In fantasy stories, everything from characters, props, through geography to magic has
to work in perfect harmony. Pawn of Prophecy is one of the fantasy books that really
work all the way through. Dialogues are funny, it has the necessary cliff hangers, and magic has
strict rules to follow. You could take a holiday in the land of
make-believe with this book anytime. It is, though, the first in a series of five; you better reserve some time for the others, too.
At the
beginning of the book, the reader is taken to a farm in the kingdom of Sendaria to meet the
protagonist of the story. The child Garion lives on a prosperous farm out in the middle of nowhere. To start off, the boy is
very young; the story first deals with his growing to become a young teenager. This gives the authors the possibility to set up characters and scenery by explaining everything to the boy. As the book is also
the first in a series of five, the uneducated teenager is perfect to keep the reader
going along on a journey of discovery.
When the authors switch from a time journey to a physical journey, everything is set to take readers out of this world, literally, into the magical universe they have created. The journey makes readers travel all over the sleepy kingdom of Sendaria and then into the northern kingdom of Cherek. Thanks to a pile of intrigues, misconceptions, and a load of withheld information, nothing is ever quite what it seems.
The story offers kings, queens, emperors, sorcerers, sorceresses, and magic to boot; keeping to strict rules in the magic department and limiting its use severely, the authors manage to keep its influence to an interesting minimum. By making magic harder to use than physical work, not using magic becomes the more common option and the norm. This effectively prevents the story from being derailed by 'an easier way to do it' than what we are used to from our physical world.
The dialogues in the book are well written, short, funny, and the jokes work for the characters and the story as a whole. While the co-authorship of David and Leigh Eddings was kept a secret at the time of the book's release, it is quite easy to appreciate it in hindsight. It has played part in the development of the characters and dialogues. Characters are well developed and their sense of humor is very distinct for each of them.
If you are ready to take a long journey, Pawn of Prophecy by David and Leigh Eddings is available on Kindle. Follow the teenage sorcerer apprentice Garion as he grows up from small child through boyhood to young teenager. Then follow the boy on a mysterious journey through two kingdoms while getting involved in spy conspiracies, murder, chases, and planned regicide. And while you do that, absorb the history of the world you have been pushed into when opening the book.
The book is not only recommended for fun reading; if you plan to write fantasy, it is a good example of how to develop a story that can work. The combination of a learning teenage boy with a journey and a mystery is a good recipe to start off with. It all depends on the measurements and the cook after that.
Further reading
The Thief Who Learned Magic
Magic Is Dangerous
The Little Prince
When the authors switch from a time journey to a physical journey, everything is set to take readers out of this world, literally, into the magical universe they have created. The journey makes readers travel all over the sleepy kingdom of Sendaria and then into the northern kingdom of Cherek. Thanks to a pile of intrigues, misconceptions, and a load of withheld information, nothing is ever quite what it seems.
The story offers kings, queens, emperors, sorcerers, sorceresses, and magic to boot; keeping to strict rules in the magic department and limiting its use severely, the authors manage to keep its influence to an interesting minimum. By making magic harder to use than physical work, not using magic becomes the more common option and the norm. This effectively prevents the story from being derailed by 'an easier way to do it' than what we are used to from our physical world.
The dialogues in the book are well written, short, funny, and the jokes work for the characters and the story as a whole. While the co-authorship of David and Leigh Eddings was kept a secret at the time of the book's release, it is quite easy to appreciate it in hindsight. It has played part in the development of the characters and dialogues. Characters are well developed and their sense of humor is very distinct for each of them.
If you are ready to take a long journey, Pawn of Prophecy by David and Leigh Eddings is available on Kindle. Follow the teenage sorcerer apprentice Garion as he grows up from small child through boyhood to young teenager. Then follow the boy on a mysterious journey through two kingdoms while getting involved in spy conspiracies, murder, chases, and planned regicide. And while you do that, absorb the history of the world you have been pushed into when opening the book.
The book is not only recommended for fun reading; if you plan to write fantasy, it is a good example of how to develop a story that can work. The combination of a learning teenage boy with a journey and a mystery is a good recipe to start off with. It all depends on the measurements and the cook after that.
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| Matt Whitlock |
Further reading
The Thief Who Learned Magic
Magic Is Dangerous
The Little Prince
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