Saturday, January 6, 2018

We're on the island of Mimbrate Knights....

As I said with my last update, I'm finishing up David Eddings's The Mallorean, which means we're now discussing the penultimate volume, The Seeress of Kell

Now, we basically spend most of our time here in 3 different locations leading up to the climax. We start (eventually) in Kell, home of the Dals. It is here where Cyradis does finally join the party.

It's also in Kell where Belgarath at last learns their final destination is Korim, what used to be mountains before Torak cracked the world in antiquity. Zandramas gets this information via mind control of Ce'Nedra. However, Zandramas has to deal with the arrival of Agachak from Cthol Murgos, who's Agnarak king of choice in the boy king of Mishrak ac Thull.

Anyway, the next stop on the grand tour is Perivor, inhabited by shipwrecked Arends from Vo Mimbre who've long since interbred with the Dals. Zandramas's second, Naradas, is already there and controlling the king. He keeps delaying the party, but ends up getting some bad soup.

And then it's off to the Turim Reef, where the final choice is made after a bunch of fighting and revealing all the missing pieces.

Whne the choice is made, we're treated to an epilogue not quite as long as the one in Stephen King's The Stand when Stu and Tom head back to Boulder. Since all parties (and people left behind earlier) all wind up on Perivor, everyone gets to discuss peace with almost all the world's leaders present and a new God of Agnarak presiding.

Everyone ends up getting a happy ending of sorts, Ce'Nedra has another baby, and Polgara has twins.

In the meantime, there are a few plot holes you can drive a truck through. The biggest one is that Beldin, who's not supposed to be one in the final choosing, is allowed to go because Zandramas used a being from outside this universe. However, when confronting said outsider, Cyradis mentions that the confrontation makes sense of a prophecy of the Dals. Second, Cyradis makes a comment on the way to Korim that suggests Zandrmas's fate is going to be the same regardless of the choice, yet after the choice, it's told to Garion that had the choice gone the other way, his would have been that new fate.

Plot holes and a bunch of misogyny aside (because Eddings can't keep his mouth shut when discussing pregnancy), the book does wind up being a fairly solid ending to the series, even if two subsequent prequels end up trying harder to fix the plot holes from both series.

So yeah. Good fantasy series, even with the flaws.

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