RIP David Eddings

[The Black Guardian]

Author of The Belgariad, among others, died Tuesday at age 77.

more...

[DHX]

Fuck.

That man gave me back my love of Fantasy. it sucks that he's gone.

[Roquefort Raider]

A very nice man, happy to have contributed to getting kids to read. Eddings had a great way to write sympathetic characters, and I suspect that's because they reflected his own self.

My thoughts go to his friends and family.

[Deathstroke]

RIP...

His books were the first fantasy books I read and fell in love with as a teen. Lloyd Alexander's Prydain series as a kid...Eddings as a teen.

He will be much missed.

By the way, wasn't he in the middle of a new series?

And reading that obituary...I didn't even realize that his wife and writing partner Leigh had died two years ago.

[Expletive Deleted]

That's a shame. His Belgariad series was my gateway to fantasy novels. My dad had read the Lord of the Rings to me as a kid, but I didn't get it right away. Eddings was more at my level. My aunt gave me the first one for my eleventh birthday, and I spent the summer devouring everything fantasy-related I could get my hands on.

Eddings got a lot of crap for being repetitive and derivative (which, to be fair, he was), but his books were always engaging pageturners. I'd say his best work was the Elenium series, which managed to hit all of his usual notes but was just a bit more complex and interesting. It's unfortunate that the Tamuli series, the sequel, was a cynical mess.

By the way, wasn't he in the middle of a new series?

I could be mistaken, but I think the "Dreamers" series ended with the fourth book.

[Jack]

Bah.

And to make it worse, the first thing I thought was that I should tell my dad, even though he died a month ago.

[Rev. Calibos]

Goddammit.


Welp, I know what I'm re-reading this weekend that's for sure.

The Belgariad, Belgarath the Sorcerer and Polgara the Sorceress.

[Aaron Kashtan]

This is very sad news. Mr. Eddings was my first favorite author, my first introduction to fiction written for adults. If not for him, I might not be the reader I am today. I lost interest in his books long ago, but I remain eternally grateful to him.

Rest in peace, Mr. Eddings, and thank you.

[Ghost]

While I personally found myself disliking his writing the more of it I read -starting with the Belgariad, which I loved, and ending with the Redemption of Althalus, which I never even made it into properly- there's no denying that Eddings was the one to first get me to read fantasy seriously, which essentially makes him responsible for a huge portion of my entire literary experience. In that sense, I'm very thankful to him and his books, and it's sad to see him go.

Still, 77? The man was a lot older then I thought. (Though still too young to die on us.)

[Julusnc]

He was an amazing writer that opened my eyes to adventures I never thought possible.I will miss him indeed.

[Krichton]

Definately a sad time for his family. I remember reading Belgariad. One of the worst fantasy books I've ever read.

[Blueferret]

That's sad. He'll be missed.

My thoughts are the same as most everyones here about Eddings. He was the author that got me into fantasy when I was a teen. He was more age appropriate to me at the time moreso than Tolkien.

[Inkthinker]

Wow... I had no idea he was that old. I'm sorry to see him go, the Elenium continues to be a favorite of mine, though I did not care as much for the other series. But I really liked Sparhawk.