This book continues the quest of King Belgarion to rescue his kidnapped son from the hands of Zandramas. Picking up right where "King of the Murgos" left off, Garion and company (Belgarath, Polgara, Sadi. C'Nedra, Silk, etc) head off to the continent/Empire of Mallorea under the power of the Emperor Zakath. This seems to be a side trip as they are trying to get to The House of Torak at Ashaba, but the group keeps getting sidetracked. However, as Belgarath says in the book, even with all the distractions, they keep gaining ground and time on Zandramas. That fact is no different in this novel.

While in the capital city of MaL Zeth, reports start coming in about a sorcerer who is raising a legion of demons. While the quest for Garion's son is important, a legion of demons threatens all and must be addressed. Add to this a touch of plague to the city, and Zakath's refusal to let Garion leave, and you have the makings of this novel. Like the other books of this series, it is a familiar story that mirrors that of The Belgariad (the first series involving these characters).

I would consider this to be light fantasy, but because of how well Eddings writes his characters, they feel like old friends from the start, and it is easy to get wrapped up in the story. This is also the 8th book featuring these characters, however, and we are getting the same story over and over again, so that there is really nothing new here. Silk acts like he always does, and says the same things, and Polgara responds the same way. If this is your first time through the series, and you have enjoyed it thus far, you will continue to enjoy it. After reading it multiple times, it begins to grow a little tiresome because of how similar everything David Eddings writes is to each other. This is a fun little series that I greatly enjoyed years ago, and less so today.

-Joe Sherry


A good middle to a brilliant series   August 3, 2003
 1 out of 2 found this review helpful

Every series needs a beginning, an end and a middle. This was a good middle with good character and plot development. Overall I enjoyed it and it left me wanting to read the next one in the series. However, there are some noticeable similarities between events in this book and events in the last series which irritates me somewhat, although it is explained as part of the plot. I can only wonder whether it was deliberate or not? All in all I would recommend the series and this book since the repitition is only a minor thing and there are enough original and exhilarating parts to make it an enjoyable and memorable read.


pretty good   December 30, 2002
 1 out of 1 found this review helpful

Another wonderful Eddings book! I waited about 3 months before I had money to spend on books, and boy was it worth the wait! It brings you all the best characters, plus a few interesting plot twists and his charming character dialogue. Thinking back on it, the book didn't actually cover that much ground, but its so well written and you race through it so quickly that it's over disappointingly soon.


You can't put it down!   October 11, 2001
 4 out of 4 found this review helpful

An absolutely fantastic book which I couldn't put down. I recommend reading the series so you understand the characters and the story line before this book. This is the only set of books I can read over and over again. David Eddings portrays the characters in such a way that you can't wait to see what will happen next. Well worth the time and money.