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David Eddings

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David Eddings (born July 7, 1931) is an American author who has written several best-selling series of epic fantasy novels. David Eddings' wife, Leigh Eddings, is the uncredited co-author of many of his books and is acknowledged as such in his later works.

Born in Spokane, Washington, Eddings grew up in Puget Sound before graduating with a BA from Reed College in 1954 and an MA from the University of Washington in 1961. Before becoming an author he worked for the United States Army and the Boeing Company.

He is recently living in Carson City, Nevada, southwest America.

David Eddings' first books (which were general fiction) sold moderately well. Later he switched to the much more successful field of epic fantasy. However some of his more recent series, namely those after The Malloreon, received fairly widespread criticism from readers and critics alike due to the fact of his rehashing of storylines and characters. In fact this tradition began with the Malloreon, where (through the use of a fairly transparent MacGuffin) Eddings managed to produce a storyline nearly identical to that of the Belgariad.

Eddings, in a recent interview with sffworld.com, said "I don't take orders from readers".

Writing Approach

Eddings takes a simplistic, lego-like approach to the creation of worlds, races, and characters, an approach used in many SF and fantasy sub-genres (most notably Star Trek). This has generally caused a great deal of criticism of his work, with some critics and readers labelling it as child-like and repetitive. However, on the other side of the coin many readers find it easier to read and less 'cerebral' than more traditional epic fantasy, because it allows some immediate familiarity with the new races.

Formula

One of the essays within the Rivan Codex lists Eddings' formula for epic fantasy : -

  1. The Underlying Theology (Polytheistic/Monotheistic/Buddhist/Other)
  2. The Quest
  3. The Magic "Thingamajigger" (Holy Grail/One Ring/Magic Sword/Jewel)
  4. The Hero: Galahad the Pure, Gawain the Brave, Perceval the Dumb (Naive), or Lancelot the Heavyweight Champion of the World
  5. The Resident Wizard (Gandalf, Merlin, Belgarath)
  6. The Heroine
  7. The Villain (usually with some diabolical agenda)
  8. The Companions (generally a multicultural crew who can protect the hero until he defeats the baddie)
  9. The Romantic Interests for 8. Both 8&9 must be well-rounded groups, with individualised personalities and flaws.
  10. The kings, queens, emperors, generals, courtiers and such, who make up the governments of the world.

All of Eddings Fantasy novels are based on these 10 premises in one form or another.

World Building

When building a 'world' for his characters to inhabit, Eddings generally starts with a fictional map, sections off areas of that map, and populates each area with a different race. In generating races, Eddings will first pick a race or people from our history, then base his fictional race within his new 'world' almost directly on them (with some minor renaming). Examples of this can be seen throughout his fantasy output. For a list see Analogs To Belgariad Races.

A great deal of the sub-storyline elements depend on the tension that is created from these disparate races being forced together.

Characters

Individuals belonging to each race tend to be painted in broad strokes, and 1 or 2 distinct stereotypical characteristics (most often drawn from Eddings view of their real-world analog) are generally used to define them fully. For example, Chereks are warlike and drink heavily, Sendarians are dependable and practical, etc. Most characters are ultimately facets of the same base personality (presumably Eddings' own), with one or two key character traits added (generally depending on their race). Dialog tends to be repetitive, with a strong undercurrent of sarcasm and one-upmanship shown in varying degrees, and the repetition of key phrases ("Bet you didn't expect that, eh Pol?" etc.) to indicate familiarity between the characters.

Series

The Belgariad and The Malloreon

The Belgariad is Eddings' first fantasy series; The Malloreon is the sequel. The books follow the adventures of Garion, Polgara, Belgarath, and their companions.

The Belgariad

  1. Pawn of Prophecy
  2. Queen of Sorcery
  3. Magician's Gambit
  4. Castle of Wizardry
  5. Enchanters' End Game

The Malloreon

  1. Guardians of the West
  2. King of the Murgos
  3. Demon Lord of Karanda
  4. Sorceress of Darshiva
  5. The Seeress of Kell

The Elenium and The Tamuli

The Elenium and its sequel The Tamuli are set in a different universe to The Belgariad and The Malloreon. They feature the knight Sparhawk and his comrades.

The Elenium

  1. The Diamond Throne
  2. The Ruby Knight
  3. The Sapphire Rose

The Tamuli

  1. Domes of Fire
  2. The Shining Ones
  3. The Hidden City

Other Fantasy Series

The Dreamers is the most recent series by David and Leigh Eddings.

The Dreamers

  1. The Elder Gods
  2. The Treasured One
  3. Crystal Gorge
  4. The Younger Gods

Standalone fantasy novels

Other non-fantasy books

Fan Sites

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