Guardians of the West: The Malloreon, Book 1

It's been a long time since I've read the Guardians of the West but I think I'd say yes to this. It's an easy read and it makes for an easy listen as well. Having the various characters' dialogue come alive is quite nice. The dialogue is probably the best part of Eddings' writing so it really works well as an audio experience.

Well let's be honest - The thing about David Eddings is that one book is pretty much like another. If you've read or listened to the Belgariad well then, here's more of the same. If you've read or listened to his Sparhawk books then here's more of the same - only more young adult than adult (not that that's a bad thing) and more side stuff going on (because the series is 5 books instead of 3).

There comes a point in a book like this where you realize - wow there are a huge number of characters in this book and the reader is doing all of them by himself. He also does a good job of defining accents for each of the various peoples of the world. It's not perfect - in particular the voices of Belgarion and Errand often sound the same to the point of confusion - but it's not a huge problem.

Eddings' fantasy series are, above all else, fun. This is his second seriers with these characters and could more rightly be considered book 6 of 10 instead of 1 of 5, though you could start here if you wanted to. On problem for some could be that at this point in the story some old characters you may love have to fade into the background and some new ones step forward to take their place. I personally miss some of the old characters who are relegated to bit parts, but the new characters Eddings gives us do tend to be far more interesting than what we had in the Belgariad and add a lot in diversity to the cast.

Picked this one up on sale - big fan of all things fantasy from Tolkien to Patrick Rothfuss and I'm not sure how David Eddings slipped under my radar for so long. Thoroughly enjoyed this novel beginning to end. Also the first Cameron Beierle narrated audiobook I've listened too - impressive narration.

Good book. I felt the narration was good. The first half of the book was a bit slow but got pretty good as it ended. I understand this was the setup book. If you can make it past the first half you will enjoy the rest of this book and most certainly the series. I like how he puts accents on the different characters depending what country they were from. I would recommend this but give it a chance.

The story started slowly but I fell in love with all of the people who inhabit the pages. With each new book you learn more about everyone. By the end of the series you know everyone and they are like old friends. The print version lives happily on my bookshelf.

The story and the reading were both excellent. My only complaint is that the recording seemed to put a lot of emphasis on the higher pitched sounds (particularly when the reader read the letter 's'). The contrast was so great that I had to turn the volume up and the treble all the way down in my car not to have my ears hurt a bit by the end of my commute.

This was a slow starter, but the rest of the series makes it worth it, even though it is a long series, and probably could have been shortened by a book, it is a great series. The reader is a good story teller and brings the characters to life. In short, even though some sections get a bit tiresome, the whole is worth it.

I have read or listened to all of the Belgariad and Elenium series. They were outstanding.Based on my past experience with David Eddings and all the the 5 star ratings this book received I purchased it. I have suffered through 4 hours of this book and I don't think I can stand any more of it. First, you need to start a spreadsheet of all characters and locations. I am confused about who is whom and where is where. Then there is the reading. The reader sounds like he is swallowing his tongue every time he pronounces a name. I have listened through 4 hours of absolute drivel about this kingdom and that kingdom and this person and that person. Does it get any better than this? if so, how much more do I have to listen to before somebody does something interesting?

The way he garbled all the names.

boredom and confusion over all the names and locations

To be fair, I could not get past the first two chapters. The author tried to paint such a deep and complex world with a mythological and factual history. I just wanted to get to a compelling story. It may have done that in chapter 3, but I gave up before then.

I'm still trying to get my head round kindle and ebook readers so I right now I still vote for the printed word but for the daily commute to drown out the edjits with blaring headphones with tinny sounds then the audiobook is the way to go!!!

Put your headphones in and you are there!

I am a Belgarion fan and if he was real then I would love Orlando Bloom to play him ha ha x x The characters are fantastic and each comes alive with David and Leigh Eddings x

As I read a book I make up my own pronounciations so to hear some of the characters, places and titles spoken had me sit up and think - 'who was that?' 'where?' . I got over that though and I found it easy to follow although the falsetto voices for the women were a bit off putting but its not easy I guess.

It would have to be a tag line to the whole Belgariad and Mallorean volumes and I am in no way qualified for that one x x x

Have already purchased more of the series and for the Elenium x x

Yes. It's a lot of fun. Beierle puts a lot of life into his voices and seems to catch most of the charm and humor that comes across in the book.

Beierle had his faults--he gets a little carried away with his accents (and I think he misses the mark significantly on a few), but his narrations are the best so far.

However, I seriously wish the narrators would put in the time to get the name pronunciations right. I really don't understand how they can mangle some of them so badly. Here's something "straight from the horse's mouth" I found after a 15 second Google search.