David Eddings

[lagilman]

David Eddings has died.

http://www.sfcrowsnest.com/news/arc/2009/nz14000.php

Say what you will about his work (and many of us have said many things) i didn't read THE BELGARIAD, I devoured them. I was a teenager, turned off by the heavy negativity of many of the fantasy writers at the time (yeah Donaldson, I'm looking at you), and here was a series that managed to have strong female characters, interesting and amusing male characters, an interesting religious theory that never felt like it was trying to convert me, earthy humor, and enough action to keep me turning pages, without feeling too much like a D&D game (I played those, I didn't want to read them).

Later books disappointed me, but the magic of those books -- the first adult books I ever bought in hardcover -- was real and formative, and I really wish I still had them on my shelf.

Good night, Mr. Eddings, and thank you.

Comments

[wishwords.livejournal.com]

What!? This one really shocked me. Not my personal favorite author, but one that I greatly respected. Definitely a huge loss for the world.

[celticboy.livejournal.com]

*Wakes up and immediately wants to go back to sleep*

This is so not good :(

[lagilman]

When his wife died a few years back, people who knew him felt he wouldn't stick around for long without her, so not a total surprise but...yeah. Sad.

[celticboy.livejournal.com]

It seems like all my favourite authors are going, one by one.

[wolfsilveroak.livejournal.com]

I hear ya.}:/

[cypherindigo.livejournal.com]

WTF!

Like you the last series didn't interest me as much as they first ones, but they Belgariad and the Blue Rose series are part of my re-read schedule.

He will be missed.

[havocthecat]

I spent from age eight to somewhere in my twenties re-reading The Belgariad once or twice a year. :(

[mevennen.livejournal.com]

That's a great shame. I loved the books as a teenager though like many they did not carry into later life.

[ilvack.livejournal.com]

Not the kind of thing I want to wake up to, to be sure.

I'm in your boat. BELGARIAD wasn't something to read, it was something to attempt to grok. I was taken into his world from the very first pages, and was always reluctant to put anything he's written down.

His characters are able to capture you within just a page. Sparhawk remains one of the most memorable and complete characters I've ever come across.

He will be missed. He is missed.

[wolfsilveroak.livejournal.com]

Sparhawk was/is my absolute favorite of all his chars.

[fakefrenchie.livejournal.com]

Me too.

[wedschilde.livejournal.com]

oh no. i did adore them. and really, he was a very sweet nice guy!

[egret17.livejournal.com]

Oh, I loved the Belgariad... *sniff*

[lagilman]

Silk and Velvet were wonderful. Not terribly original ideas, maybe, but definitely true to their own characters. And Velvet was one of the best secondary-entrance characters I remember from those years of reading.

[mizkit.livejournal.com]

I still have a crush on Silk. <3 He had such a good story.

[mizkit.livejournal.com]

*LAUGHS* I'm sure I didn't /write/ any, but I certainly thought some!

I do think one of my favorite lines in fiction ever is, "Does bouncing count?" :)

[smoemeth.livejournal.com]

Yeah, what you said, exactly.

I stopped reading him when I couldn't take the snide comments from the peanut gallery any more... but "The Belgariad" was the first series I discovered on my own, and that meant a lot to me at the time.

Sad news, indeed.

[wolfsilveroak.livejournal.com]

This sucks. My fav series was The Diamond Throne, The Ruby Knight, The Sapphire Rose, et al.

I read nearly all his books in high school and while overseas in the Marines.

Wow...

[e-booklover.livejournal.com]

Sad day :(. I just finished reading The Belgariad, The Mallorean, The Elenium and The Tamuli. Some of my all time favorite epic fantasies. Thank you Mr. Eddings for sharing those worlds with us.

[martianmooncrab.livejournal.com]

He went on tour when the last book of the Belgariad came out, and I and a friend drove over to the Seattle area (from Bremerton) to attend, I remember telling him how pissed I was that he took that big gap between books 4 & 5 and left us hanging for YEARS. He just laughed. Thats where I learned that life does interfear with writers. His wife was there with him and they were having a great time.

[fakefrenchie.livejournal.com]

Oh dear. I'm really sad to hear that.

[sandrawickham.livejournal.com]

Our entire family read his books when I was quite young, passing one on to the next, it's a great memory for me.

One of our dogs was even named BARAK. (The other was Frodo)

I too say thank you Mr Eddings.

[rwglaub.livejournal.com]

I reread his books about once a year or so. Wonderful stuff. Sparhawk and his cronies forever changed my view of paladins!

As for Donaldson, read them once and gave them away...

[vierran45.livejournal.com]

This is sad news. I loved the Belgariad series when I was in my teens. I do have mixed feelings about his writing, since I did love some of it when I first read it, but then it got more and more repetitive.

Still, I remember him with a fond feeling, since I did love those books and reread them several times when I was younger. RIP.