Description:

Selected as a 2003 Popular Paperback for Young Adults by the Young Adult Library Services AssociationLong ago, so the storyteller claimed, the evil God Torak sought dominion over all and drove the world to war. Now the one talisman keeping this sinister force from seizing power has been disturbed—and no one will be safe. . . .Raised on a quiet farm by his Aunt Pol, Garion spends his days lounging in his aunt’s warm kitchen and playing in the surrounding fields with his friends. He has never believed in magic, despite the presence of a cloaked, shadowless stranger who has haunted him from a distance for years. But one afternoon, the wise storyteller Wolf appears and urges Garion and his aunt to leave the farm that very night. Without understanding why, Garion is whisked away from the only home he has ever known—and thrown into dark and unfamiliar lands. Thus begins an extraordinary quest to stop a reawakened evil from devouring all that is good. It is a journey that will lead Garion to discover his heritage and his future. For the magic that once seemed impossible to Garion is now his destiny.The first exciting adventure in David Eddings’s The BelgariadPawn of Prophecy is the newest addition to the Del Rey Imagine program, which offers the best in fantasy and science fiction for readers twelve and up.

"Eddings' BELGARIAD is exactly the kind of fantasy I like. It has magic, adventure, humor, mystery, and a certain delightful human insight."
Piers Anthony
Long ago, the Storyteller claimed, in this first book of THE BELGARIAD, the evil god Torak drove men and Gods to war. But Belgarath the Sorcerer led men to reclaim the Orb that protected men of the West. So long as it lay at Riva, the prophecy went, men would be safe.
But Garion did not believe in such stories. Brought up on a quiet farm by his Aunt Pol, how could he know that the Apostate planned to wake dread Torak, or that he would be led on a quest of unparalleled magic and danger by those he loved--but did not know...?

Review

"Absorbing. Touches all the right Fantasy bases. Warring gods, political intrigues, supernatural creatures, and appealingly human magicians." -- Publishers Weekly

"Fabulous! Eddings has a marvelous storyteller style. Exceedingly well portrayed." -- Anne McCaffrey

Exactly the kind of fantasy I like. It has magic, adventure, humor, mystery, and a certain delightful human insight." -- Piers Anthony

From the Publisher

There is a television commercial for potato chips that challenges "Bet you can't eat just one." A similar challenge could easily be made for the books that are part of the Belgariad series: "Bet you can't read just one." When I read Pawn of Prophecy, I couldn't stop and continued right on through the other four books of the Belgariad. I was then quite sad that I finished the series. It felt like saying good-bye to a bunch of great friends...and after all we had been through together that was hard.
                                                --Tim Kochuba, General Manager