad, Guardians of the West is a must read.
    • 3/5
      David Eddings was really a seminal author for me back when I was a wee lad. Along with Terry Brooks, Raymond Feist, the team of Margret Weis and Tracy Hickman and of course Tolkein, his books helped to get me hooked on fantasy fiction. Somewhere along the line, like several of the other authors mentioned, Eddings lost me. Once too many times it felt as if his latest fantasy series was all too similar to the previous one. Of his early books though, the series that I never got round to reading was the Mallorean quintet, of which this is the first book. The series is a direct continuation of the Belgariad quintet.Its a fair enough start to the series. Very little happens in the first half of the book - 200 pages of weddings, funerals, home-making and general puttering around by the characters from the Belgariad. People who loved the original characters will probably enjoy this, while others may start getting impatient and wondering when something is going to happen. Luckily Eddings' sense of humour and easy-to-read prose doesn't make this a complete chore to read. In the second half of the book the wheels of the plot start of painstakingly grind into action. There's a prophecy (another one!) which promises dire things and some sneaky people are running around causing trouble in the various Kingdoms of the west, culminating with the kidnapping of the infant son of Garion (the farm-boy-to-magic-wielding-lost-king of the Belgariad). The book ends with the quest to find and retrieve the boy getting under way.Its all very by-the-numbers fantasy. But it is made tolerable by the aforementioned humour and the rich cast of characters accumulated over the first series.
    • 5/5
      This entire series is wonderful. One of the earlier "young boy discovers that he's more than he was led to believe" stories. A classic in the fantasy genre that pulls you into a great read.
    • 4/5
      I thought this book was just a good as start to a new series as was Pawn of Prophecy. Some of the same characters are back, Garion, Belgarath, Polgara, but with some new ones.
    • 4/5
      I love these books; the narration is a little... off to me, though.
    • 5/5
      The greatest sci-fi fantasy series ! There is no comparison
    • 4/5
      The story still excites despite me having read the books in my teen years. The narrator is able to conjure up suitable personalities of the characters though at times there are slips and one may find inconsistent use of voices that may confuse one on which character is speaking. But a good job I think in general.
    • 4/5
      Good , but names hard to memorize and know their territories
    • 5/5
      Great Series and fantastic narrator. Absolutely love this series and am listening to it for a second time.
    • 5/5
      Really enjoyed the continuing story from the belgariad good stuff
    • 4/5
      original series repeated, but now with main character having a family. Worth reading, but not the same novel experience as the first series was for me.
    • 5/5
      Very well done,the accents to separate the characters were nice the entire story was there with no shortcuts or missing pages

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      {First of 5 in Mallorean or sixth of 10 in Belgariad series; fantasy, high fantasy, quest fantasy, young adult} (1987)So what happens after 'happily ever after'? At the end of the Belgariad, the prophecies were fulfilled, the bad guys were overcome, the good guys celebrated and Garion got married and settled down to his new role (which including some lessons in climate change and using sorcery wisely):If you thought that was an emergency, you should have seen the blizzard you touched off in the Vale with your foolishness - and the hurricanes it spawned in the Sea of the East - not to mention the droughts and tornados you kicked up all over the world. Don't you have any sense of responsibility at all?''I didn't know it was going to do that.' Garion was aghast.'Boy, it's your business to know!' Belgarath suddenly roared at him, his face mottled with rage. 'It's taken Beldin and me six months of constant travel and the Gods only know how much effort to quiet things down. Do you realize that with that one thoughtless storm of yours you came very close to changing the weather patterns of the entire globe? And that the change would have been a universal disaster?''One tiny little storm?''Yes, one tiny little storm,' Belgarath said scathingly. 'Your one tiny little storm in the right place at the right time came very close to altering the weather for the next several eons - all over the world - you blockhead!''Grandfather,' Garion protested.'Do you know what the term ice age means?''Guardians' opens more or less straight after Enchanter's End Game, following Polgara and another little boy as they settle into domestic life after her long life dedicated to the fulfilling of the prophecy. I felt that his childhood wasn't quite as charming as Garion's had been in Pawn of Prophecy but it served to fill in the time line of several years. There are some events of note as time passes, with incidental details which give dimension to the characters and this world, until Belgarath, Garion and Polgara discover that the prophecies have not all been fulfilled and their task continues, with some of their old companions, and some new ones, to aid them. Thou must have with thee as well the Guide and the Man with Two Lives - and one other whom I will reveal to thee. Thou wilt be joined at some later times by others - the Huntress, the Man Who Is No Man, the Empty One, and by the Woman Who Watches.' This book serves mainly to show us how Garion, Polgara et al got on with living their lives since the end of Enchanter's End Game and sets the scene for the beginning of the new adventure. To be honest, I found the beginning a bit slow but there is plenty of action after that; essentially this book is the bridge between the two series and sets up the new quest. The book was true to the ambiance of the first series, which I enjoyed, though of course Garion has grown since then; by the end of Guardians of the West about four or five years have elapsed since the end of Enchanter's End Game so Garion must be around twenty one years old. Eddings's trademark humour from the Belgariad and the banter and affection between his characters are still very much in evidence.I think there is enough introduction to the characters with the preamble chapters (and the prologue does a good job of summarising the events in the first series) so that you could read this book and the Mallorean series without having read the Belgariad first - though you do have to read the books within each series in order as they are about ongoing quests - but it is probably more enriching to return to the lives of well-loved charactersI like the way Eddings's ladies in these series are always 'lovely', 'flawless', 'exquisite' and so on, but at the same time he makes it clear that they are strong characters. Even maternal Queen Layla disguises her strength under her flutters. I remember thinking, the first time I read this in my teens, that Ce’Nedra gets a bit hysterical but, on mature reflection, I suspect I wouldn’t be too coherent under similar circumstances and her reaction is in line with her character.I think, the first time I read it, I possibly felt that the Belgariad came to a good ending so I wondered how it would continue but I was happy to keep reading about the same characters that I had grown to love. This time reading it, it flowed more easily from one series to the other and I could see some information being fed to the reader about the 'unfinished business' as early as Enchanter's End Game. In fact, there was a detail (unless it was written into the new editions) that becomes relevant later in the Mallorean. I suspect, though, that the second series hadn't been planned when the very first books of the Belgariad were written.I did enjoy being able to revisit this world and spend more time with Garion, Polgara, Belgarath and friends.(August 2022)4.5 stars
    • 5/5
      This was a re-read for me from my teenage years. This book is as humorous and well written as all of the other stories. This one doesn't have as much action in it as the other books in the series. It serves more as a bridge between the Belgariad series and the action that will occur later in this series.
    • 5/5
      The Saga continues. I just can't get enough of a good thing here. Garion is all grown up. New characters are introduced and the Prophecy continues to plague our hero.

      A highly recommended read, if you are into the fantasy genre.
    • 5/5
      great book. great book. good series with a good conclusion

      1 person found this helpful

    • 3/5
      I remember reading this series, but I don't remember how good it was. So, I give it three stars.
    • 3/5
      I remember reading this series, but I don't remember how good it was. So, it gets three stars.
    • 5/5
      There was one part that dragged, but otherwise it made me want to grab the next book in the series asap. Just as great as the Belgariad. Highly recomend the whole series - start form the beginning.
    • 3/5
      One of the problems with an author deciding to cash in on a successful series by extending it is that it generally feels like it was bolted on after the fact rather than an organic whole with the story that went before. I'm going to give Eddings the benefit of the doubt and assume that this was an after-the-fact extension rather than his initial story plan—'cause otherwise I'd have an even lower opinion of this quintology. The problem with The Mallorean is that it's basically the same story as The Belgariad with different details. One cannot escape the feeling of déjà vu while reading it. In fact, even the characters feel it and offer some lame rationale that it's some cycle of destiny.The Belgariad ends at a perfectly good spot. Just quit there.