The Belgarid

The Belgarid by David Eddings 

☆☆☆☆☆/5

THE GREAT READING BINGE OF 2016

Genre: Fantasy/Scifi 

I first fell in love with Garion’s universe about 15 years ago. A good friend of mine leant them to me and I was hooked ever since. I slowly began collecting them (as well as Eddings other books) and the set you see pictured above are still my original copies. I haven’t replaced them and they’ve moved with me as much as my first edition Potter books. I reread them every few years and will usually continue onto The Mallorean and Belgarath and Polgara.
What makes this series so timeless and do enjoyable? After you’ve read it the first time, you know that Garion (Belgarion) is actually the long lost king of Riva and yes, he destroys Torak and everyone lives happily ever after (or at least until The Mallorean starts.) Even though you know the end, Eddings writing makes it exciting every time you read it. You still find yourself chuckling over Ce’Nedra and Garion’s squabbling, you root for Polgara as she faces down Salmarissa. You gasp just as loudly as Errond hands Garion the orb, revealing him to be the King, and you sit on the edge of your seat as Belgarath, Silk and Garion make their way aross the Angrak kingdoms. 
Rereading this series is like the first time, every time. The sense of adventure, Garion coming into his birthright, the cast of characters that are humanly faulted and can’t help but feel as though you yourself are part of the party. 
I spent the last week among friends. I fondly stroke their worn paper covers, smiling sadly as I return them to their proper shelf.The tale never gets old and I know they’ll always welcome me back. Starting at a little farm in Sedaria, where a young boy with a mysterious mark on his hand is cared for by his Aunt Pol.

The Dinosaur Lords

The Dinosaur Lords by Victor Milan

☆☆/5
Genre: Epic Fantasy…/Scifi
21/Clearly not 40 THE GREAT READING BINGE OF 2016

This mainly got stars for the cover. Look at that cover. Isn’t it gorgeous? With the promise of something totally awesome and amazing? WRONG.

Wrong. This book was complete and utter crap. There is this world called Paradise. Where man lives alongside dinosaurs and lives…not so peacefully amongst each other. There’s alot of war. Alot of political mumbo jumbo. And…..that’s about all I got from it. Seriously. 500 pages.

Take a bowl of beef stew. It looks and smells delicious. Then you are asked to identify all the parts that make this soup. But…plot twist! They give you a tooth pick to eat your stew. And it’s a mushy gross stew.

And here’s why:

Complaint A) LACK OF PLOT: This book started nowhere and ended nowhere and went nowhere.

Complaint B) The women were awful. I can’t even. It seems like it was written by a man who has no idea how to write women.

Complaint C) Epic Fantasy FAIL. What makes an epic fantasy? Well…A quest. Alot of characters. And an actual plot, for starters. And none of the characters progressed. At all. And it was hard to follow. And none of the points really added up.

It was a hodge podge of a sausage fest. Yes. I went there. My duck bill is bigger than your duck bill. Let’s arm us some dinosaurs and FIGHT TO THE DEATH for no reason.

I can go into more depth but this book, in short, wasn’t worth the time it took to read. It didn’t make sense. Nothing was explained. It was a giant sausage fest of Dino riding warriors making war on each other for no other reason than they smelled funny. Maybe. I couldn’t actually discern a reason for all the war mongering. And the guy who died twice and this or that and NOTHING WAS EXPLAINED.

Just oggle the cover. This book wasn’t worth reading. I also believe that the world needs more honest reviews.