MetaChat - David Eddings died on the 5th

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07 June 2009

David Eddings died on the 5th →[More:]and while he certainly wasn't the greatest author ever, I very much identified with the cantakerous-on-the-outside-sentimental-fool-on-the-inside Belgarath character in both The Belgariad and The Mallorean series of fantasy lite books.

So much did I identify with the "old Wolf" that I adopted "Wolf" as part of my "WolfDaddy" online persona--and any avatar/toon/whatever I create online always has "wolf" as part of the name.

Hearing of the man's death ... I'll be honest, I'm shedding some tears here.

.

post by: WolfDaddy at: 16:47 | 6 comments

I don't think I've ever read any of his stuff. Where to start, in your opinion?

posted by Wolfdog 07 June | 17:14

Wolfdog, to be honest, I've never read anything BUT The Belgariad (spoilers!) and The Mallorean (and a couple of books ancillary to those series) -- I'd pretty much grown out of that type of book by the time the last one came out in ... sometime in the 90s. I'd start with the Belgariad, and then go on to the Mallorean series if you liked the former. And to be honest, the second series is pretty much the same story as the first series, but the characters are so likeable and the mythology fairly well constructed that I found them very enjoyable "summer reading" types of books.

Plus ... very strong female characters throughout the books, which was always surprising to me until it was revealed that his wife, Leigh, was collaborating with him quite a bit but--for whatever reason--never got credit for that until much later in Eddings career as an author.

posted by WolfDaddy 07 June | 17:21

Aw, damn. The Belgariad was one of the first fantasy series I read. Definitely fantasy-lite, like you said, but fun and easy.

posted by gaspode 07 June | 17:51

Yeah, I spent 7th grade mostly reading the Belgariad and the Mallorean instead of paying attention in class. (They were on the teacher's shelf - her fault for putting them there.) I remember finishing the first series and being all "aww, that's all? I guess I'll give the other set a try..." and YAY it was the same people again! Another term wasted!

posted by casarkos 07 June | 19:18

I was a fan, too. Sad news.

posted by Triode 08 June | 01:05

I really liked the Belgariad series too. RIP, Mr Eddings.

posted by Specklet 08 June | 03:33

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