Quote:
Originally Posted by M0zza
The Belgariad and the Mallorean (not that keen on his others)
Stainless Steel Rat
I really could go on and on...
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Both of those are series that I liked in the beginning but did not wear well.
I read the Belgariad with pleasure. Eddings has a smooth prose style and a flair for dialog. I read the Mallorean with far less pleasure. The strings were too obvious, as Eddings carefully dragged his characters to every not already visited part of his world. And the characters and settings became a little
too pat. The whole thing got to feel like "paint by numbers" fantasy. Folks back then raved about the Belgariad, and wished it would go on forever. By the time I finished the Malloreon, I felt like it
had.
And agreed about the other Eddings books. The problem is that Eddings has essentially one story to tell and one set of characters. New series get the names changed and the serial numbers filed off, but don't differ in essence from the older ones.
Harrison's original _The Stainless Steel Rat_ was a minor classic, and a long time favorite. I wish he'd stopped there. But Harrison (or his publisher, or both) decided there was series material there, and more Rat books appeared. The last couple I read read like Harry had essentially copied and pasted chunks of story from earlier books into later manuscripts, changing bits here and there.
My SO has met Harry and likes him (as I have and do), and defended him because the books made money and were easy for him to write. Perhaps so, but they aren't easy for me to read. I have higher expectations, especially from writers I've been reading for years and respect.
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Dennis