Queen of Sorcery by David Eddings

"BELGARIAD is exactly the kind of fantasy I like. It has magic, adventure, humor, mystery, and a certain delightful human insight." PIERS ANTHONY The master Sorcerer Belgarath and his daughter Polgara the arch-Sorceress were on the trail of the Orb, seeking to regain its saving power before the final disaster prophesized by the legends. And with them went Garion, a simple farm boy only months before, but now the focus of the struggle. He had never believed in sorcery and wanted no part of it. Yet with every league they traveled, the power grew in him, forcing him to acts of wizardry he could not accept.

The story is not quiet as attention-keeping as it was as a younger person, probably because my interests have shifted to science-based fiction.

Putting this in the donate box.

I'm continuing to read through the series for the first time, and I'm pleased to report that this second book is significantly better than the first. The story becomes more exciting and somewhat less predictable, and there are traces of originality. I suppose it deserves at least 3.5 stars, but I still hesitate to give it 4.

The boy hero is beginning to remind me slightly of Harry Potter, another confused and rather angry adolescent. Garion predated Potter by about 15 years, but I happen to have encountered Potter first.

The trouble with a teenage hero is that he tends to go through some tiresomely awkward behaviour, lacking both the charm of a child and the general competence of an adult. This is something I could do without, but I'm willing to tolerate it if the book is good in other respects.