bloodyrosemccoy | Standard Fantasyland

You know how everyone always asserts that all fantasy is derived from The Lord of the Rings? It’s a tired old claim, and I have a whole fleet of arguments as to why it’s a rather silly one, too.* But there is one thing I understand: I think people also regard it as the default Fantasy Saga. It sets the standard; while other works might not be derived from it, people traditionally hold it up as the norm and all differences from it are deviations.

I realized recently that, in my head, this is not the case.

For me, the default Fantasy Saga is David Eddings’ Belgariad.

I just started rereading it again, and my god I’d forgotten how bloody good it is. I had recently reread a few of his other series, which were all right, but there is something wonderful about The Belgariad that, I realized as I read, is the standard against which I set all other Epic Fantasy Quests. It is the one that makes me want to write my own fantasy novels.

This is not to say that the series is without flaw. Actually, there are some major drawbacks in Eddings’ work. His Machiavellian worldview and his characters’ firm belief in their own god-given righteousness both scare me a bit, because it smacks of the Bush Administration.** There is some distressing racial and sexual stereotyping going on throughout everything he writes, as well as the assumption that the nuclear family is the only really happy way to be. His inability to kill off any character he even remotely likes means that his redshirts can be spotted from a mile away. His stories always end the same way—“they fixed the universe and everyone got married.” And I suspect that, like another favorite author of mine, Philip Pullman, David Eddings himself is a jerk.

All this gets shoved by the wayside, however, when I read his stories. They’re funny. They’re clever. They’re insightful. The world is built well and thoroughly. But the real greatness of this series is one that people seem to overlook, and it’s a little difficult to explain.

The characters in The Belgariad are a strange duality. Eddings draws heavily on myth, so each of his characters is an archetype. However, they also have a very serious Ordinary Human side to them, so that the duality makes them act like not-quite-either. They are archetypes, but their human sides find that just a bit obnoxious and rail against it, make fun of it, and satirize it, even as they find themselves caught up in it. Those who accept their dual role (even though they all grumble about it) are more at peace with themselves than those who don’t. But the fact that they are aware of their own archetype means they can make jokes about it, and it’s hilarious. And it allows them to have insight into their own actions without destroying the story.***

It’s like teaching you how a standard fantasy saga goes, and being entertaining about it in the process. It’s a worthwhile read, and a damn good story, too.

*Although I will admit that a whole lot of people derive their idea of Elves from Tolkien, and that gets really obnoxious.

**I could defend the characters by pointing out that in their world the gods really have chosen these people, but then I assume that people in this world believe the same thing about their mission from god.

***The archetypal mythic saga is also a good excuse for his plot holes. “We really should have killed that guy long ago.” “Yes, but we need to have climactic battle with him later, so he must be kept alive.” Yes, they actually admit this. Transparent, but it works.