Pawn of Prophecy

The Belgariad, Book 1

By: David Eddings

Narrated by: Brian Wiggins

A magnificent epic set against a history of seven thousand years of the struggles of Gods and Kings and men—of strange lands and events—of fate and a prophecy that must be fulfilled!

THE BELGARIAD

Long ago, so the Storyteller claimed, the evil God Torak sought dominion and 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 that was only a story, and Garion did not believe in magic dooms, even though the dark man without a shadow had haunted him for years.

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?

For a while his dreams of innocence were safe, untroubled by knowledge of his strange heritage. For a little while . . .

©1982 David Eddings (P)2024 Tantor

An old friend

I believe David and Leigh Eddings were incredible story tellers. I first read 'Pawn Of Prophecy,' in the early 80s. Listening to it again, over forty years later is like catching up with a good friend I haven't seen in a long while. Wiggins did a good job bringing the characters to life. The story follows Garian life as he learns who he truly is. I still find it frustrating that he is kept ignorant of his heritage, but that makes the story. Sadly, David and Leigh are past, but they left behind a wealth of stories.

Incredibly Well Done

Amazing! Been needing The Belgariad and Mallorean updated audiobooks, and as a long time fan this was incredibly well done… will get them all, can’t wait to continue listening to the entire series.

So happy to listen

I'm super happy to get to listen to this story during work after so many year of not being able to reread due to wear and tear on some of the original publications

Inconsistent audio level

I’ve loved this series of books since I first read them when they came out in paperback. The narrator does not have a consistent audio level. He varies from a whisper to a strong level within the same sentence, for dramatic effect I assume. This has me constantly adjusting my volume control.

I don’t recommend this performer, but if you can find this title performed by someone else, get it.

Good story but inconsistent narration

Accent did throw me off and I struggled to figure out who was talking at times. Only certain character has distinct tones

good memories

a lovely rendition of a book series my grandfather introduced me to when I was young

masterful exercise in time constraint

brandon sanderson could learn a thing or 2 from this author as it took sanderson nearly the length of the king james Bible to capture similarly flush characters

Gripping complex series

Multidimensional characters and universe with complex story line. Gripping descriptions and action. However, the reader leaves much to be desired. His pronunciation is atrocious (ex: he says Miergo instead of Murgo) and seems to think that all large fighters are mentally deficient and talk like mongoloid children. But even his performance couldn’t ruin this excellent tale.

Holds up well!

I first read these stories almost 40 years ago. I'm quite surprised to learn how well the story holds up! I highly recommend!

Great story, Bad Narrator

eted. I would highly recommend readers of all ages to ‘read’ this series.

Narration: I do NOT recommend anyone to buy this book on audible. I am sure the narrator is a very nice person, and to be honest his normal reading voice is pleasant. However, that is where it ends.

- he seems to caught up on his accents. Seems like he is more concerned with using a bad French or Irish accent over telling the story

- sarcasm is totally lost. This story has so many funny sarcastic lines, which falls totally flat by the narrator.
- seems like the narrator didn’t read or understand the line before reading aloud. Inflection such as questions, surprise, anger, etc are read so flatly.
- Garion’s internal voice - Irish Accent? Please Nooo… unfortunately, yes.
This was the final straw for me. I will not be purchasing any more stories read by this narrator.

I went back and forth on whether to leave this review. I really don’t like criticizing any narrator, because frankly I could not do it myself. However, I felt I needed to give ample information to anyone thinking about purchasing this audio book or any others in this series.

There may be some listeners that like the way this story is read, and for those , I hope you enjoy this marvelous story!